I’m a singer, living in New York City (Brooklyn, to be exact).  I share my August 22 birthday with Dorothy Parker, John Lee Hooker, Claude Debussy, and Henri Cartier-Bresson.  
 
There was no jazz in my hometown of Wasilla, Alaska, so my first gigs were in bars, where I sang Patsy Cline tunes.  I became immersed in classical voice study but spent all my free time singing along with records by Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae, Joni Mitchell, and Tom Waits, to name just a few.  
 
I was indeed willing to be lucky when I moved to New York, and New York has been very generous to me. Since my arrival in 2003, I’ve sung in operas, big bands, small bands, and a vocal jazz quartet; I made a cameo on a Moby record, and once I even performed the national anthem at CitiField for the New York Mets.  I recently made my Broadway debut, performing in Twyla Tharp’s Frank Sinatra musical, Come Fly Away.  When I’m not performing or rehearsing music, I’m usually writing about creativity, food, or this city I love so much.   

…New York is the greatest city in the world.  I agree with Cole Porter: "I like the city air, I like to drink of it.  The more I know New York the more I think of it.  I like the sight and the sound and even the stink of it.  I happen to like New York."  
 
…I was Italian in a past life.  I spent nearly a year in Italy when I was 17 and part of my heart still lives there.  The only time I completely relax is when I’m living la dolce vita in la bella Italia.
 
…everyone should spend a year waiting tables.  We’d all have better manners and more empathy.
 
…when doubt seeps in, the only answer is: do something creative.  Immediately.
 
…winning is never final and losing is never fatal.
 
…in singing and in life, redemption is always just an inhale away.
 
…Oscar Wilde was right when he said, “Life is not complex.  We are complex.  Life is simple, and the simple thing is the right thing."