I've accepted that almost nobody can spell...much less pronounce...Cláirseach. *smiles*

My grandmother produced musical theater, gave piano lessons, and played church organ. Her four daughters grew up singing barbershop harmony.

My mother, Joy, filled our home with the folk/rock harmonies of Peter, Paul and Mary, Simon and Garfunkel, and the Beatles. She sang in the car and around the house, and her children also learned to harmonize early.

I credit my three years training and performing with Duaine Wolfe and the Colorado Children's Chorale not only for a deeper understanding of harmony and diverse types of music, but for coming to know music as a discipline, and a way to serve my community.

I performed musical theater in college and community productions. As Lady Coral de Chauncey, I was a popular bard in the SCA Kingdom of Caid, where I met Brad Banyan. He taught me solo vocal and guitar performance, and encouraged me to put both playfulness and honesty into my music.

I had two children by the age of 23. My son is severely autistic, with painfully hyper-sensitive hearing. Dedicating my to his needs, I found tremendous strength and insight, but made our home a nest of silence rather than the joyous, expansive, musical celebration in which I was raised.

As Joy had for me, I made it a priority to provide music for my daughter, Tanith. Tanith participated in the Colorado Children's Chorale for seven years, away from the isolation and quiet her brother needed. That fire Tanith inherited for music kept the spark alive in my.

After more than ten years living this way, my son was placed in therapeutic foster care, and I began a difficult personal re-birth. The first element to re-emerge was music. "Storyteller" is my re-discovery of my voice, and my offering to you -- an invitation to share the betrayals, the turn-abouts, the unspeakable tenderness, and the sheer bliss that is life.

You can contact me at: clarsa@clarsamcelhaney.com

Clarsa´s site for lyrics and more information:
http://www.clarsamcelhaney.com