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To learn more about the artist, visit  her biography!

About the album, Lullabyes and Other Smiles:

~I went about recording this album with a year's worth of good material.  Originally it was going to include 9 additional tracks, but I decided to include only the best of the best on Lullabyes.  (There will be a forthcoming album entitled "Groovy B-Sides" which will include those songs cut from Lullabyes).  After getting about halfway through the recording of the album, I realized that there was no way I could complete the project alone.   I needed to add flavor and variety to the CD and expand my musical capabilities.  As a result, about one third of the material on the album was written after I had started recording for the album.  Furthermore, I called upon some friends to help me out.  I asked Billy Deavers, the purple dog, of upcoming band Room 402 for advice.  Deavers had recently produced his first solo effort, "Purple Doggin' It," receiving airplay on WMCR 1620 AM, Westminster.
    Bill suggested that a CD burner was a wise investment and a great way to produce my own CDs without going to a label.  It was clear that I was ready to produce and market my own material and didn't want to wait for the slight chance of getting signed while preoccupied with other events.  Other friends agreed that this was a great idea, and Jon's Lullabye hit the top 20 in the Westminster folk genre charts on MP3.com.  Sarah, Jason, Tim and Joann continually encouraged me to put my material on a CD.  Jason suggested that variety and song placement were important on a CD as well as which song becomes the single.  With that in mind, I called upon a few other good friends.

  Part I: The Harmony Machine
    Such is the title that Bill bestowed upon Lisa and me.  Lisa's unique harmonies add a unique flavor to the tracks that she sings on with me.  Most notable are her renditions of "Poetry She Sighs" and "As Sacred," a few favorites from the past.  I called Lisa over to record these songs, and we began singing "Rum Cake."  We realized "Rum Cake" was missing something so we recruited her boyfriend Adam to add a male vocal to the track.  Without proper technology to record live in the cafes, we hope that "Rum Cake" captured the essence of our previous (and present!) cafe performances.

  Part 2: The Soundstress
    Mandy really helped pull this album together.  She beefed up the guitar part on "Frighten You" and titled the song.  So dramatic was the change to my original piece that we now consider it co-written.  With her electrical guitar, Mandy adds more variety and style to the album.  Influenced by David Bowie, Mandy was not afraid to hop into experimental music that other artists would be reticent to record.  "Ghost On Acid," the finish product of our sound experimentation, sounds supreme.  Mandy also insisted on several takes to perfect her guitar part on tracks, particularly on "Come What May."  The bar chords being too difficult for me to play on an acoustic and sing along to simoultaneously without 4-track technology available, I called Mandy last minute to add this track.  With an aching wrist she persevered, allowing me to concentrate solely on the vocals to this emotional yet pop sounding track.
    Mandy was also essential in the actual production aspect of the CD.  She assisted in choosing high quality CD-R's, found excellent multicolored jewel-CD cases, helped me select the photograph and font for the cover design, and physically manufactured the CD covers.
    Here's the front and back of the CD cover.  The track listing appears on the back cover, courtesy of Mandy's brilliance:
 
 

Thank You's and Other Explanations:

        This CD was also an absolute kick to make.  It was barely ever stressful, and when it was, my friends encouraged me and helped me lessen the load!  Thanks, buds!
        I also have to thank the people that inspired this album.  Some of the songs on here arose from just goofing off- Rum Cake springs from a misconstrued sentence by Katy and Lisa.  Ghost on Acid from a wild rock out session with Mandy.   The poetry comes from self-reflection and seclusion.  A Song For Bill was written (obviously) for Bill, as Jon's Lullabye was written for Jon.  He also inspired most of the songs on the CD.
        Sarah and Joann also took a lot of time to listen to each of the tracks on the CD and offer honest opinions.  More than one spoken word track appears on the album through her encouragement.  Sarah has a unique ability to visualize anything beautiful and artistic- and therefore has a wonderful sense of balance and harmony.
        Joann loves the song "Education" so much that I had to reexamine my own faith in the song.  Eventually, I felt that it was strong enough to use as the final track for the album, and most specifically, it emphasized my feelings at its completion. 

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