My love of music began with the early influence of my Cape Breton-born grandfather, Harry MacAulay. His natural musicality infused everything he did, and I soaked it all in. An alumna of the acclaimed Semiahmoo Secondary music program in Surrey, British Columbia, I spent my teenage years playing tenor sax in various jazz groups and working towards my A.R.C.T. certification in classical piano. I've been teaching piano and saxophone for about 28 years and I've played keyboards and saxophone in various groups, from funk to folk-rock, from live gigs to studio recording. In my early thirties I overcame a life-long fear of public singing and took up the guitar to accompany myself. I released my first solo EP, "Walking Tall," in April 2013. My songwriting passion lies in striving towards the powerful marriage of carefully crafted lyrics with the expressive potential of the human voice, and I look to artists such as Amanda Palmer, Amos Lee, Amelia Curran, Glen Hansard, and Josh Ritter for inspiration.

WALKING TALL

Recorded in Vancouver, BC at Derek Mason Music Productions, “Walking Tall” is a collection of 5 songs covering a wide emotional range. Lyrics and voice are front and centre, set against an organic backdrop of mostly-acoustic instruments: guitar, mandolin, fiddle, accordion, piano, and a few other colourful surprises. Contributors to the album include Vancouver and White Rock musicians: Derek Mason (guitars and bass), Jen Jorgensen (backing vocals), John Laird (mandolin), Tina Kelly (fiddle), Brendan McLean (drums), Phil Robertson (drums), and Rene Worst (double-bass).

"The music in you, is the music in me."