My mother was my first piano teacher when I was a child living in Uvalde, Texas The very first piano piece that I remember playing on the piano as a little girl was the “Lollipop Waltz”. Mom had very high standards for me as a pianist and wanted me to memorize all of my recital pieces. I only forgot a piece once and I sat there until I remembered it. Fortunately for my family and the other kids in the recital, the wait wasn’t very long. 

I also enjoyed church music at my family’s church, First Baptist Uvalde, for many reasons. One of the reasons was my mother was the organist. The other reason was my aunt was the pianist. I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior at the age of 7, and I was baptized by our church pastor, Homer Hanna. Two years later when I was 9, my family moved to Plano, Texas and mother’s piano and organ moved with us. We still have the same piano in our family home today. My nephew learned to play on this piano and he still enjoys playing it when he’s home from college. 

My mother chose my piano teacher when we moved to Plano. Her name was Denise Taliaferro (an SMU alumni like me). She taught me to appreciate classical music like Beethoven and Mozart; and to enjoy performing in festivals like the Sonatina Festival. I participated in the Plano Music Teachers Association festivals in which my aunt, Judy Kay Vaughan, was the president. Both of her daughters enjoyed playing piano in Plano. The youngest daughter received her music degree in organ from Baylor University like my mom did.  

My entire family enjoyed singing in our church music program led by worship ministers Bill Green and Gerald Ware at First Baptist Church (FBC) of Richardson. In the ninth grade, I decided to pursue voice lessons under Dee Anne Meece at our church. Her husband, Mike Meece, was the director in charge of our church Easter productions, which included the 200 plus adult choir and orchestra.  

Another fond memory I have from church music is memorizing scripture and singing in the “Hymns of My Heart” program with our music director, Bill Green. He would listen to each child sing a church hymn they had memorized, and in return we would receive a collectible coin. To this day, I cherish these hymns and hope that one day I can create a Pookey Tiger album of my favorite children’s hymns. 

Because of Dee Anne, I was able to audition and be chosen for Pop Singers at Clark High School (led by Karen Winters) and Music Corporation at Plano Senior High School (led by Steve Garms). I credit my mother for encouraging me with my piano and voice lessons that shaped my life. As early as I can remember, I was making up songs to help me memorize school assignments.  These activities planted early seeds for Pookey Tiger that would later bloom in my adult years. It wasn’t until I met Paul Smith almost 15 years ago, that I was able to put everything together – songwriting and vocal performance. It was the most exciting thing I can ever remember doing musically. Paul’s experience in arranging and producing music as a multi-Dove Award winner in Christian songwriting was exactly what I needed to professionally record the “God Is My GRRR” album. In addition to his God-given talent, he became a very dear friend and blessing from the Lord.