Bio
I was born and raised in Pennsylvania - originally from a small mountain town in southwestern PA, but spent a good amount of my childhood in idyllic eastern PA, playing in and among the cornfields near our home. At 15, my family made a pivotal move landing in the intercoastal plains of eastern North Carolina. Here, I would finish high school and attend college, and (after a few excursions) eventually NC would just become “home.” But when you grow up in so many different places, there's always a sense of feeling like you don't really belong anywhere; maybe this is why I always felt a bit like a wayward traveler in this world.
In my earliest memories, I was always enchanted by musical instruments - even just to touch them in the hopes of provoking some magical sound. My mom indulged me over the years, first letting me bring home a small electronic keyboard to play around with. Then, when I played drums in the school orchestra and marching band, I was surprised one Christmas morning with the most beautiful silver Pearl snare drum (and looking back, I'm sure I drove my parents crazy practicing on it!). The summer we moved to NC, I asked my mom to get me a guitar. She always told me she had wished she had learned guitar, and since I had a lot of new found time on my hands, I figured it was a good time to try it out for myself. I had already spent a good many years penning songs and poems, and so songwriting with a guitar naturally followed. I powered through building the calluses on my fingertips, learned some major chords with the small instructional sheet that came with my new six string acoustic guitar, and started writing my own songs and learning some simple covers.
I was heavily influenced the by the diversity of the 90's music I grew up with, along with the rock music of the 60's & 70's my dad had some albums from, and the country music of the 80's & 90's my mom was always listening to on the car radio. Still, I was inherently drawn to singer-songwriter types, notably from the likes of Bob Dylan, Adam Duritz (Counting Crows), Fiona Apple, David Gray, and Jewel, to name just a few. But my dichotomous nature also immersed me in rock and alternative acts like The Black Crowes, Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, Oasis, The Smashing Pumpkins, and rock/jam groups like Dave Matthews Band and The Grateful Dead - all artists and bands still heavy in my listening rotation to this day, because great music is timeless.
At 18 I went to college and initially double-majored in two areas of study: Exercise Science and English. However, despite several semesters focusing mostly on my English degree (literature and writing) and loving the education I received in this area, I decided I didn't necessarily need a degree to write (and didn't really plan to use it in any career path). With an equal love and interest in anatomy and exercise sciences, I chose to just pursue those studies and completed my undergraduate degree as a Health Fitness Specialist. I worked as an ACSM certified personal trainer for a couple years while taking prerequisite courses for grad school, and then went on to earn my masters degree in Occupational Therapy.
But I never stopped writing. I actually wrote A LOT during my college years - and still have all the notebooks and pages upon pages of saved Word documents to show for it.
I didn't stop singing or playing the guitar. I sat in my dorm rooms, apartments, and bedrooms over the years, coming up with songs - but only sharing them with my closet friends.
Despite following a career path in healthcare, there was a fire in my gut that could not be extinguished. I often remembered the words of one of my favorite poets, Maya Angelou, when she wrote “there is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” I had stories to tell, songs to sing, and couldn't bear to hold them inside any longer.
I played my first public show during grad school at a local wine shop, set up through a friend. After I graduated and was working as an Occupational Therapist in a hospital setting, I was tipped off to a local open mic. I decided to show up one night, and that decision propelled me into years of pursuing music alongside my career in healthcare - letting me fulfill both sets of dreams.
Now more than a decade later I have performed on a variety of stages and venues in the eastern North Carolina region. I've met a lot of great people with similar passion along the way. I've done the thing I set out to do, long ago one night when I proclaimed out loud in a car to my friend as we drove back to our dorm room under a star-filled sky, that I would do it - I would put myself out there and perform publicly someday. Little did I know, how fruitfully that would come to pass.
All these years later, I find myself on a new horizon - one where I want to take the time to finally focus on recording and releasing the music I've been making all this time. I'm so excited to get on with it, and see how this next chapter unfolds.
Thank you for being here. Thank you for listening. Thank you for the support. Always, thank you!
And for fun, here's a few more things about me…
I am married to an incredible guitar player, Greg, and we have a wild and sweet Springer Spaniel, Belle. Greg and I love going to concerts and traveling the world together.
I'm a Christian and my faith is the most meaningful thing in my life. But I'm merely a sinner saved by grace, and I don't mind sharing my faith with anyone who wants to know more. (1 Peter 3:15)
I'm an avid chess player (I play on the chess.com app every day!). My dad taught me to play when I was a kid, and I grew up playing it on our home computer (if anyone remembers Battle Chess??). After I watched “The Queen's Gambit” a few years ago, it reignited my interest and love for the game. My brother-in-law told me about the app and I signed up for a membership so I could actually learn more through lessons, puzzles, etc. and I've been addicted since! I usually play on my iPad while I eat dinner, and it's my favorite way to decompress after a work day.
I'm an amateur photographer (with a special love for astrophotography and studying the night sky - my Instagram photography account is @TheGlassDiaries if you ever want to check out my work).
In the past couple years I've also taken up gardening and bird-watching, and I'm literally obsessed!
And I'm forever a workout girlie, who still loves all things health, nutrition, and fitness.
You can follow me on Facebook and Instagram for Live Sessions, and join my email list for updates! And as always, you can contact me through the “contact” page of this site if interested in booking me for any events.
