There isn’t a time I remember loving anything more than music. From an early age, there were always sounds of songs filtering through the hallway from my bedroom… or so my mother says. My thoughts were, and are, rarely unaccompanied by melodies that unsurprisingly surface in the rhythm of my steps, the beat of my own heart. Music is never far from my thoughts, you see, but somehow, for a time, life took me in a different direction.

I grew up with a loving family in Indianapolis, Indiana. I did all the things normal kids do – played sports, joined school clubs, and of course, sang in the choir. I was a dedicated student, and always threw myself fully into whatever I was doing. Deciding it was more important to create a life through responsible choices rather than chase an uncertain musical career, I obtained a degree in Communications from DePaul University in Chicago. It seemed like music really wasn’t an option for me, I think mostly because I didn’t know how to pursue it. Upon graduation, I promptly moved to Los Angeles.

Though music wasn’t the conscious motivation for my move, I still couldn’t fully shake its grip on me. I started singing again at a local church on the worship team. There I met my vocal coach, Dennis Lamar, and dove back in, headfirst, to my first love.

Looking back, I can see I didn’t really know my own voice. I think Dennis helped me find it for the first time. Together, we worked tirelessly for years, honing my skills as a vocalist, and gradually, the urge to write my own music emerged. I began developing my capacity as a songwriter, leaning on Dennis and the basic musical knowledge I gathered in high school. I'm still learning and growing and recently started taking guitar lessons.

Heavily influenced by legendary singers like Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, my musical style is definitively pop, but don’t let this oversimplified classification fool you. I draw inspiration from the soulful sounds of James Morrison, Marc Broussard, and Adele, as well as the lyric artistry of Brooke Fraser and newcomer Tori Kelly. Lyrics are incredibly important to me. Each word is painstakingly selected because my goal has always been to deliver honesty in a compelling and imaginative manner.

In 2013, I was selected as the second Program Artist for Idle Tuesdays Recording Studio (www.idletuesdays.com), a non-profit organization dedicated to developing artists who aim to positively influence the music industry and beyond. My first ever project, ‘the Detours EP’ featuring three original songs, was released on May 16, 2014. My talented husband, Mat Fretschel, helped me with all the album art photography and design. I am now performing around Los Angeles and continuing to write new material for my next project.

Other than music, I really just love people. I really come alive in social settings, and I think I just want to give people a reason to smile, to feel, to want to be better. I hope to do that through music. And this, my friend, is only the beginning.