A native of Los Angeles, I grew up listening to 93 KHJ and KROQ, 80s punk and classic rock and a family piano that my dad still plays to this day. That gave rise to writing and performing my own music after Bill Mumy helped me pick out a ’74 Guild that I still play. Cracks and all, it’s lovingly looked after by my friend and luthier Fren Asken of
Asken Guitars.

 

Soon after, I wandered into the burgeoning singer/songwriter scene at Genghis Cohen on Fairfax Ave. There, I would see the likes of Danny Peck and The Gluey Brothers and then go home to feverishly write my own songs.

 

Following a passion for public radio, I volunteered and was offered a job at KCRW, the NPR flagship station in Santa Monica and worked with eclectic tastemakers like Chris Douridas, Tom Schnabel and Liza Richardson. I recorded a 5 song EP called Bliss with Theo Mondle, a sound engineer and tabla guru – exactly the type of Eastern groove I had been interested in combining with my California folk sound. but soon after took a break to live life, travel and start a family --- relocating for a bit in San Francisco and recalibrating the things I wanted to write about and how I wanted it to sound.

 

In 2000, I moved back to L.A. and gigged and recorded in bits and pieces. I never really thought I could learn to record myself, but in 2012, I joined a Facebook group called Theme Music, in which professional and amateur musicians submit original and cover songs centered around a weekly theme. I got myself a good mic. And I quickly found myself writing new songs, trading files and collaborating with people all around the country, including several songs with the group's founder, songwriter/musician/producer, Matt Brown.

 

In October of 2013, Matt turned to me and then to a packed house at Smith's Olde Bar in Atlanta, GA and said "We're going to be making a record!" We were onstage for Themestock 2, the second annual Theme Music live show. We had successfully written and recorded together online for two years: it just seemed obvious that we would devote much of the next year making a full album.

 

This Grand View is that album. It reflects the possibilities of reaching across bandwidth to artists outside my reach while also being anchored to the roots and rhythms of my own back yard. Matt had made 7 studio albums with his band Uncle Green. This is our debut record together! Mixing and mastering the project is acclaimed sound engineer S. Husky Hoskulds, Groundlift Studios.