Since I was teeny tiny, my favorite thing to do has been to sit at the piano and play and sing for hours and hours.

I still play all the time, with or without an audience. There’s a lyric in a Sara Barielles tune that goes, “My savior of self defense taught me to sing what I can’t say.” For me there are no truer words. I didn’t talk a lot as a kid, sometimes I still don’t. Singing is how I express myself, it’s how I share my secrets, and it’s how I connect with my community.