Album Notes

Donna was born in Hartford CT and although she still resides in her native state she has been moving musically her whole life. Raised in a family that placed music at the center of their gatherings, Donna grew up surrounded by roots Canadian folk songs and Cajun flavored hootenannies.

Since the early 80’s she has been honing her craft. First gigging with a rhythm and blues
band, then for four years, fronting a top country band in New England sharing stages with the likes of Charlie Daniels, road legend Dick Curless and opening for Alabama.
An increasing fascination with the lyrical depth and the emotional immediacy of singer/songwriter music brought her to the acoustic world. “When I stepped into the folk world as a singer/songwriter I was the only one among my peers who had lots of band experience and I felt like I had entered through some strange side door.”

By 1997 Donna was on her third cd release, Pioneers. This recording won her a spot in the 1998 Lilith Fair where she was invited to perform along with Bonnie Raitt , Sarah McLachlan and Natalie Merchant. In 2000 came the release of Ghost, a folk/pop collection of songs that was well received by radio.

Although Seed and History (2005) is Donna’s fifth cd release, it is a celebration of noteworthy firsts. “This project was a long time coming because I got it into my head that I wanted to do an entire cd on my own which meant engineering the recording of it and playing all the instruments.”
First came the building of the studio followed by the lengthy study of how to operate it. After purchasing a bass, some drums, a cello and mandolin among other instruments, Donna submerged for months to figure out parts and track them. “ The outcome was a total surprise to me because I had some preconceived ideas about where I was going to go musically. Every time I pushed for a certain feel it wouldn’t pan out. There was always something else moving in from the side that wouldn’t be denied. When I finally surrendered to that the project took off.”

Seed & History is a lush landscape of songs that pushes up against several musical boundaries including modern folk, acoustic AAA and country.