BIO
I began classical piano lessons at eight with a boring teacher and after moaning to my parents they swapped him for a creative and skilled singer-songwriter friend of the family. Her creativity and passion
rubbed off on me. At the age of 10 she involved me in playing the drums at her church. Just a few years later she taught me to lead the congregation in their sung worship. At 15, I wrote my first song on the
piano, which was a buzz. My teacher encouraged me enthusiastically. A friend showed me three chords on the guitar then at 16 I wrote my first guitar song. By the time I was 18, I had accompanied on the drums,
keys and vocals and lead worship regularly at my local church, learning to adapt to all sorts of styles and musical tastes. I then attended a six-month school in Toronto, Canada, where I was offered two musical
opportunities. As an on the road keyboardist and worship leader for a Canadian evangelist I embarked on an eight month adventure where keyboard and vocal creativity became a stylistic norm and my song writing
made great strides.
I turned 20 back at my parents in Essex. They let me claim their garage for the next three years where I began kitting out my musical equipment. I wrote over 150 songs, recording many of them and setting up my
own concerts to perform music that, reflecting back, helped me express my experiences and spirituality. I’d spend hours alone with my Korg Triton Pro, feeling inspired and moved by swirly pads and emotive
strings. I wrote my first musical scores for a flautist who accompanied me on an album I called ‘The Place That I Call Home.’ We performed this in my hometown, Ingatestone, and also travelled to
Blackpool to perform at two venues. I worked in a care home part time and, after listening to an instrumental track I‘d experimentally blown some whistles to, my boss asked me to write and record more for her
unwell husband. I was surprised when she told me that her suffering husband felt that his anxiety subsided whilst listening to my music. The called the collection of instrumentals that followed ‘Memoreeze’.
In the summer of 2003 I moved to Salisbury then Blackpool, working musically with local youth in both group and 1:1 activities. In my mid twenties I started my first of three choirs to date. I hunted folk who
felt they couldn’t join choirs because of their lack of musicality and ability to read music. Funded by the Arts Council, in 2008 I developed a ‘Beat and Rhyme’ programme for Inner City London students deemed
‘at risk’. To the beat of my djembe drum, named Jemima but one group, they expressed their feelings and aspirations, many of them faces beaming with new found confidence that they had written and recorded their
own songs.
A year later a friend and I saw opportunity in the Waterloo area for a jazz and blues cafe. This was a huge step in a new direction for me playing house band keys and accompanying singers during open mic
sessions.
In 2012, finding it near impossible to ignore my musical passions, not just for making music but helping others make their own, I decided to risk it all and embark on a full-time venture in all things musical;
student performances, radio stations and music making, 1:1 tuition, guitar and vocal workshops, school choirs, music therapy, performance and EP recordings &ndash: as well as Asperger and mental health clients.
By no means has my musical journey ended! Keeping my own musicality fresh and vibrant keeps me ready to offer something relevant to my students. This year I am undertaking a Level 6 Diploma in Music Tuition
with Rockschool, the preferred musical accreditation board for my students. I keep my piano fingers limbered up playing at wedding and events with Sonic Architects, as well as playing and singing my own jazz
influenced arrangements in a 3-piece band.
It’s the musical life for me!