The deal is this: I've been on the road, making my living as a full time touring indie folk singin songwriter for about four years, give or take (depending on how flexible you're willing to be in your definition of "a living," I guess). Before that I was a part-time touring folk singer and a part time recording studio engineer. Before that I was a full time recording studio engineer (also, at times, a part time cash register specialist at Whole Foods, a college student, a bank teller, the token female on the tech crew, a terrible waitress, Ruth in the Pirates of Penzance and a host of other things). As a rule I try not to put much stock in defining a person by their profession - a dangerous tendency that we have in this culture, I think - but since my brain, my heart, my music, my life, my ego, my livelihood and my identity are all kind of rolled up in one volatile little package that I load into a station wagon, drive all over the country and hoist on stage every night, it's sometimes hard to avoid. I'm working on it.

I released a brand new CD last year, which is technically my 3rd but also the first full length I've recorded since going full time with the whole music thing. I think recording an album is kind of like falling in love -- everyone around you is doing it all the time (especially when you're a full time musician and so are a lot of your friends), but when it happens to you it feels like the largest, most singular and important occurrence of all time and space. But....I'm! Recording! An! Album!! It's very exciting. The album is called 'Mystery Prize,' it's out there in the world (even got a lil record deal in Europe, very exciting)! You can score your very own copy, should you care to, at my website or, better yet, at a live show!

I'm updating this bio on the first day of autumn in 2011, sitting at the kitchen table of a kindly host's house in Tucson, AZ. Twenty eleven has been a potent year so far. I started with a month off, in an attempt to cleanse my mind/body/spirit after 4 straight years of touring. During that time I was invited to audition for a TV show called "The Voice." I went on a whim and was asked to audition again in Los Angeles, this time in front of famous people. Next thing I knew I was face to face with Christina Aguilera and Adam Levine, talking about songwriting among other things, and 12 million people saw it on NBC. I was on the show for a couple episodes, left in a fashion that I am very comfortable with and since then I've been back on the road, doing what I've been doing for the past four -- almost five, now -- years. It's been great to see some new friendly faces at these shows, as well as having a chance to reconnect with the familiar ones. If you'd like to see me play live sometime, check out my tour schedule. I hope to slow down for a minute to record some new songs sometime soon, but I've always got a tour cookin, so keep an eye out!

Hope you're doing well out there and that I get to see your pretty face smiling in some dimly lit theater, pristine acoustic listening room, dingy dive bar, college coffeehouse or campfire circle sometime soon.

Photo by Kate Culver