After many years of doing backing vocals for other artists, I decided it was time to 'get in the game' myself. Although this project doesn't include any of my original works, it is a musical snapshot of songs I have been performing for over 20 years and still love to perform. Here's why I chose these songs. SKYLARK is a classic that I just love to sing. THE SHAKER SONG is a song I have been singing for more years than I want to mention and every time I sing it, it feels as fresh and exciting as the first time. RAINBOW SLEEVES touches an emotional center that reflects some of the personal struggles of those closest to me. MY FUNNY VALENTINE has always been a crowd favorite when I perform it live so I had to add it to this project. THE DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES brings a very fond memory of driving through the mountains to Vancouver, Canada on a family vacation with my parents, my siblings (all six of us), two dogs and one 8 track audio cassette of Andy Williams. Oh ya gotta love Andy! BLUE came directly from my brother Dennis' cd project, which I was so honored to be featured on. QUEEN BEE....hmmm. What to say about this song. It has almost been axed from this project many times. I have grown out of this song but I felt I needed something 'up' to balance out the cd. I think the playing is great on it and Brad (the engineer) worked so hard on it and it was originally recorded by BAB's (Barbra Streisand) and...I kept it in. I hope you like the different treatment I gave it. A NIGHTINGALE SANG IN BERKLEY SQUARE is quite simply a beautiful song. I used to sing it ala Manhattan Transfer with the Dubbin Show, my family show, and I wanted to re-do it in it's most simplistic form which was guitar and voice. We added the strings later. Nice huh! Now, (I DON'T MIND) FROM NOW ON was one of those random gems that I found while listening to a Basia recording. I just love the song! ON MY WAY TO YOU was a song originally performed by Barbra Streisand, given to me by a wonderful singer and piano player extraordinaire, Joyce Kelly. Thanks Joyce! And thanks to Al Muirhead again for the beautiful trumpet solo. I was in a very dark place when I recorded ALMOST LIKE BEING IN LOVE, which resulted in a somewhat melancholy beginning and end. This song features an Al Muirhead flugelhorn solo that rivals the best I've ever heard. WHEN I FALL IN LOVE started out as just guitar and voice but we really wanted to feature piano which we added after the vocal...a bit tricky but I think it worked. It has an 'old empty wooden hall' feel to it. I BELIEVE IN LOVE started out as a 'show tune' but has become a fun 'latin style' sassy story. WITH ONE MORE LOOK AT YOU. I wanted all my angels who have come through my life and have crossed over to know that I love them and miss them. The next two songs are BONUS tracks. Okay now COME TOGETHER has a pretty good, but long, story behind it. I was going to MI in Los Angeles and the first week of classes, the school offered concerts every night by local bands one of which was a guy name Michael Ruff. He was Chaka Khan's musical director; he wrote for Bonnie Raitt and when he appeared at MI he had Sheryl Crow as his back up singer. Wow! He did a rendition of Come Together and it rocked the house. I was floating in the clouds after that concert. Months later when I came home I performed his version of the song and then after a few years, it became my own version of the song. I love the way COME TOGETHER, um...came together. SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW is a song I will simply never get tired of hearing or singing. It represents hope in such troubled times!