Myself and Juno Award-winning producer, jazz bassist, and composer Rick Kilburn are currently deep in the process of recording my first album. I’m so grateful to be working with Rick, who has become both a friend and mentor. Currently, we are recording piano tracks for each of the 13 album songs.

For the past 15 years, I’ve been writing music non-stop, and I can’t wait to share a selection of the songs now that I feel ready. The debut album will be a multi-tracked project featuring my singing, saxophone, piano, and flute, along with my original compositions and lyrics. Rick will be featured on bass and Bernie Arai, a brilliant drummer from Vancouver, on drums.

I never imagined being a multi-instrumentalist when I started as a saxophone player. I thought for years that spending time on other instruments would mean spreading myself too thin. Little did I know, I was only doing this because the adults around me had this belief that if I “wasted time” on other instruments, I would be taking away from my main instrument. Later, I discovered that learning other instruments only enhances my experience. It gives me other avenues of expression.

I’ve taken the time to examine my motives and my mission as an artist while learning to wield the magic of music through traditions, rituals, and the guidance of many mentors. Music has always been the facilitator of my emotions—the bringer of joy, excitement, adventure, and the healer of sorrow, grief, frustration. Through music, I’ve discovered that no feeling is too great to face, and even the most difficult of experiences can be transformed into something beautiful.

I’m especially excited to release this album because it includes my own original lyrics, written and developed over formative years—from saxophone lessons in elementary school, to high school festivals, to a chaotic and eye-opening college experience, coming out, to COVID times and recovery from trauma, and embracing my identity as non-binary. These songs reflect how I coped, grew, and changed.