Rochelle Harper Natural not Normal

The short story is, in the summer of 2000 I decided to quit my job at the Zephyr Cove Resort on Lake Tahoe after 2 years of bliss and find "something" in the field of music. I had no idea what i was going to do. There was a pulse inside of me drawing me toward music. At this time i barely played the guitar and had only a few songs written that i would carelessly play in front of friends and family.I drove to Ocean Springs, MS with a friend and my bestest buddy, Athena a Lab., Akita, Perineese Mix that loved to travel, to "visit" my Mom.Rain Jaudon and Donn Hupp were hosting Open Mic Nights at a couple of bars Ocean Springs' bars. When they asked if anyone had a request I yelled out, "yeah, how about an original"? and it was ON!The summer of 2000 is one i will never forget. It was filled with excitement, comradery, and a passion for simply playing. It wasn't about which bar was going to book us or what agent was in the audience and might "discover us". Well, ok maybe the agent part we did dream about:), but we really were all caught up in sharing our original music which is really a part of who we are, what we have to say, what we want to share and how we connect with others. Neil Saunders and Andy Lee had some awesome originals and Donn Hupp had his beautiful, heart breaking ballads and I was the new chick on the block who had just a few tunes to share. . . I was hooked by this form of expression and always will be.It wasn't only a scene of musicians but artists as well. Chris Marie had a strong presence in the crowd of musicians. It's hard to say what she is specifically because she uses many mediums to express her art but for me, she would take a piece of clothing and turn it into a masterpiece that i wore and that people were wooed by. It was fun!!Capturing the scene was a girl by the name of Cheli Strumuli. She had this idea of a paper that contained information about the local scene along the MS Gulf Coast. She would bring a camera and/or video recorder out to the gigs and tape us, photograph us and then put us in her paper. You know the paper don't ya, the Coast (Nightlife) Observer. Yep. That was Cheli!! Supporting all of us musicians and she hasn't stopped yet!!That summer turned into 6 years(and counting) on the MS Gulf Coast and I am soooo thankful for the experiences along the way and the songs. Each song is about someone, something, something real. It isn't just music and words. It is real.There's so much more to the story....Feel free to check out my songs they'll tell ya a little bit about the journey.Peace within Music and always, love. MyGen Profile Generator