Favorite book(s):
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
The Golden Road by L. M. Montgomery

Favorite expressionist: Jenny Holzer

Favorite Music: Gillian Welch (pic) Less is more. On Gillian's 1998 album, she and David Rawlings are the only two players on most of the songs. Producer T Bone Burnett joins them on piano on one song ("Whiskey Girl"). Plus, the way these two play live is extremely incredible.

Leslie/Sam Phillips Leslie (Sam) Phillips CCM pop/rock queen of the eighties. Though she claims she only wrote propaganda for the CCM industry, favorites like "Strength of My Life" and "By My Spirit" are some of the best praise & worship songs ever written.

Mark Heard From the first time I heard "Strong Hand of Love", I was hooked. Besides, his background vocalists include Julie Miller and Sam Phillips. Nothing is better than to hear Sam sing with Mark.

Chris Eaton (pic)

Gary Chapman I saw him in concert by himself once, for free. I also saw him host Sam's Place live and play with a couple of other artists on the bill. He is incredible live and very gracious.

Lucinda Williams "Right in Time", "I Lost It", and "He Never Got Enough Love" are just three of the outrageously wonderful songs that Lucinda Williams recorded. When I heard Ramblin', I thought the way she did Delta blues was it. Then she does traditional folk like no one else, then she does contemporary folk like no one else.

Julie Miller Blue Pony is a classic. After buying Orphans and Angels, I couldn't stop collecting her albums whenever I saw them for sale. She's wonderful because of her innocent vocals and honest outlook on life.

Suzanne Vega (pic) She fits the stereotype of artists I like best: She's not a folk singer, but that's the best way to categorize her.

Townes van Zandt Though he's gone, this Texas singer-songwriter is amazingly incredible with words and music.

Bob Dylan I picked up a random biography about him and was hooked for days. It was really long and I had stuff to do, but I was mesmerized. What an incredible songwriter. For the record, I love Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" better than the Byrds' version.

Aimee Mann: I bought her Bachelor #2 album around 2000 and I just "got" it. Now, I'm into all her old stuff, including her 'Til Tuesday stuff. It's nice to hear some intelligent music.

Allison Moorer (pic, see addt'l link), Gram Parsons, LeeAnn Womack,

Tori Amos, Sheena Easton, Fiona Apple
Travis - Fran Healy's ability to write such silly, then serious songs is just great. I discovered them July 2001 in London and wondered if they were too good to be true. They rock so much that it's crazy. Bands this good are few and far between. Tina Arena - Brilliant Australian singer. Beautiful songs and experimental pop that is so edgy, American radio stations will never play her (except the covers done by Jo Dee Messina, LeAnn Rimes, etc.) Rufus Wainwright Constantly switching from piano to guitar, this very talented artist also has the voice of an angel. Although his songs are brilliant, he also pulls off covers of songs by artists like Leonard Cohen and the Beatles very well. The Vines Craig Nicholls is amazingly brilliant and so prolific that it scares me! He rocks. Finally---Eva Cassidy who died 11/2/96 is the most incredible singer. I can't believe a singer so wonderful exists. She sounds like Aretha and sings standards, pop, folk, and gospel. Very mesmerizing.

Sometimes it seems like God doesn't hear us, but He has a certain plan for our lives and will not let us down.

Romans 8:1
"There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit."

Isaiah 43:2
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you."

Joel 3:16b "...The Lord will be a shelter for His people, And the strength of the children of Israel."

2 Thessalonians 3:3
"But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one."

So from there I bought Margaret Becker's Soul album three months later. It was on the "rock" side and was a little too much for me. But I continued buying albums here and there, when my taste in music started to change.

So now: I have approximately 300 albums. I have been songwriting since I was thirteen, and have written about 500 songs.

Of course, it was Carolyn Arends who introduced me to folk music. She was brilliant and I thought,'oh, folk music is good.' Then I got into more dangerous and fulfilling Christian folk music like Mark Heard and from there on discovered people like Gillian Welch and Aimee Mann.