Even before I became a recording artist, I did other things in music. I was a teacher, I did studio work, and I was an arranger and a producer.

I was a teacher for a long time. I taught at a community college: voice, theory, humanities. And nowadays, music education is a dying thing. Funding is being cut more and more and more.

If you write songs and if you write music that's very sincere and very honest, it's pop music, but it is pop music with a lot of honesty and a lot of heart.

I grew up in a community that was bilingual. I've done it for a while, singing in both languages.

I have a bachelor's and a master's in jazz.

I write in English first, and then I translate to Spanish. I've always felt more comfortable with the English side of things first.

A real active music set, based and really concentrated on what the music's all about. That's what I'm all about - singing and a really good strong music set.