
After discovering and playing folk music in New York City, I came back to the Twin Cities and started an Americana project called The Heighburners. I feel that this music stays true to the folk and Americana genre, while including aspects that are uniquely my own. I didn't grow up hearing the same music most kids heard. Mostly what I heard was the musicals my grandmother loved and the Lebanese folk music my father enjoyed, and then I was taught and trained in the classical/opera tradition. I think maybe I liked folk so much when I first heard it because it's the result of a melting pot of ideas and influences, just like I am!
Another thing that draws me to folk is the exploration of day-to-day living. Where opera can take on grandiose themes with high drama, folk explores love, heartbreak, child rearing, and making ends meet. It lives where I live, and where most of us live, so I like to be able to share those experiences in an enjoyable way that everyone can relate to.
The Heighburners sound comes from banjo, stand-up bass, acoustic and electric guitar, pedal steel, percussion, and the vocals of a classically trained singer, so that isn't the most typical combination of ingredients in an Americana band, but it sure contributes to our unique sound. We've put out a couple of EPs, called Sleep and Keep On Movin', which I hope you'll like, and there's more to come.