I have learned a few things in my lifetime musical journey.  I have learned that music is truly the language, other than math, that can reach everyone.

"What comes from the heart, reaches the heart".

This is a statement that my mother, early on, explained to me.  It is also a statement that I have taken to heart with every song I sing or I write.

I remember trying to mimic Jennifer Holiday singing "And I Am Telling You" .  When my mom, who was ear hustling at the time, began to chastise me for trying to be Jennifer Holiday and sing the song exactly as Jennifer Holiday did.  She told me "if you can't feel a song, you can't sing that song."

What she meant was, pantomiming someone or just regurgitating words in a certain key, does not a singer make.

The marking of a true singer is someone that can make the hairs on your arms stand up at attention. Better yet, someone that can lift you up, carry you to a place you've never been before and never physically touch you.

This is a statement that has stuck with me over the years and after looking at pictures of myself, mid song, I apparently learned this lesson all too well.

With pain on my face, eyes closed and mouth wide open, raring back as if to scream to the heavens, I am pouring heart and soul into whatever song I'm singing.

What comes from the heart reaches the heart, and I truly hope my music reaches the heart of others.