Album Notes

I remember leaning up against the door frame of the entrance to my family’s living room on Lone Pine Lane, longingly watching my younger sister struggle to play the guitar. To this day, she can’t figure out what our parents were thinking (she swears she never, ever uttered the words “I want a guitar”). When her guitar teacher, noting her tiny 5-year old fingers and adult-sized frustration, suggested that she switch to the ukulele, I quickly grabbed the guitar and started strumming the chords to “Here Comes The Sun”. Not a day goes by that I don’t thank my sister for hating the guitar. I have been singing, playing and writing music since that wonderful day in 1970. My sister stopped playing the ukulele about a week later.

The first song I wrote, “Horses Galloping”, has not ever been recorded, but my wonderfully supportive father’s enthusiasm for all things created by his children led to the early recording of many of my songs. My mother claims to be tone-deaf, yet credits my musical leanings to her mother’s musical talent. Unfortunately, arthritis took Grandma’s hands early, so I never really got to hear her play the piano and she rarely sang to us (though the Yiddush spoken with my grandfather had a certain compelling lilt to it). My father has a gorgeous voice, but – unfortunately - is too shy to share it with others, though I know that I get my love of music and appreciation for beautiful voices from hearing him sing. He and I would listen to records by Perry Como and Sandler & Young and to this day Dad’s voice is the one I prefer over anyone else’s. Later, records by Elton John, the Partridge Family, the Carpenters, Carly Simon, James Taylor, Jimmy Buffett, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Dan Fogelberg and Joni Mitchell…as well as the soundtracks to “Annie”, “A Chorus Line”, "Pippin", "Godspell" and “They’re Playing Our Song” formed the backdrop for my formative years. Weekly lessons on guitar, violin and piano constituted my formal musical training. The only voice lessons I ever took were the ones prescribed by my allergist who suggested that I take a voice lesson to learn to breathe correctly. This worked well until we discovered that the voice teacher was a cat lover. And I was at the allergist in the first place because of my allergy to…cats. You can see where this is going.

The core of the music on my first CD (that sounds so cool), “Am I Ready?” was written in my late teens & 20s (thus, the teenage-angst) and recorded while ski-bumming in Alta, Utah, though there are several songs that were written in this decade. Some of the more recent songs were inspired by the birth of friends and family’s babies (“Emma”, “Owen” & “Maya”), one lovingly-remembered friend (“The Sky’s On Fire”), fond memories of my days at Camp Pembroke (“World Outside”) and the work I’ve done with children over the years (“Come Play With Me”, “Am I Ready?” and “She”).

After several career iterations (I worked in the music industry for jazz label GRP Records, Columbia House “10 for a penny”, Green Linnet Records and The Mark Spector Company doing tour marketing for Joan Baez, James McMurtry and .38 Special.) and one under-utilized Master’s Degree (in Business), I am now a Music Teacher at a public elementary school. It is the greatest job I’ve had in the 22 years since graduating from college; I get to dance, listen to music, sing and play guitar everyday…and I am paid for it (not as much as my classmates from Columbia Business School, but then again – do they get to square dance everyday with 8 year olds??)! My wonderful, patient husband Peter thought he was marrying an MBA with a promising job prospect, but he ended up with a guitar-slinging public school marm. Truth be told, though…this was all his idea.

I am fortunate to have a large, close family ranging in age from 11 months (Maya) to 69 years (Dad), a superb husband with whom I’m raising and befriending two amazing children and an amazingly supportive, inspiring and entertaining group of friends. The question “Am I Ready?” begs an answer…and all I can say at 44 years old is…if not now, then when?