Donna was born in Hartford CT and although she still resides in her native state she has been moving musically her whole life. Raised in a family that placed music at the center of their gatherings, Donna grew up surrounded by roots Canadian folk songs and Cajun flavored hootenannies.

Since the early 80’s she has been honing her craft. First gigging with a rhythm and blues band, then for four years, fronting a top country band in New England sharing stages with the likes of Charlie Daniels, road legend Dick Curless and opening for Alabama. An increasing fascination with the lyrical depth and the emotional immediacy of singer/songwriter music brought her to the acoustic world.

By 1997 Donna was on her third cd release, “Pioneers”. This recording won her a spot in the 1998 Lilith Fair where she was invited to perform along with Bonnie Raitt, Sarah McLachlan and Natalie Merchant. In 2000 came the release of Ghost, a folk/pop collection of songs that was well received by the press and radio.

Although “Seed & History” (2005) is Donna’s fifth release, it is a celebration of note-worthy firsts. “This project was a long time coming because I got it into my head that I wanted to do an entire cd on my own which meant engineering the recording of it and playing all the instruments.” After building a studio which was followed by the lengthy study of how to operate it, Donna submerged for several months to track the project.

“Seed & History” is a lush landscape of songs that pushes up against several musical boundaries including modern folk, acoustic AAA and country. The music is an open landscape allowing the voice to weave through it. “ I don’t ever think in terms of here is the music and here are the lyrics. The instrumentation is the lyric in its musical form. It all comes together as one moving thing for me.”

These days Donna divides her time between her own music and inspiring musical growth in others. She records and produces cd projects for other artists and she is a faculty member at the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts where she teaches songwriting in the creative writing department.

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