The Story Behind Coloured Wings

Coloured Wings was created independently in 1998, at a time when I was finding my voice not only as a singer and songwriter, but as a woman trying to make sense of life, love, loss, spirituality and the world around me.

The twelve tracks are quite different from one another. They move through contemporary, ambient, world, classical, blues and experimental influences, but they are connected by something much simpler: each song came from a real experience, question, feeling or moment in my life.

Some were inspired by nature and our responsibility to protect it. Others came from grief, loneliness, hope, spiritual searching, love and the desire for peace. Sailing grew from my connection with the ocean. Land of Hope honours my father and his lifelong respect for the natural world. Spectrum came from a desire to send a small ripple of peace into a world filled with conflict. And the album closes with Gypsy Nada—four musical voices, voice, piano, cello and violin, representing Compassion, Truth, Clarity and Courage.

Creating an independent album in 1998 was an enormous undertaking. I had never made an album before. Much of what I did was learned through experimentation, intuition and simply having the courage to try.

More than twenty-five years later, these recordings have become part of my personal and creative archive. I hear in them the woman I was then, but I also hear many of the themes that would continue to travel with me throughout my life.

Music and singing have remained among the most constant threads through all those years.