Monica Cravotta | Sara Hickman | Libby Kirkpatrick | Noëlle Hampton | Sarah Sharp
Elizabeth McQueen | Gretchen Zanzow | Elizabeth Suggs | Mary Londos

Monica Cravotta, Founder, Contributing Artist

Sweet Songs: “I Love You” and “Magic Penny”
www.attachmentmama.com and www.monicacravotta.com

Monica moved to Austin from Boulder in 2003 with the intention of living a more creative life. She had spent most of her adult life working and traveling as a Marketing and PR pro, singing on the side in Boulder when time allowed — first in a community choir and then fronting a 10-piece R&B band. Soon after her move to Austin, she fell in love, got married, and experienced the unexpected creative inspiration that came with having children.

When pregnant with their first (and Mark’s second) daughter, the Cravotta’s built their beloved recording studio, Hideout Studios.  Their vision was simple:  to have a place to groom their own music as well as a hub for the greater community of Austin artists and musicians. Hideout now boasts a partnership with the widely acclaimed recording artist Ben Kweller and offers full analog & digital capabilities including a very rare vintage recording console at the heart of the studio.

Monica has been keeping the fire lit for the Sweet Songs album since the idea came about in 2006 and is thrilled to experience it coming to life with so many incredibly talented friends contributing their musical gifts.  The collective decision to contribute all the profits to the Mother’s Milk Bank at Austin is beautifully in line with her personal advocacy for breastfeeding and desire to build awareness locally and nationally around the need for donated human milk to save infant lives.

She is eternally grateful to every individual and business that has generously contributed funds to support the completion of the Sweet Songs project and to everyone who said, “Yes,” “Keep Going,” “You can do this,” and “How Can I Help?”

Monica is a member of the Conspirare symphonic chorus in Austin.  She writes about motherhood and the life with two small children that she adores at: AttachmentMama.com

Sara Hickman, Producer

www.sarahickman.com

In May 2010, Sara will become the Official State Musician of Texas. Since 1989, Sara has been producing, recording and touring, releasing both adult and children’s music, of her own and others’, on major/indie labels to critical acclaim.

In 1996, Sara became an indie artist, creating cds on her independent label SLEEVELESS, where she oversees marketing, distribution, licensing and produces each CD. She co-owns Stingray, a design company that creates cd packaging, posters and book jacket designs.

From the sales of NEWBORN, Sara donated over $50,000 to charities, including Hill Country Youth Ranch near Kerrville, TX. Her Children’s CD, BIG KID, heralded an 8 month #1 single, “Radiation Man,” on XM Kids radio. In 2007, Sara founded SUPER PAL UNIVERSE, a teen band that created “pop driven activism,” helping kids learn about the environment and community service through music.

Sara has appeared twice on NBC’s “Tonight Show,” hosted her own VH-1 special, produced a video (winning first place in the USA Film Festival), been National Ambassador for Half Price Books, written and sung on national commercials (Daisy Sour Cream, Southwest Airlines, Coke, etc.) and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for charities. She’s performed internationally, from festivals, theatres, Carnegie Hall as well as house concerts. The last two years she has performed with the Dallas Wind Symphony, singing 1940’s era music with their big swing orchestra. She has two daughters, a husband, a dog and a 197 in bowling.

Lastly, Sara was a nursing mom, who breastfed both her daughters, and also was one of the founding board members of the Austin Mothers’ Milk Bank. She’s very proud to be producing the “Sweet Songs’ collection, and looks forward to promoting the music, the story and the funds to help support this worthy local institution.

Libby Kirkpatrick

Sweet Songs:  “Mama” and “Ducky”
www.libbykirkpatrick.com

Libby is a singer songwriter inspired to transform color and story of the cosmos into prose to the tune of motherhood in the live music capital of the world. She views the human body as her greatest teacher.

Libby is an extremely powerful and refreshingly original singer-songwriter and acoustic guitarist, stunning audiences with her wide vocal range, serious command of dynamics, award-winning lyrics and sailing voice.  Her songwriting awards include: Finalist, Runner-Up, and Honorable Mention in the 2002 John Lennon Songwriting Competition; the 2003 Lady Sixstring songwriting competition; Finalist in the 2003 Rocky Mountain Folks Festival; Finalist in the Fall 2002 Lady Sixstring songwriting competition; and Winner of the 1999 Telluride “Troubadour” songwriting and performance competition.

She says of the Sweet Songs project, “Working with Austin mamas in music is a delight; this project has kept the lifeblood in me during the transition of personhood to parenthood – I am so happy to be a part of it! I’d take after my chanteuse granny Helen, who donated milk from her giant reserves during WW2 if I could, but I’ll settle for this!”

Libby lives in Austin with her three year-old son Charlie and partner, Chris.

Noëlle Hampton

Sweet Songs: “The Fox” and “Boy in the Tree”
www.noellehampton.com

Noëlle Hampton is a comeback story of sorts, a very personal one. Her career began in San Francisco where she built up a powerful reputation, opening up for Bob Dylan, Sarah McLachlan, Jewel, Chris Isaak, John Hiatt, Richard Thompson, Wilco, LeAnn Rimes etc, was nominated for a California Music Award for Outstanding Female Singer, and was featured in the very first all-star commercial for iTunes. She also produced 2 albums with her husband and musical collaborator, André Moran, that sold thousands of copies, and their songs and musical scores have been in Film & Primetime T.V.

After touring the U.S. a few times, they settled down in Austin, TX and she found herself exhausted and in need of a break from music. Unfortunately it led to a longer than expected hiatus, a deep depression, and the feeling she might never return. But renowned producer, Mark Hallman (Eliza Gilkyson, Ani DiFranco), lured her back into the studio to record her new release, THIN LINE, which has received rave reviews & extensive radio airplay across the country and in Europe.

Whether they are on a big stage with their amazing band, or in a house concert setting, they ignite the room with their lush Roots Rock, emotive melodies & lyric, and impassioned performance.

“Fat, gorgeous melodies; lyrics you can read like poetry, or that sound like whispered confidences. Understated, elegant arrangements and playing. Lovely vocals from Noelle Hampton. It’s a near-perfect package of words and music, of soul and inspiration.”
–Ben Fong-Torres (Former Editor/Rolling Stone)

Sarah Sharp

Sweet Songs: “The Three Bears” and “The Donut Song”
www.sarahsharp.com

Named Best Jazz Band in the 2009 Austin Music Awards, the ethereally beautiful Sarah Sharp has a voice to match. Since returning to Texas from London in 1999, Sharp has honed her song writing, while developing her talents as a live musician to watch.

The 2008 digital release of her EP Fight or Flight prompted NPR’s All Songs Considered to say, “Sarah Sharp’s soft spoken singing style and quiet instrumentations offer a living room, fireside closeness that keeps her away from the lounge-singer stereotypes of similarly jazz-influenced performers.”

Currently singing jazz with Austin’s legendary Jitterbug Vipers with Slim Richey and Francie Meaux Jeaux , Sharp is also developing new original material with her original band.

Sarah’s music is featured in both film (Drop Dead Sexy, Eleven) and TV (MTV: Miss Seventeen, Parental Control, Two A Days, Meet The Barkers, Engaged & Underage, Curl Girls, I’m From Rolling Stone, True Life; CNBC: American Made.)

A native of Houston, Sarah resides in Austin, Texas with her husband and two children, ages 3 and 1 and is pregnant with her 3^rd baby.

Elizabeth McQueen

Sweet Songs:  “Bumbo” and “Piggy”
www.asleepatthewheel.com

Elizabeth McQueen has been a mommy for a little over a year, an Austinite since 2001, and a singer all her life.  A native of Little Rock, Arkansas, Elizabeth always heard the call of music. One year into the new millennium she followed that call to Austin, where she promptly formed her own band: Elizabeth McQueen and the Firebrands.  For the next four years they played their own brand of roots country and rock in every bar and honky-tonk they could, releasing two records along the way.

In 2005, Elizabeth joined the legendary Western Swing Band Asleep the Wheel as a featured vocalist and rhythm guitar player. Their most recent project, “Willie and the Wheel,” was nominated for a Grammy Award. For the last year, she and her husband, Wheel drummer David Sanger, and their baby girl Lisel Blossom have been traveling with the band in their own vehicle, known as the baby bus.  You can read about their adventures on http://milesandmilesofdiapers.blogspot.com

Gretchen Janzow

Sweet Song: “Monsters”
gretchen@janzow.com

Gretchen Janzow was a closet singer until one day in 2003 when a life-changing event caused her to realize how short and precious life is, and made her look at what she wasn’t doing in her life. Two months later, she was on the main stage at the Kerrville Folk Music Festival singing back-up for one of her favorite artists.

At Kerrville, she met Elizabeth Suggs around the campfires. The response to their harmonies inspired them to begin the Austin Family Jewels in 2004. She picked up the bass guitar and began writing songs which were performed with the band around Austin and the state of Texas until the present.  Children’s music is a new experience for her, but she finds inspiration through her precious nephews, who have her wrapped around their little fingers.

Elizabeth Suggs

Sweet Song:  “Buzz on Black Fly”

http://www.myspace.com/elizabethsuggs

Elizabeth has been singing as long as she can remember. She sang in a Fort Worth, Texas variety country show called “The Johnny High Country Music Review” when she was 16.  LeAnn Rhimes was in the same show and was just 5 or 6 at the time. She also sang in the GrapeVine Opry during this time.

In college, she began playing guitar and writing songs in Denton, TX, performing around town in coffee shops and joining an all-girl band called, White Stone Troll. In May of 1997, she traveled alone to the Kerrville Folk Festival and after meeting an entire community of musicians — her life was changed forever.

At Kerrville, she met piano player and songwriter, Biff Rose and spent the next two years traveling around the country with him. She settled in Austin in 2004 and made her first solo record, “Blooming Burning Bush” that year. Elizabeth and Gretchen Janzow began singing together and soon formed the band, Austin Family Jewels. They recorded an album in 2006 and hope to record another.

In her everyday life, she’s inspired by the generosity of the human spirit and by children. Elizabeth is currently in school for her AMI diploma to be a Montessori guide for 3-6 year olds.  She is married to Erik Stalheim (emmet). They have a wonderful 2 year-old daughter named Maggie. She enjoys being at home on their acre and half piece of land outside of Austin, seeing live music and being with friends.

Mary Londos

Sweet Song: Casa de Luz Lullaby

Mary simply loves to sing. As an amateur songstress, Mary stretches into this project with delight, and is honored to participate with such talented professionals as her album mates. She wrote her first song on piano at age 3, her second song on guitar at age 33, and continues to explore and express herself through song-writing, and performing in intimate venues.

Now 37, and currently living with her two precious God-children, she has the blessed opportunity to share her heart’s song with her extended family, and watch and listen as they express theirs. As a bodywork professional with particular interest in serving mammas and babies in the early stages of development, supporting Mother’s Milk Bank of Austin is a natural extension of her values.

Mary reminds herself and all of us that we can each use the music of our hearts, whether sung aloud or by our daily actions, to uplift, inspire, and strengthen one another. She hopes you enjoy this album; enjoy the children in your world, and enjoy sharing your own gifts and your own life!