Getting Started
I’ve written songs since I was a kid, influenced by the jingles I heard on Los Angeles TV. At the time KTLA showed a lot of Gilligan’s Island, so I replaced the theme song lyrics with ones suitable for a lemonade stand.
In the early 80’s my family relocated from So Cal to Flagstaff, AZ where I sang in the choir in jr. high and high school. I joined my first cover band at 17, played the lead female roles in Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar at Northern Arizona University, and produced my own jazz review show. In ’93 I studied abroad in Costa Rica and enrolled in a guitar class. It’s here I began putting my own lyrics to guitar. I spent the years of ’94-’96 going to open mics with my original songs in Santa Barbara and Denali, Alaska.
Santa Barbara
Seeking a vibrant music community, I moved to Santa Barbara in ’97 where I attended the Songwriters’ Performance Workshop facilitated by Jim Messina. It was there, sitting next to a fire in a river stone hearth and singing Beatles songs in three-part harmony, Jimmy suggested that Delilah Poupore and I should sing together.
Antara & Delilah
As the duo Antara & Delilah, we wrote and recorded our own songs and played hundreds of shows over the next 10 years. We also toured with Jimmy for a few years as an acoustic trio.
Between ’97 and ’07, Delilah and I recorded four albums of original music and we were lucky to work with many of Santa Barbara’s musical geniuses. We enjoyed support on our albums from renowned guitarist Jeff Pevar, multi-instrumentalist and producer Jesse Seibenberg, blues singer and harmonica guru Tom Ball, and the late great Kenny Edwards, multi-instrumentalist and known for his work with Linda Ronstandt and The Stoned Ponies. We performed a hundred shows each year and we were voted Best Local Band five years in a row by the Santa Barbara NewsPress readership. We shared stages and sang with artists such as Cindy Alter, Lowen and Navarro, Glen Phillips, Kenny Edwards, Jackson Browne, Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Kris Delmhorst and many more. Our music together can be found on most digital music distribution sites. Click on the links below or search Antara & Delilah. Amazon Apple Music Spotify YouTube Music
Live Music Production
Simultaneously, in 1998, I started a music production company and began producing and hosting weekly open mic shows and songwriter showcases. For five years these shows attracted the very best regional and touring talent as well as fledgling artists. From these open mics and showcases grew a big, beautiful community of music-makers, many of whom became my closest friends. I count myself lucky to have been part of this piece of musical history of Santa Barbara.
Telltale Signs Trio
After my husband and I welcomed a daughter in ’10, I was determined not to let my music falter. I was supported and joined by my dear friend, the late great guitarist and songwriter Bill Lanphar, for many solo shows. In ’14 I joined with Heather Stevenson and Bill to form Telltale Signs Trio where we performed our original songs rich in three-part harmonies. Our one and only show before my family and I moved away (back to Flagstaff), was recorded by Bill and is evidence of the beautiful music we wrote and sang together. Yearning for the musical chemistry we three had, I made the drive a few times between Flagstaff and Santa Barbara in summer and fall of ’18 to rehearse together in preparation to record an album. Sadly, in the spring of ’19, Bill died suddenly leaving Heather and me and many others deeply grieved but eternally grateful for the music we made together.
Anthelia
In February of ’25 I met Delilah and Heather in the desert for 4 days of singing! Its was heaven. We ended up making single-mic recordings of what we’d been working on. We had those recordings mastered (flubs and all) and posted them on BandCamp. The 6 song album, Souvenir, is here.
These Days
In recent years I have attended songwriting and guitar workshops, a bluegrass jam session clinic. Thank you to School of Song, Performing Songwriter Creative Workshops, Robin Pecknold, Jonatha Brooke and Brian Eno for the inspiration! Songs that have come out of these sessions are posted on my SoundCloud page.
Coming Up
New musical goals for 2025: 🎶 Record demos of newest songs (I’ve been writing a lot this past year) 🎶 Play more gigs with collaborator Robbie 🎶 Facilitate/teach songwriting and guitar classes as well as private lessons. Link to more information here.