I feel lucky to have wonderful parents, and with Father’s Day just around the corner, I wanted to dedicate this post to my father.

I owe a large part of where I am today as a musician to him.

Growing up my dad would always say that if you have ambition, you can achieve anything. Little did he know that these words of wisdom would one day help me to become a one-woman band, release an album, and have a music video 😉

My dad is a big reason why I was able to switch from being a “musician” to a being “musical artist.”

After playing other people’s music on my flute for years in band class, I decided I wanted to play the guitar so that I could write my own music and sing while playing an instrument.

My dad always said that he was never musically inclined and didn’t know anyone in my family who was, and he, therefore, encouraged my unique passion for music. (The black sheep of the family 😉 )

With my dad not having a background in music, he wasn’t sure about what guitar to give me, so he asked for recommendations from musicians that he knew. For Christmas that year, I opened up my favorite Christmas present of all time: my beautiful, Dean acoustic guitar. Yes, this is the same acoustic that I play at my shows 🙂

When I opened my guitar, my dad asked me to play it…hahaha. Those we’re interesting noises… 😉

Knowing that I would need some help learning the guitar, my dad found me an excellent guitar teacher. I remember my dad sitting in on my guitar lessons, enjoying how my guitar teacher taught me awesome classic rock songs.

After playing the acoustic for a while, and loving it, I told my dad I wanted to rock out more and asked for an electric guitar.

That birthday, I opened a Fender Strat and a Fender Amp. I was ready to rock 😛 This is the electric guitar that you can hear on my album. 🙂

Here’s my senior picture with the Dean Acoustic and Fender Electric that my dad gave me 🙂 I’ve had these babies for over a decade!

For a long time, I was satisfied with my just having my acoustic and electric guitars, but that changed when I had the opportunity to jam on my friend’s bass.

After realizing how fun the bass was, when my parents asked what I wanted for Christmas two years ago, I told them that all I wanted was my own bass.

That Christmas, I opened my beautiful Mexican Fender Jazz Bass.

Thanks to my dad, I can literally be a one-woman band 🙂

I would like to thank my dad, for always encouraging me, believing in me, and giving me guitars and guitar lessons so that I could pursue my passion ❤

Me As a Baby with My Father and Mother 🙂