My Style:

Unfortunately, I am like none of the above people I admire.  My true style is very progressive, combining folk, rock, classical hymnal, world, and other styles.  I've been told my style is quite gothic.  That's just always been my style and it's just that my life experiences expressed in my music have been very strange and dark.  I've also been told my music is very psychedelic.  That's not really what I originally intended, but I guess it just turns out psychedelic because of my life experiences.  Technically, all music is mind-altering (psychotropic), isn't it?  I think my style is very complex, yet primitive.  I don't intentionally imitate any style really and I don't believe imitation has any artistic integrity.  I compose whatever comes from my soul, however it takes form in my mind.  Some have called me something of a female Syd Barrett or Ozzy Osbourne.  Again, it was not my intention to sound like Syd Barrett or Ozzy Osbourne, it just turns out that way. If I had to describe the style of my music with a label (ugh!), I would call it gothic. 

My Philosophy:

I will listen to most non-obscene, non-blasphemous music of quality which offers something to which I can personally relate.  As for "CCM" (Christian Contemporary Music), I adore Amy Grant's music (especially pre-pop).  I am happy to announce that in recent years there has been some very good CCM produced, as well as other artwork by Christians.  I particularly like Christian emo (chremo?)  I used to have a very difficult time finding any CCM that isn't, well, "cheesy", although I've certainly seen a lot with good messages and some with catchy tunes.  However, good messages and catchy tunes don't necessarily make good music.  That said, I like all styles of music and believe most all styles have merit.  In general, my basic philosophy regarding musical styles is: the less technology, the better.  Analog is better than digital any day, audio better than midi, tubes better than solid-state, passive electronics better than active, acoustic better than electric.  I appreciate the new forms of artistry technology facilitates, but I feel it has become way overused, and thus the resulting music has become mindless and lifeless and devoid of skill and meaning.  It is better to create a slow work of genius with a lot of thought and skill on an old tape recorder, than to quickly mix down a bunch of pre-generated sampled loops without any effort or musical skill required.  I adore handcrafted, real instruments, and I'm a firm believer in musical literacy and education.  As my electronic-music professor and mentor used to say - you have to learn the rules before you can break them intelligently. ;)