Born in the early sixties when the original James Brown was movin’ and groovin’, my only connection to music was my name. As a child my family moved to Los Angeles where I grew up with the likes of James Brown, Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, Gladys Knight, The Temptations, Aretha Franklin and many musical geniuses. It was not until the mid-1980’s that I found an interest in creating music. I purchased a keyboard, a drum machine and a four-track tape recorder, and tinkered with them for many years. I had no music lessons, appreciation, or training on any musical instrument. I just knew that I liked good music and it was the greatest feeling in the world to create a melody and fall in love with it.
By the time I was ready to marry in the early 1990’s, I had created and composed my own instrumental wedding song using only four tracks. I created a drum beat and had a bass guitarist lay down a bass line on one track, then added the violins, brass, and sweeteners to finish it off. I have always been a poetic writer before and during my marriage. My musical interests lay dormant for over ten years, resulting in an occasional tape recording of a light melody, until my interest surged again.
As fate would have it, a death in the family would bring me together with my cousin, Donny McCullough. Donny worked for Berry Gordy at Motown in the 1980’s and heard the old tapes and realized that there was something there worth exploring. As luck would have it, he also got to see some of the poetic writings I had created over the years, shortly thereafter. Donny offered me the opportunity to witness a live recording while he himself was working on one of his projects, so that I could experience the process from start to finish. I felt so blessed with the opportunity that I wrote a Gospel song out of nowhere. The lyrics reflected my gratitude for being blessed with the encounter with my cousin and it was a very emotional accomplishment. History is evolving as each day passes and I am grateful for each day that passes.