Yellow Mustang ... It all started during the winter of 2021, when I was writing music from an Air bnb on a beach in Virginia. The song, Yellow Mustang, after which the album is named, is about the car, of course! Ha-ha, - ok, and also about the transference of power in a romantic relationship. When I originally wrote it, it was for an assignment for a Songwriting Class for Berklee College of Music. I had been studying minor pentatonic blues scales. It was a little late at night, and I was in a hurry to get the assignment done, so I went with whatever popped into my head. All I could hear inside my inner hearing was superhero music - like the Batman theme song! I started out with a bassline, a drum pattern and a siren type of pad. Then a few months later, during a different class, Berklee Professor Jim Horan, who was VP of Rounder records and had worked with Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin, advised me and a classmate, Joshua Byrd of Byrdsongs Studios, to work together to make an album and possibly even a label. So Josh and I met at his studio- which was in DC at the time, and I was in the process of moving from Boston to Virginia, to work on the album. Josh was interested in the Yellow Mustang song from the minute I hit "play," and knew he wanted to develop the song with me. I remember being in his studio and Josh asking me, "What is this song really about?" and how the most important aspect of a song is the emotional delivery, to really let my voice tell the story. Josh's style is country, and mine is Rock and Roll, so when we combined forces, the sound was something I would never have expected. It was not exactly country- but it was definitely some kind of Rock and Roll, like Southern Rock. At first, I was not sure if it would work out because the sound was so different from my own, and it took a while for me to make my final decision. I had Josh's guitar inside my ears for a good eight months before I knew for sure that we were meant to make this album together. There is something about his guitar playing that pulls from all the influences of my artistry, and it just made sense. Josh helped me find my voice, not just the words to say what I wanted to say in my music, but how to communicate the emotions inside the stories with my vocals. What a gift he has given me. It has been an honor to work with Byrdsongs Studios. I am so glad I committed to the project. After all, when Jim Horan tells you to make an album with someone, you do it. We hope Professor Horan is proud of us!
