Hattie Wilcox, songwriter

Hattie Wilcox began playing piano at age 7. She was a shirtless girl raised in the humid-sweet south. When she wasn't in school or playing in the woods, she played the piano for her mama, her "Big Mama" Aunt Hattie and her first music teacher, Annette Kahn of Raleigh, North Carolina. She has fond memories of Mrs. Kahn for introducing her to the joys of Chopin and Debussy and will never forget always being the last student to perform in Mrs. Kahn's recitals.

One summer, her mama drove her to Greensboro every week so she could study with concert pianist, Lili Keleti. Before heading home, Hattie remembers her weekly prize after each lesson--a cheeseburger and fries (circa 1960)--just about as exciting as Miss Keleti. Another summer, she was dazzled by another high-energy teacher, Betty Hanson of Chapel Hill.

At 13, Hattie was accepted for study by Loren Withers, head of the music department at Duke University. Not wanting to practice four hours a day like his other students and her idol Yoko Nazaki, she soon quit. At 17, she returned to the piano to continue music study at Mills College in Oakland, Californa. After college she lived for five years without a TV, and her love of music and modern poetry came together when she began to write traditional country tunes.

Since then, Hattie has studied songwriting with Jack Segal (SGA Hollywood), notation with jazz pianist Paul Conrad (Honolulu) and voice with Janet B. White and currently Bonnie Fink. Her favorite teacher of all is the inspiring pianist Rinna Livshin of San Diego, with whom she continues to study.

She wrote "Miss Hattie Moran's Augusta Georgia Rag" in honor of her great-aunt, Hattie Dermott Moran (1891-1951) of Augusta, Georgia, who sang and worked as a pianist for the Lion's Club, The Exchange Club of Augusta, local theatre, and for St. John's Methodist Church for more than 30 years.

Visit Hattie at her website hattiewilcox.com