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I had the sudden thought of "what if I found out I had only two years to live? What would I regret not ever trying?" The first answer that popped into my mind was that I would regret not ever trying to learn to play the guitar. I had always wanted to learn ever since high school, when I imagined being able to play like Jimmy Page, but I never asked to take lessons or anything ~ I never learned to play any instrument, period.

So I took my $60 and walked into the local guitar shop and signed up for 4 lessons. I borrowed my sister's old nylon-string guitar from the '70's, and by the third lesson I was totally, completely hooked and bought a mid-priced Alverez.

It's been 5 years now and I am having a blast! I wrote my first song after the first year or so, and haven't stopped since. To date I have about 18 original songs and I have teamed up with my good friend and excellent guitarist/composer, John Hicks. We are now performing as "As The Crow Flys" and are getting pretty busy with recording a demo, booking gigs and getting ourselves out there. Along with my originals, we are collaborating and also building a diverse selection of cover songs to perform as well.

After being told time and again that I have a great voice for the blues, I started performing at various blues jams as a vocalist a few years ago. Last summer I auditioned and landed the role of lead singer for Soul Kitchen, based out of Monroe, Michigan. After several months of rehearsals and fine tuning, we are getting ready for our first official gig at the end of the month. I am getting pretty excited! Sometimes I step back in disbelief and wonderment at how in the world my little idea of learning to play guitar has blossomed into all this stuff I am doing ~ never in a million years would I have guessed this is the life path I would have taken, but it is and will be and I am ever so grateful for all the people I have met and become friends with who have encouraged me every step of the way, especially when I lacked confidence in myself.

P.S. I splurged in May 2006 and bought a Taylor 310 CE - I had been eying it for months and playing it at the guitar store for many more months until I could figure out a way to finance it without going into debt. My rule was no credit cards, couldn't use my tax refund, and couldn't dip into savings either! So this is what I did - I set up an account at the local resale/consignment shop and started unloading all unused and unwanted household items there. I put up ads to sell my metal-smithing and jewelry tools and supplies. I managed to raise about $1100 cash this way and used gift money and such for the rest! When there's a will, there's always a way! Peace and Play ON!