Album Notes

They say that a picture says a thousand words; but, if that were the truth, I wouldn't need a biography. All one would need to do is look at my dramatic promo shots and take a guess at my background. But let me at least get you started.

I was born 20 years ago in Tulsa, Oklahoma, also known as part of "The Bible Belt." My parents were southern Baptists and most of the music I grew up with was out of a hymnal. I began classical piano lessons when I was 5, and played at church and competed in classical music competitions. Even though my mom tried to bring me up as a "proper" little girl, I still found time to play with dirty boys and fall out of several trees.

When I was 12 years old, the Hanson brothers came out with their hit song "MmmBop." That was one of the first pop songs I ever heard. The fact that the Hansons were from my hometown made it all the more exciting for me and it was then that I decided I wanted to be a pop star. When you're young, fantasies seem so much more reachable and I guess that's one of the best things about being immature. However, when I was 13, my pop star fantasies died when my dad felt called to the mission field. He quit his job and we sold our house and my family and I moved to Honduras. It was very difficult for me at first to adjust to a new culture. This gave me an excuse to hate my parents like most teenagers do; but, looking back, I can honestly say it was the best thing that ever happened to me. It forced me to grow up at a young age, and to see the "real" real life.

For the first couple of years in Honduras, I went through that process which people like to call "finding one's self." It wasn't something I had planned on doing, but being in the only American family for miles, living behind razor wire in the middle of the jungle, it seemed as good a time as any. I had no television, no radio or CDs and, for once, I could hear myself think. It was then that I began to get serious about writing and not only writing songs, but also trying to make descriptions of some of the newness I was feeling. While moving to another country was an emotional jerk for me, I found that my whole thought process was changing, as had the environment around me. No longer was I in my comfort zone, and no longer did I care what Brittany Spears was wearing, or who was dating who. I now had new and more "grown up" things to think
about. I was no longer acting out an exciting life through a television as some people do. I was actually living it and I was soon learning how to express and explain this new and strange experience.

I hurt for the people that I meet who are not able to express themselves. Everyone needs an outlet for their emotions and it is a shame that there are so many harmful "outlets" available. Writing is such a quiet protest that it is sometimes overlooked. I think that is why some people feel they need to do something harmful and explicit to get their point across. For me, writing is a means of communication. When I write, I write for the ones who say "nobody understands me" or "I'm the only one." I write because I know that there are thousands of "I'm the only ones" out there. I write to prove them wrong. Part of me is still that naive American teenager who knows the Starbucks menu by heart and purposely tears holes in her jeans to be "cool." The other part of me is over in a third world country giving rice to kids with swollen tummies; Both parts of me are apparent in my songs, and sometimes it is hard to balance them out, but I think that is what makes me truly and erroneously "real." And reality seems to be in demand these days.