Music, Toys, Dolls, and Teddy Bears
Updated: Feb 17, 2021
What do I remember from my early childhood? I can clearly remember having my very own private audience. An audience captivated as I sang, danced and performed in my bedroom. An audience made up of my toys, dolls and teddy bears.
Like many little girls growing up, I dreamed of being a singer. When you are young everything and anything seems possible. The imagination of a child makes the impossible, possible. I was energetic, joyful and had a wild imagination. In the bubble of my own little musical world, I could be the director, the producer, the choreographer and the star-singer. I would line up my toy's, one by one, getting ready for the big show. The curtain would go up, which was my Mum and Dad's bed blanket and I would sing...…
I grew up in a small town, working class family in Buckinghamshire, England, so the reality of actually one day singing somewhere like Las Vegas seemed a million miles away. As beautiful as Buckingham is, my heart desired the life of a singer on the road. Like so many, I grew up listening to music on the radio and also buying records. Music brought so much excitement for me. Whether I was singing along to songs, learning lyrics, buying the latest record releases, or even watching the artists perform their songs on T.V. The excitement of the music was magical!
Our family home was always filled with music and love. My Dad played piano and sang, he had a great ear for music and could play anything he heard. My older brother played drums and would go out performing at local venues with my Dad. My sister would be singing in her bedroom, so it was natural for me to join in. When I was around 10 years old, I wrote my first song and that creative songwriting passion has stuck with me ever since.
After leaving school with my enthusiasm and microphone in hand, I set out on the long winding road to a career as a professional singer. The bright lights and big city calling to me. Every weekend I would travel to the West End of London to sing with professional bands. Some of you may have heard of music venues like the ‘Rock Gardens’ or ‘The Mean Fiddler’, some may not, but it was the place to be, for young singers and musicians like me to be seen.
It wasn’t long before I found myself recording and singing original music and working with some of the best songwriters and music producers in the business. I was hired as a session singer to perform, on songs to be pitched to artists like Cher, Tina Turner, Lulu and many other well-known artists. There are a few hit records out there with my vocals swirling around in the background.
In 2004, I met Spencer Jaye, my songwriting partner, we both loved the same music and had the same creative ideas and drive. Spencer had written tracks for the legendary Nashville based publishing company Acuff-Rose. During his time writing country songs, Spencer had also been producing for various record companies. We immediately started writing and producing my 1st album “Always In My Heart” and released it independently. The first album received three nominations for the UK Country Radio Awards, including Album of the Year, Single of the Year and Song of the Year. Now I realise that this might sound absolutely small-time in the grand scheme of things, it’s not the CMA’s but for Spencer and I, it was the start of our music, and life journey together.
Hit the fast forward button, a record deal, publishing deal, tours, being an independent artist and a million other musical experiences along the way. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect the curtain to really go up in Las Vegas, Russia, Australia, Germany and at the legendary Blue Bird Café in Nashville. Never could I have imagined my songs being right alongside my favourite Country Music artists.
The fact that I get to be a part of the music, I love so much, even on my own smaller scale is just amazing. The International Country Music Magazine 'Maverick' wrote an article which they called ‘The Gift of Bubbles’. The song ‘Bubbles’ has been a real blessing to me, the song hit the Top 10 in almost every Country Music and Christian Music chart across Europe, something I just never expected to happen. But for me, the real gift is YOU!
I still love that feeling of creating, performing and singing to YOU, the audience. I guess what I am trying to say to YOU is that the most important part about making music is the audience, that's YOU, the listener, the supporter, the one who cheers us musicians, on to do better. YOU are the one that makes music matter. Because if YOU are not on this musical journey with me, then there is no magic. Magic happens, when a little girl who once performed in her bedroom full of teddy bears, get's to perform for YOU, get's to sing on your radio, be heard on your iPod, be added to your playlist, seen on your computer/TV screen. The very thing she once imagined impossible, becomes reality. Her dreams become reality, her dreams come true because of YOU.
If you'd like to hear some of the music I have written and recorded on my musical journey, click here to listen to my album, "Here For You".