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I was definitely a choir and theater geek.

I was heavily involved in musical theater.

It wasn't so much that I had to leave to make it in the music business as I was curious to be out on my own and sort of explore. I never felt that where I was ever influenced my songwriting.

I guess fortunate that I'm still around and I emphasize I guess because you never can tell what musicians would be playing had they been around as long as I have.

Music had been my first love among the arts, and I was fascinated by it, as I still am.

I came from a huge extended family of musicians.

I wanted to keep pushing the musical ideas I had about jazz, music from Africa and the Caribbean.

I was definitely Theater-Band Geek/Straight-Up Boss Subgroup C. I was really into band and theater and super into music at the time. I loved performing arts, and that would definitely be my group.

Music was a central part of my childhood because my mother played organ and piano in the church, and that meant all us kids had to be in the church choir.

Had I not become entangled with music, I would have become an author much earlier.