I was trained and went to school to be a classical harpist. I fully expected to graduate from college and go on for a masters and then a PhD in either harp or music composition. But when I was faced with the realities of putting together a portfolio and audition for graduate school, I started to feel less sure about it. It wasn’t that the preparation for graduate school felt overwhelming — it didn’t — but as so often when we are faced with new challenges, it was an opportunity to re-evaluate if this was really what I wanted to do with my life.

I loved playing harp and performing, and the amazing classical music repertoire I had spent so much time learning, but I also deeply struggled with the conventions and culture of the classical music world. My true musical heroes were folk singers and grunge rockers, people who wore their hearts on their sleeves and wore jeans and a t-shirt when they performed. I wanted to be able to connect with my audiences the way they connected to theirs — not as someone formal and distant, but more personal and immediate. And, perhaps more than anything, I wanted to be able to play good music without being dependent on written notation. I wanted my music to come from directly from my spirit.

This 2002 album was my first time going into the studio. I was one or two years out of college and was so fortunate to be married at the time to a drummer (Nucleo Vega) who had a bass-playing brother (Posido Vega). Nuc and Posido are both highly skilled jazz musicians and they were willing to spend the energy helping me take my first steps in learning how to improvise. We formed a band, Harp 46, though we weren’t sure if this first album was a “band” first album or a solo first album for me on which they happened to perform. Thus, I am listed as the artist, and the name of the cd is Harp 46.

I am forever indebted to Nuc and Posido and our many years as Harp 46. It was where I became the musician I am today. I don’t know that I expected to ever release more than one album. The fact that these songs still receive regular airplay on SiriusXM is a testimony to the quality of this first offering. I am forever proud of it.