I love the title – thank you! Yes, music is a transcendent art – when you are fully immersed in it, you go with the flow. Genre is a marketing tool – it’s a beautiful way to organize it/and effective – I tend to go where the sounds take me… and it’s been so fun to see where they have already. This year has already been so full and unique – many fun collaborations and new friendships. A deepening of established relationships. Learning how to do life – I guess that’s what it’s all about.

Yes! Thank you so much amigo(s) – I am very happy to be on the charts. When I saw the album there, listed among some of my musical heroes – it was a moment to remember for a longtime. There are milestones in music-ing that are so tiny and private that can really illuminate the inner life. Seeing that the lovely project made it on a list like that, well, it was a great moment! And we are up from the first week. We have a lot of hope to keep rising… I am still learning on this journey.

Wow, many thanks! I suppose the song came from many stored memories and experiences from my time in the southwest. The place was the anchor for the storytelling, and so much emerged. Things I had forgotten, people I remembered – these imprints of place came through the song. The rhythms, the melodies – the harmonies I found in the woods. I was walking while listening to a phone recording of the very first version of the song. It was a concept – the harmonies, and this was even before I met many of my collaborators and producers – but the harmonies found their way to the final product. Very fun.

Oh yes – we were and are very fortunate to have worked with some of the very best musicians in the Minneapolis area. Mike Dubois (drums,) Pat Smith (bass,) John Wright (mult-instrumentals, studio guru,) Tommy Stevens (trumpet on Infinite,) Dave BeaZe (Minnesota guitar legend,) Chico Perez (congas,) David Feily (electric guitar,) Gregg Zafft (executive producer and advisor,) Steve Lehto (guitar.) We teamed up with New Folk Records – Bob McMenoman and Ken, Sue and April Onstad and we are working with our publicist Krista Vilinskis who introduced us to your online space/magazine. I wrote the lyrics, the acoustic/some electric guitar parts and did the vocals.

It was very free-form. Originally, Mike and I wanted to do a “folk-jazz” or “acoustic jazz” album. That was our vision. We got the okay on the concept from our producers John Wright and Gregg Zafft. We all had a vested interest in this concept. Bringing on additional musicians, they brought their expertise to many of the songs. So I painted the canvas, and they added depth and detail. We established a set and they put on the show. It was a very collaborative effort.

Our executive producer was Gregg Zafft. He made the process functional/he gave us the baseline and added a lot of collaboration. John Wright was our engineer and mixed the record. We did it digitally and I believe he used Cubase. It’s amazing what he can do productive-wise. Some of the most consistent feedback I get on the LP is regarding the beauty and optimal equality of the production. Mike Dubois and I were in the studio for most of the recording process. We were given production credit! Mostly what I did was micro-analyze the sonic framework and made sure to fine-tune the submissions we got from our talented collaborators. I also honed the vocals. The guitar parts were a lot more clear-cut. The vocals I could work on for ages. There is something about the voice that captures everything about a person. You hear it back and well, it’s the truth of who you are at that very moment. I love that quote that goes something like, “making records is the event of people making music in a room.” It’s the truth!

I am currently working on a new project. I welcome performing opportunities as they come!

My teachers are widely influential. I initially thought that when I graduated with a fancy piece of paper, I was in the wide world and it was *me for me to “do my thing” solo. That my student-role was over. Well, I am so lucky and pleasantly surprised to say I have had dedicated, ingenious teachers encourage me and set the path for me many years after graduating from formalized education with a BA in the beautiful liberal arts.

The melody is my first bite. I then create the soundscape from there. Sometimes I get started with the general sonic landscape – though, it’s a general idea. I’m starting to go really simple now. I used to feel like I had to prove myself with acrobatic chords and jazz progressions. I love geeking out about theory and doing that, yet, I’ve found that when I have a simple progression, sometimes the melody goes to completely new terrains and I can do fun new things with my voice. Then the lyrics emerge sometimes in a much freer way. However, that is one observation- every song is its own constellation. Each of them have their own anatomy – there is a magnetism to how different the results can be. I enjoy the process as much as I find immense challenges in it. There is a huge amount of suffering that goes into songs – I say that with attempts of human humility and grateful silly-ness. Because at the at the end of the day, this is about the experience of making sounds that didn’t exist before and it’s mostly all fun and games.

Music is my way of making sense of place in time and space. I hope “I Was Born in Color” gives you a little cozy music-ing spot to process things that words, action, even thoughts can’t quite reach. We are so happy to be able to offer something positive and hopefully productive for people who support us, love us and believe in us. Thank you!