a singer of modern pop * a lover of the retro and the futuristic * a teacher of music * a pianist, guitarist * a devotee of British rock and Brazilian jazz * a tireless optimist * a believer in a new world order * a business-minded romantic

BIO

I fell into writing children's songs out of necessity. I do music a few hours a week with the kids at a preschool near my home in Atlanta. I'm always passing out sticks for the kids to click together. Red ones, green ones, blue ones. Of course, someone says, "I want the red ones," and someone else wants blue, and so on. It creates that viral whining epidemic that leads to complete pandemonium. So one day I started singing a jingle: "you get what you get, you get what you get, hey boys & girls, you get what you get." Instant classic! Now the kids start singing it whenever someone starts to indicate a preference for just about anything. The teachers have added verses: "We all get a turn." It feels good to have written a standard. Feel free to adapt it to your own needs. But truly, it was the first of many.

I am fascinated by children. I am totally captivated by a toddler sitting in a cart in a grocery check-out line, a bunch of four-year-olds on the court trying to remember which basket to shoot at while surrounded by screaming adults, and a seven-year-old with her front teeth half grown in, attempting a handstand in the middle of a restaurant. I tried teaching public school and despaired at how it seemed to dull all the kids into conformity. I currently teach a lot of one-on-one music lessons plus a few classes (with a few children's parties and a bit of babysitting thrown in).

I love getting to know the kids and their families, but somewhere along the line I became an authority figure. Writing children's songs has become a way for me to connect with the children's inner lives and with that part of myself that is still a kid. It reminds me what age nine is really like, in a way that just seeing nine-year-olds every day does not. I can get more in touch with each child's agenda and let go of mine a little bit.

The songs I like are the same ones the kids like, as long as they are age-appropriate. I love singing folk songs with them, the kind that have all the edges worn down like sea glass from many years and many voices. These are the songs I aspire to write. I may have hit the jackpot on the first try with "You Get What You Get," but I'll keep going.

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