Not as often as I should, but I'm open to doing more shows. If I do play, it's locally here in Hampton Roads - Virginia Beach or Norfolk. I hope someday to do more out of town shows.

I also hire myself out for vocals or bass, so you may catch me occasionally filling in with someone else's band.

Personally, as an independent artist, I value the internet as a portal to get my music into the hands of more people faster. Derek Sivers of CdBaby.com brought up a good point - at this stage in the game where I'm practically no one, I'd rather take on battling obscurity instead of piracy.

On the same token, if you are an independent artist that wants to make a living doing music, you can only give away so much for free before the effects of piracy start to show. In either case, I find it hard to feel sorry for those whiny big label artists that make 37 million a year regardless of piracy. So I guess its a matter of where you draw the line of how much you're willing to give away.

Basically, I think the internet/mp3s are a great tool to get your name out there to the masses. I'm glad the industry has finally recognized that instead of litigating against the internet/downloading, they need to treat it like they would a brick and mortar distributor. As a consumer, I'd rather pay .99 for a few songs I like instead of dropping $18 on a full length retail cd that I might only listen to parts of.

I own/run a development stage arts coalition, Pastilan Arts Syndicate, which includes its own label and would like to keep it that way as much as possible. Even still, I could see the benefits of a partnership (at most) with an major label. A major label has access to money and channels that indies don't. I think there are definitely ways to work together.

I started playing music seriously in 2000 as a vocalist/bassist in an indiepop/rock band called Vortex479. It was a great time, to say the least. As fate had it, that same year I got the chance to move to Seattle. I loved Vortex, but I wanted to break the comfort zone and experience a new city and a new life, so I left. We kept a quasi long distance relationship, but Vortex eventually disbanded for good in 2002.

After that collapsed, I stayed in Seattle and started writing songs in my spare time. I had a short stint playing bass for a local community musical. That spun off into a latin/jazz/funk band, where I played bass w/ one other girl my age on keys and the rest 40+ year old men, including classical guitar virtuouso Angelo Pizarro. However, another member of the band (the self-imposed "leader") was crazy and also using us girls as trophies/novelty items, so I once again called it quits. I continued to write and record, finally playing a gig in a tiny coffeehouse on Capitol Hill and recording vox my friend Brian's band, Every Other Second's upcoming album.

Eventually, the homesickness caught up, which coincided with me getting engaged to someone from back home. So in May 2003, I moved back home. Since then, I got married, had a baby, and quit working for the Man, so I could focus on things that I was passionate about: music/arts/business dev and of course, my daughter. I haven't made real money in months, but I love it. I'm blessed to have a well-behaved daughter plus a husband that supports me 100% financially, emotionally, spiritually. Being with my daughter all day plus doing what I love on a daily basis - the greatest thing in the world.

Currently, I'm the Business Manager of DelaCruz PhotoGraphics, a photograhy and design business I co-own w/ my hubby and bro-in-law. I'm also developing an Arts Syndicate, but that won't take flight for a while. Once I have a little more time, I eventually want to start an all-girl band too, but right now I'm just whoring myself out to anyone who may need a vocalist and/or bassist and trying to write new songs in the meantime. I like working with a lot of people 'cause I think more creativity flows from a collaborative effort between talented individuals. I admire the talent of those one-man DIY artists, but I know where my strengths and weaknesses are. I think, for me, success in both business and music comes from knowing when I'm the best for something and when someone else is.

Whether you hear it or not: life, love, anger, heartbreak, faith, revenge, lust, loyalty, betrayal, neglect, despair, hope, mia alma, mendell, starving artists and not starving artists, relative theory, vortex479, the veiling grey, the cardigans, joss stone, jeff buckley, the stills, the cure, stars, memphis, supercaks, soul lyric, the beatles, ivy, gerry and the susu creases, the sundays, amel larrieux, bic runga, astropop 3, sybarit, alicia keys, stevie wonder, the cogan's clown, emm gryner, jessica millete, the better assasins, coldplay, self destructors, denali, jiggly werewolves in capris, engine down, jimmy eat world, jaci velasquez, the v8 love affair, josh verdes, grains of rice, jumprope, julie plug, silverscene, astroblast, martina mcbride, lauryn hill, ice_blink, tomo nakayama, asahi, terra naomi, the velvet teen, eisley, smashing pumpkins, the smiths, morrissey, tricia concepcion, angelo pizarro, leila canlas, the rocking horse winner, paxil rose, mon chi chi, kristine sa, holiday flyer, red house painters, esthero, noise for pretend, camera obscura, longwave, blonde redhead, 65 film show, belle and sebastian, innocence mission, rainer maria, ted leo/pharmacists, zolof the rock n roll destroyer, trembling blue stars, eisley...i could keep going, but i'll probably end up repeating myself. haha.

anywhere w/ my daugher and husband. i love seattle too - it's a beautiful, laid back place. the west coast is soo different from east.

Currently playing: Ovation Celebrity and Epiphone PR-5E acoustic/electric guitars and Epiphone Viola bass

Visit my MySpace site for more info!