I have a lot of music inside me. I hear music all the time. I dream in music. Full musicals.

I hear music in the running water of my bathtub, in my dishwasher, in the car motor running outside, in the rhythm of typing in the keyboard right now.

Sometimes I have 3 or more songs running congruently in my head, some in different languages even. I believe that is the kind of madness where music is created. If you can dive in and pull it out without going mad yourself. Believe me, being audio sensitive is a gift but also comes with being over stimulated easily. Especially in loud rooms with lots of people and music. - I digressed.

Anyway, I wanted to find a way to capture some of this music. I had started keeping a recording device on my nightstand so I could roll over and sing the songs I was dreaming. Imagine being in the dead of sleep and listening to the radio for 30 seconds to a song you’ve never heard. Then you have to wake up suddenly and remember every single part in a complete daze somewhere between sleeping and wakefulness. Then you have your mind telling you to just go back to sleep and forgetaboutit! But sometimes they were so strong they haunted me. I have thought I had great recordings and listened back the next morning to undefinable weird croaks or moans and breathing. Hmmm. I would get the rhythm first, sing it into my phone, then the bass, then guitar, then lyrics and then any toppings like black olives and feta cheese. I told someone about this and they said, Oh, you are a “song catcher”. I liked that term, it felt right.

I wanted a way to better record these instances so I went to take a desktop musician class at College of Marin with the great cellist, Alex Kelly. (featured on track 1 & 2) The recordings of him were actually taken from a lesson in his living room and I used them as the homework assignments!

I engineered and mixed and recorded as much in my own living room as I could, and got it to where my skill level was. I also had the help of my friend, producer/engineer and guitarist extraordinaire, Chris Haugen. When I first heard Chris’ playing I knew I wanted to work with him. His finger picking style is so melodic and he chooses the most perfect sequence of notes. It makes sense to me and it is exactly how I would play if I had 30+ years into it like him, haha. He also uses a Weissenborn guitar manufactured in the 20s & 30s that is an acoustic steel lap and creates a sound that I absolutely resonate with (pun intended). So haunting and vibey. Chris has such an intuitive way of listening to my ideas or me singing him parts and then he was able to easily (or what seemed like magic) create what I was hearing in my head. It was like such a relief! I can’t even explain it. He completely understood me musically.This song collective was three years in the making, but honestly one of those years, it just sat warm on the stove like a really good gumbo. I wanted to think about it. It needed room to breathe. At some point the title came to me, I heard it loud and clear “In over my Heart” and so it was. It’s pretty self explanatory. The whole project was a learning experience for me. This was definitely a living room recording project! When I got it to a point that I couldn’t make it sound any better I reached out to Reto Peter at The Teahouse West studio in Richmond, Ca. Reto had the best way of working with me! He was so kind and patient. He kept the original integrity of the songs, told me what I may need to re-track and helped me navigate with lots of useful tools and advice! At his studio we re-tracked some drums using drummer, teacher and author, Jeremy Steinkoler, redid the horns with John P. Douglas and re-tracked my vocals with a really really good mic. Reto has an AMAZING ear and really coached me with some advice and great ideas and contributions with editing. He even helped with percussion on a track! Simultaneously, I sent the tunes to my pal and Bass Mama, Angeline Saris to see what her bass would sound like on them. I love Angeline’s ear and interpretation for the feel of the songs and what bass would sound good on each song. She approached them with care and thoughtfulness. She was generous with positive feedback and did such an amazing job that I kept sending more her way for her to track in her home studio and send back to us.

Then as we were coming down to recording the final bits, COVID-19 hit. That didn’t stop us. We figured out a way to work in three different studios simultaneously through zoom! Gives a whole new spin on the term “isolation booth”.

I want to give special thanks to my Papa, Eddie Souza who was a singer and bought me electric organs every year for Christmas; To my Step Dad and Jazz Musician, Carl Lunsford who hates all female singers but thinks I am “OK” and taught me all about Bessie Smith and Traditional Jazz, To my Mom for singing Harmony with me growing up, My Dad who loves Big Band music, My Daughter who is my muse for birdy, My chorus teacher, Deborah Rae Thompson for teaching me everything about singing, To James Moseley who took me under his wing years ago and inspired me to write original music; To Chris Haugen for being able to interpret what was in my head and so beautifully create/manifest it; To Angeline Saris for being the glue that holds the songs together so nicely, To Jeremy Steinkoler for "finding the groove" I wanted; To Silvestre Martinez for the percussion and Logic help and sisterhood; To Ken Cook for playing on “Time" and "With You" and the piano/music theory lessons, To Rob Fordyce for playing on "Brook Steps" and the bass/music theory lessons, To John P. Douglas who always brings it 100%+ even during a major pandemic, and a huge thanks to Reto Peter who’s patient and expertise was so well delivered and received, I couldn’t have finished this without you! To Michael Mesmer for being an advocate for Men’s Mental Health and working with Women’s domestic abuse survivors, To Steve Gibson for the amazing solo on Grace; To Andy Bradt for appealing to my whimsy of recording in his home studio in Texas for Grace, To my Cuz, Michael Aragon who inspired me every Friday night at the NN, To Ian Lamson who taught me about the blues and how to lead a band in a jam with holding up I IV V fingers, To Haley Mears who listened to my many iterations with a positive smile, To my music angels Mychael Merrill and Rob Robinson, To my neighbors for all the noise; To Drew Newbold for all of my artwork/creative and saying I reminded him of Olivia Newton-John and the Carpenters!

Releasing this collection of songs is like opening up my diary for the world to read. As a pretty private person, it is highly vulnerable to put out this music. I never wanted to make it for others to hear, I wanted it just for myself and a few people I trusted, haha… but I guess music doesn’t work that way, so here goes!

Many blessings,