|
 |
From an early age, Carol's world has been
filled with music, playing by ear and beginning piano lessons at the age
of three. Her teacher discovered that she was gifted with "perfect
pitch" as she began studying classical piano at that time. Her
pre-school years saw entry into numerous contests (at her parents'
prodding) and included her winning the Kiwanis Stars of Tomorrow at the
ripe age of 4. The story goes that minutes before her performance
she refused to go on stage until bribed with the promise of new shoes.
A
Colorado native raised on a dairy farm near Loveland, Colorado, she
lived the life of a country girl growing up with her closest friends, her
animals. When not a top a horse, she was busy feeding calves, finding
kittens moved by the mother cat (because Carol had handled them too much),
playing with the family dog or bottle feeding orphaned lambs,
all of
this establishing her engrained love and respect for animals, a passion
she holds to this day. While helping with barn chores, she
absorbed the sounds of Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, and Glen Miller
resonating from the barn radio.
Polkas, not her favorite, were on the selected button on the car radio
on Sunday afternoon family drives to see the neighbors' crops.
Her older sister ushered in the beginnings of rock and roll, introducing
Bill Haley and the Comets and Elvis to the house. And yet, the classic
soundtracks of Rodgers & Hammerstein and Leonard Bernstein filled the
air while she ironed and cleaned and did her indoor chores.
Carol took up the clarinet in band, and became first chair in junior
high and high school. Her musical versatility has resulted from
the perhaps "strange",
perhaps well-rounded mix of life she led while growing up. Her
early adulthood, steeped in the music of the Beatles, Gene Pitney, Burt
Bacharach, and the Motown era, rounded out her appreciation of many
musical genres.
She attended
Colorado State University but forfeited her scholarship the middle of
her junior year when she quit to "become a rock and roll star". That did
not happen, but she played in numerous groups over the next few decades,
including a nine piece R&B group which included Philip Bailey of Earth,
Wind, & Fire, prior to his fame. Keyboardist for seven years with the popular
Denver-based group "A Nice Change", she traveled cross
country from Chicago to Las Vegas and appeared alongside the
Kingston Trio and comedian Gallagher. Her keyboard skills with other
groups, have backed up those as diversified as
the Shirelles, Bobby Bare, Little Jimmy Dickens, the raging Cajun Doug
Kershaw, and others.
The year 2010 brought about big changes for Carol and the
world as she had known it! Her extensive involvement in the Colorado
music scene (as church pianist for two different churches; as a
private piano teacher for years; as a regular player at weddings,
private parties, musical theater, and the occasional studio sessions; having been a member
of three bands (A Touch of Jazz quartet, the EMR easy
listening group, and The Meteors oldies rock and roll band) ........ was all now behind her
....... 500 miles behind her! She and Dan, the two dogs,
and the five fish moved to New Mexico.
Even though her network of family,
friends, and business associates were in Colorado, it did not take long
for Carol to start making music in the Land of Enchantment. Currently,
she is playing with "RoundAbout", a six piece classic rock group that can
accommodate tastes as diversified as George Strait to the Temptations.
Amidst this
schedule, her intensity and passion for songwriting remains strong.
Although she wrote songs during her performing years on the road, it was
not until 2000 that she picked it up again in a very serious and
dedicated way. Admitting the music, rather than the lyrics, has
had the greatest impact on her, Carol brings strong melody to her
compositions. And quite naturally, as you would expect, her songs
vary in genre from commercial pop/R&B/adult contemporary with a
theatrical edge (lending itself toward film crossover) to country and
Christian. She writes both lyrics and music for the majority of her material but
collaborates with other lyricists from time to time. Being skilled in
the “old school” of piano theory, she scores all of her compositions.
She is a member of SESAC (see favorite links page). Her demos have been receiving
airplay on the Colorado Wave Radio, streaming for thousands of
listeners, and are available for sale at
cdbaby.com, as well as the "My
Songs" page on this site. She is represented by Villancico Music, Inc.
An avid adventure
seeker, Carol has skydived, bungee jumped and completed two 500 mile
bicycle tours. She and her very supportive husband, Dan, live happily
ever after with their two dogs, a horse, and a pond of koi on
their acreage between Santa Fe and Albuquerque.
|
