Recording artist and holistic vocal coach

My father sat me down at the keyboard and  taught me about chords when I was 4. I knew I wanted to be a songwriter from age 11, when Kate Bush burst into my life.

I’ve had a rather long journey to get to where I always knew I wanted to be, but along the way I have learned some of life’s best lessons, and they have all informed my writing. I think that releasing my debut album aged 56 has turned out to be perfect timing for me. You’re less easily discouraged at my age!

I did my first demo tape in the early 90s, (thank you, Richard Sparks!), had some great photos done  (thank you, Jon Barlow),  and then began ‘proper’ singing lessons with coloratura soprano, Dorothy Shaw. She liked my ‘songs’, but insisted that I learn to sing classically so that I would have  a proper technique. We started with  Italian Aria Antiche, followed by  German lieder, French mélodies, and then onto Spanish and other languages. I found this  repertoire so fascinating that I began focussing on a career as an opera singer.

Of all my teachers, I still count Dorothy as one of the best. But my greatest thanks for vocal technique and gaining the confidence to perform honestly  must go to Elizabeth Brice, who taught me the Husler technique , which I have  incorporated  into my vocal coaching. She also introduced me to Will Hancox,  the best pianist and accompanist  I have ever worked with.

I met my husband, Steve, and in 2005 we had our son, Alastair. I trained as a homoeopath in 2007 so that I could provide as much holistic care of him as I could. From here, I developed a practice of vocal homoeopathy, and my  passion became helping people to find the confidence to speak and sing authentically with their own unique voice, rather than try to imitate any other performer. 

I spent many enjoyable years performing incredible roles. A highlight was creating the role of the Croupier in 2013, in a specially commissioned opera for Glyndebourne. ‘ Imago’ was written by Orlando Gough, with a libretto by Stephen  Plaice.  Orlando and I shared a love of the band Police, and my conversations with him were a catalyst for me dissolving the mental barrier I had unconsciously created between the worlds of ‘Classical’ and ‘Popular’ music. I began to wonder about using my classically trained voice to sing my own songs.

In 2021 a creative burst was long overdue, and I found myself writing a song a week between September and December that year. These songs became the album Turnaround.

Recording the songs over the summer of 2023 at Lana Banana Studios was a joy and a dream come true. Producer Jack Randall is the very definition of cool, calm and reassuring. He also played bass on the album . Drums were supplied by the  incomparable Jack Smith. I am very grateful to everyone at the studio, especially to Dave Whitelock for taking a personal interest in my album.

I’m not sure what genre anyone would put me in! My influences are the greats of the 70s, and include Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Janis Ian, Judie Tzuke, Kate Bush, Supertramp, Gerry Rafferty, Billy Joel,  Paul McCartney and more. But I am also heavily influenced  by a love of classical music and opera, and my voice is operatically trained, so some of the vocals may be a little unconventional for popular music!

Make of it what you will. I hope you enjoy the songs.