Eventually as a teenager, I was pulled up on stage by James Brown's saxophone player, Maceo Parker, during one of his concerts and scatted on his stage for 20 minutes. After I was done, Maceo's bass player got down on one knee as if he were proposing, took a string off of his bass guitar and coiled it up around my ring finger. He hushed the crowd and said into the microphone, "Wendy, from this day forward you are married to music. You have a gift from God. You must devote your life to using this gift or else you will deprive the world of something so special." I got the chills.

Being in the music business requires having a very strong resolve. You must be completely committed to the craziness that will inevitably ensue when pursing a career in music. There is no one who is immune to this. Not even the biggest music icons.

I have certainly faced my fair share and will likely come across more. These experiences have been fuel for my music. Facing these challenges has forced me to recognize my own inner strength.

My goal is to always contribute a part of myself to my music that will result in it sounding authentic, timeless, and real. I feel that this truly comes across in my new album, which is in the Rock genre.

No matter what you're going through, there is no temporary feeling or circumstance that can take away the core of who you are.

If you follow a trend, by the time it is released it will sound like the same regurgitated music that the public has been hearing for the past eight months (at least.) I am not referring to genres or production that is considered to be timeless or "classic" sounding.

Eventually as a teenager, I was pulled up on stage by James Brown's saxophone player, Maceo Parker, during one of his concerts and scatted on his stage for 20 minutes. After I was done, Maceo's bass player got down on one knee as if he were proposing, took a string off of his bass guitar and coiled it up around my ring finger. He hushed the crowd and said into the microphone, "Wendy, from this day forward you are married to music. You have a gift from God. You must devote your life to using this gift or else you will deprive the world of something so special." I got the chills.