Whether it’s through poetry or songs, I best express myself using written words. I love the action of writing them down, pen to paper. My writing career started in a small journal that was given to me when I was 12 years old. Two years later, I wrote my first two poems, typed on my parent’s typewriter. Shortly thereafter, I wrote obsessively in journals and notebooks, which inevitably led me to the creation of my first poetry book, Into the Distance Between Us, nearly 30 years later.

During this time, I picked up my dad’s acoustic guitar, which was sitting untouched on top of our family piano for as long as I knew. Simultaneously and posthumously, the late actor and musician River Phoenix inspired me to begin playing guitar. I was suddenly determined to become a self-taught musician like him, as singing and songwriting came along naturally.

My top musical influences are as follows: U2, Nirvana, R.E.M., Stevie Nicks, Sheryl Crow, Natalie Merchant, and more recently, Maroon 5, Miranda Lambert, and Ellie Goulding, with pretty much everything else.  I have played solo as Brenda Christine and/or with the indie rock duo The Royal Vynes, a collaboration between musical artist Paul Letellier and myself.