Town and state you grew up in: Ellinwood, Kansas, a town of around 2,000 people right in the middle of the State. 

Town and state you live in now: Northbrook, IL. This is a suburb of Chicago about 20 miles from the City.  

First instrument: Piano

Instruments you currently play: Piano

First performance: According to my Mother, I had a lucrative career singing for candy in the grocery store at age 3.  I moved up to singing in church in first grade. 

Last book you read: The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides. 

Favorite movie: I am asked that a lot and the first two movies that pop into my mind are "The Godfather" and "The Shawshank Redemption”.  Shawshank is a movie that I always remember even though I haven't seen it in years. 

Song you wish you had written:  “Fragile” by Sting. It has beautiful lyrics, a haunting melody and simple acoustic production that is perfect. 

Favorite song:  I have such an eclectic passion for music that it is hard to pick just one song. 

Three people (alive or dead) you would want to have dinner with:  Winston Churchill. Can you imagine drinking a scotch, lighting a cigar and listening to stories with Churchill? That would be very cool. 

I would love to have dinner with Mother Theresa.  It would be amazing to speak with this selfless, diminutive nun who exhibited such  profound compassion for the impoverished people of Calcutta. She inspired millions of people to give back in some way solely through her life and actions. There was never another agenda, which is exceedingly rare. 

Dinner with Nelson Mandela would be an honor. Through force of will, extraordinary courage and nonviolence, he not only survived  Apartheid, but changed the system without a civil war.  hat one man could suffer that much and still not hate is amazing! 

Three CD's you can't live without: Bon Iver’s “Bon Iver;” Fleetwood Mac’s" Rumors;” "August and Everything After,” by the Counting Crows. 

Guilty pleasure:  Red Wine

Your most recent project: A new CD called “Mosaic.”  It is a blend of classic R&B, strong arrangements and vocals, with some very catch original music composed by David Taylor. 

Message to the world: We should celebrate our shared humanity and stop emphasizing our differences.  In the end, we are all one and we need to start acting that way.