English Teacher by Day, Desert Groove's Lead Vocalist by Night
Q: How long have you lived in Al Ain?
This is going on my third year now.
Q: What brought you here and where are you from
originally?
I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. Then I got tired of the cold,
so I moved to Las Vegas. Then I got tired of being poor, so
I accepted a fellowship with the U.S. State Department to
teach at Alexandria University in Egypt. I really enjoyed that
and decided to stay in the region and ended up here at Al
Ain Men's College, where I teach English.
Q: How long have you been singing and playing with Desert
Groove?
Almost since I got off the plane. The first thing I did was
start asking around if anyone knew any other musicians
or bands I could get in with. I've been playing for about 15
years and the one thing I wasn't able to do in Egypt was
find another group of musicians. Cairo would have been
OK, but Alexandria, no. I really missed it. Desert Groove
happened to need a singer and I got right in.
Q: Do you ever get nervous performing or do you bask in the
limelight?
I get nervous when it's a new place and a new crowd. I
don't know why. Once I've played somewhere and I get
comfortable with it, it's OK. But a new place and a new
crowd frazzles me a little bit.
Q: What inspired you to start singing?
I was one of those kids that spent hours alone in my
room in front of my mirror, pretending I was singing in a
band. It's something I've just always loved to do. I never
really thought I was good enough to do it as a job or even
as a part-time job. Not until I sang at a passenger talent
show on a cruise ship and people were coming up to me
afterwards saying, "Hey, you were the girl that sang. You
were really good. Are you in a band?" When I said no, they
said, "You should be." After that, I pursued it a little and
I've been doing it ever since.
Q: Who are your musical inspirations?
Oh, that changes. I mean, I love David Bowie; he's one of
my all-time favorite musicians. I can't sing a whole lot of
David Bowie, since his range is slightly different than mine.
One of the first singers I tried to emulate would be Pat Benatar. I liked the rock and roll, the high notes; that's fun
for me.
Q: What's your favorite Middle Eastern experience to date?
I spent my 40th birthday at the pyramids in Egypt, doing the
Susan G. Komen breast cancer awareness run. It's only like
2 km, but the ambassadors of Egypt were there with their
bodyguards, and everyone was wearing their pink shirts
and pink hats. That was a lot of fun.
Q: What is your favorite city and why?
In the whole world? That's tough. Even before I started
living abroad, I started traveling because it interested me
and living abroad became a way that I could travel more.
I'd have to say Key West, Florida is still my favorite. Key
West is very accepting of all kinds of people. It's still very
much a 'do your own thing,' 'dress how you want,' 'be who
you want' kind of city. I love the weather, the ocean, scuba
diving… and it's a very free place to be.
Q: What is something that most people are surprised to
learn about you?
I spent eight years in the U.S. Army Reserve. That usually
shocks people.
Q: If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life,
what would it be?
Probably, being that I'm Italian, it'd have to be spaghetti
with tomato sauce. I could eat that forever.
Q: What are you passionate about?
Right now, I'm passionate about animal welfare. I help
Animal Welfare Al Ain out when I can. Some colleagues
of mine and I have started a group at the college with
some students to go out to pet shops to help educate
them on how to care for animals. We're involved in the
catch and release program, too. The students are actually
volunteering to put together booklets to educate people
about how to care for and treat animals. Some of them are
really into it, and it's really nice.
Q: When you retire someday in the future, where do you
hope to be?
I don't know if this is an answer or not, but I don't think I've
found it yet. I'm still searching for the place where I'd want
to retire.
