This was the culture I was born and raised in, and it influences the sound of my music. Having said that, I feel my music isn't limited to one genre; I draw on elements from country, pop, rock and folk music.
I began writing songs when I was very young but I became a more serious writer because of my love for classical poetry. My favorite poem is John Donne’s A Valediction Forbidding Mourning. Years ago, I wrote my own melody for John Donne’s poem, recorded it on a little tape player, and after listening to it a few times I memorized it. I got the idea from my studies of Arabic poetry. I had memorized some Arabic poetry but I always found Arabic poetry easy to commit to memory because much of it is written with a melody. Being able to sing John Donne’s poem made it easier to put to memory. After memorizing A Valediction Forbidding Mourning, I began doing the same thing with other poems I liked. Pretty soon, I started to write my own songs again.  (continue to page 4)