Joanie Kercheval

My parents prodded me into piano lessons as a child, and I muddled through begrudgingly for 7 years. My teachers tried to force me to read music, but I didn't have time for that. I just wanted to play by ear and get on with it already. I finally rebelled at age 13 and never went back to piano. My interest in music became limited to singing into my hairbrush, joining the school chorus and harmonizing to my favorite bands. It wasn't until I was two months shy of my 30th birthday that I bought my first guitar. I had no clue how to play it so I signed up for beginner lessons. Most of the songs I've written were born out of those early days of exploration and wonderment at learning a new instrument. It's still a mystery to me where music comes from. Some of my songs just sort of appeared in my head, almost at once in completed form. Others started in the middle of a verse, or the chorus, or grew out of an idea for a song title. I wish I could gain a bit more control over the process so that I could say "I'm going to write a song now" and just do it. So far, I haven't figured out how to do that. -JK