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This cd was definitely my labor of love. I produced it myself, in my own studio, in my own back yard. (In Los Angeles, practically everyone has a studio in their back yard!) I worked on it between loads of laundry, helping with homework, doing gigs on the road. I enlisted lots of friends, mostly from my church, to help. It took about nine months (there are indeed many parallels between making a cd and birthing a baby).

In many ways this was a great process. When I was done, I felt like the cd really was a true representation of my music. The original intent of the songs hadn’t gotten lost in the production process, which does happen sometimes. But in other ways it was very hard. I lost perspective more than once, went through periods of thinking it was terrible, thought it would never be done, etc. But my husband kept saying “just stick with it”. So I did, and in the end I am very proud of this cd.

The songs are about being a woman and a mom, struggling to find my faith, having doubts, finding comfort and refuge in God. I didn’t grow up in a church, I was baptized for the first time only nine years ago. So I tried to make a cd that would tell about that journey, more confessional than preachy, sharing my story rather than telling people how to live their lives. For one thing, I don’t feel qualified to tell other people how to live, for the other, I think all you really can know is your own heart.

The cd was inspired musically and spiritually by my home church, Church of the Valley. I get to sing and play, as well as write for, our praise band and choir. I’ve grown so much as a musician and as a Christian in our worship services. Many of the songs on this cd were written in response to specific sermons, prayers, or songs that moved me during a service. I feel blessed to be so challenged and inspired by my home church. The cd was also influenced musically by the great singers and songwriters I grew up listening to: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris. I also listened a lot to some recent cds, especially k.d. lang’s “Hymns of the 49th Parallel”, Emmylou Harris’ “Wrecking Ball”, and Patti Griffin’s “Children Running Through”.