I DON'T SING LIKE PATSY , MARTINA or REBA!!! But I have been told I have an "awesome unique voice". Still haven't figured out if that is good or bad for me! I LOVE TO SING, and I sing many styles. County, Pop, Rock, Blues, Folksy stuff, Country Rock. . . but no matter what style I am singing...... what comes out of my mouth is pure COUNTRY! Can't help it, I'm just a product of my environment! I always tell my audience when I step up to the mic . . . "I love to sing my own songs because no one else has made them better than I have (yet)!!!. I can't improve on what Patsy, Reba, or Martina have done, so...... " I am: ANN WILSON HARDIN.....bred-n-born in Oklahoma. After high school, I moved away for a few years, traveled the globe, and came back to where my roots were anchored! I was born in Tulsa while mom was visiting her mother & dad, but I actually grew up on an acreage in Shawnee. During my Jr. High years we moved to Midwest City and where I graduated from High school (I was still going by my name "Pat". Yuk, never liked it so I changed to my middle name "Ann") My feet got itchy and that's when I traveled the globe for about 15 years before returning to Oklahoma to live in Norman, then the big city itself - Oklahoma City. I am now residing in "Small Town, USA" , Cordell, Oklahoma! Talk about home-grown and roots! Don't think I could ever live in a big-city again! My dad, his brother, and his dad were all country, self-taught musicians. Throughout the years, my dad could pick up anything with strings and play. I brought home an antique button accordion once, and he went to town on that. Wish I had his ear! He also loved the blues style steel guitar; the acoustic guitar and his dads fiddle. My other two sisters and brother (and myself) were all recipients of instruments when we were kids. My dad wanted his own band, but we never learned to play at the same time during our growing years! I grew up playing the ukulele, but there was not much challenge there - - the pineapple fields were just too far away! I did not start to play the guitar until I was in high school when my dad found an old $10 guitar at a sale and showed me C-G-F-D chords! I later taught myself to read music, play the keyboard but really did not get serious about guitar playing until about 15 years ago when I got more serious about my song-writing. Its hard to take a key-board anywhere.... Guitars go everywhere! I have songs today I wrote when I was sixteen, but I keep them hidden of course! I have always written something all throughout my life! Poetry, songs, short stories, feature articles for the high school paper, articles for song-writers organization, (Oklahoma Songwriters & Composers Association, www.oksongwriters.org ). I made 4.0 grades in English classes at College (OU), and was even published by the English department for one of my short stories. But songwriting is where my heart has always been, I just didn't know where to go with it for many years! For every serious, emotion-bound song I write, I turn right around and write a funny, whimsical, happy-type song! THEY'RE THE BEST! They are fun to write, fun to sing, and fun to listen to! They may never make it to the top 50 charts ever, but they are what I get the most requests for when I perform live! People love to laugh! It's great medicine! Like poor ole' "COWBOY HARRY" (Small Town, USA #11). He actually got "bucked" off the horse, but got fightin'n-cussin' mad at me when I ask him how he "fell off his horse". An almost really true story! . . . with a little twist of course! My co-writer on "MAMA SANG ...." (Small Town, USA, #3) Was coming up from Dallas, TX to hear me debut the song at Gallileo's (Peseo district, Oklahoma City). I told him there would not be a dry eye in the audience. On the phone he said "YOU BRING THE KLEENEX, I'LL BRING THE TEARS". Wham! That song only took 2-3 days to write! It's one of those fun songs! "LOW DOWN GET-ME-DOWN BLUES" (Small Town, USA #9). I was a single mom with my teenage daughter and dog at home. Trying to work, and make ends meet and not go crazy, with "not enough hours in my day". Took me about 2 hours to write that song! It was so much fun! The burden on my shoulders get's lighter each time I sing that song! "HOT KISSES & COLD SHOWERS" (Small Town, USA #6) You just gotta' "smile" when you listen to this song. The lyrics are self-explanatory! It was a true "moment" in my life! But, not just the fun, or humorous songs, but all my songs are personal or some one close to me who had a personal experience, or a co-writer who came up with the idea, and I supplied some inspiration. More of my funny/humorous songs on other CD albums are: "DEVIL DANCIN' EYES" (Walking In My Mothers Shoes #1) www.cdbaby.com/cd/awh2 - Went to a local bar one night to kick up my heels. There was a cowboy there with twinkling, dancin' eyes and onery thoughts! He was kickin' his heels up also! "CAPT.MIKE & THE "ANNIE-POO" (Walking In My Mothers Shoes #6) My husband Mike and I were headed for the Gulf to do some fishing. Traveling down Texas highway 281, about 4 miles near Jacksboro...... the strap on the boat-to-trailer broke, and the "Annie-Poo" slid off the trailer...... you can hear the rest of the story! "OLD BLUE FROG" (Walking In My Mothers Shoes #12) One of those fairy tale stories you heard all your life about "kiss the frog and he'll turn to a prince". The "Horned Toads" I had been kissing weren't working... A FUN SONG, with a twist of course! Actually, this song has now turned into a book for children with a CD that accompanies the book. Fully narrated by a wonderful storyteller, and Old Blue Frog song at the end of the story. Release date for the book has not been scheduled yet! E-mail me if you are interested in a copy. (for a small fee of course!) This book is designed for ages 6 Months to 60 years! Since I love "funny/humorous/laugh-a-lot songs. . . CD #3 (not yet titled) will contain favorites such as: "Au-Natural"; "Sniffin' Your Biscuits"; "If I Promise To Miss You"; "It's 10:00 and He Knows Where His Beer Is"; "Double Shots of Crown"; "If I'm Drinkin' To Forget You"; "Mooned Over Aransas Pass" .... And more! Its old history now, but in Oklahoma I have played at the Oklahoma State Fair, Oklahoma City Arts Festival, Rocky's Bricktown Music Hall, Edmond Arts Festival, a couple of clubs too cheesy to remember when I played with the band "Changing Winds", Benefit Concerts, Hilltop Salloon, Teddy's, Medina's, Gallileos, Echo Theatre, Starvin Marvin's and the on some street corner in Austin, Texas! The last two summers I have appeared at '30-Mile' in Creede, Colorado. The last two winters I have made several appearances at Ransom Road, Aransas Pass, Texas, and many other fun short-stops! Thanks for your interest in my music, which is: music from my soul. I would love to hear some of your comments on any of the songs I have written and included on this CD. Also, check out www.oklahomasongwriters.com Since you have made it to the end of the page, you can also check out my second CD (Volume II), titled "Walking In My Mothers Shoes" www.cdbaby.com/awh2. All original songs of course. And now, you can check out Volume III, "Puttin' One Foot Over The Line" www/cdbaby.com/awh3 Stay "in-tune" Ann