I am an ethnomusicologist, writer, educator, producer, vocalist, and DJ based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I earned my PhD in Ethnomusicology in 2020 from The University of Pittsburgh, where I wrote an in-depth ethnography of 1970s funk musician Betty Davis called “‘SoundProjector’: Reissuing, Representing, and Reclaiming the Music of Betty Davis.” My research interests include Black popular music, women in music history, the music industry, and both the cultures and practices associated with music collecting, curating and archiving.
In 2016, I became the Associate Producer of Betty - They Say I'm Different (Native Voice Films, 2017), a documentary about Pittsburgh’s own Betty Davis. The film premiered in Amsterdam at IDFA in November of 2017 and had its US premier in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2018. In the following years, I collaborated with organizations across the country to produce mixed-media events surrounding the film, such as panels and symposiums on women in media and the music industry, public talks, DJ dance parties, and concerts that included a reunion of Betty Davis's backing band, Funk House, who performed for the first time together in over four decades.
I have over a decade of teaching experience with people of all ages (pre-school to higher education) and socioeconomic backgrounds that cuts across the creative arts and humanities. My teaching is inspired by the intersections of performance, history, and community and includes work with numerous non-profits, public schools, community centers, and both public and private universities.
I am an avid vinyl enthusiast and enjoy DJing from my personal collection under the moniker Sauce Queen. I am also a vocalist who has performed with Truth and Rites, Brittney Chantele, and the Afro Yaqui Music Collective. Most recently, I sang lead vocals on the first new song written and produced by Betty Davis in forty years. As a creative team, Davis and I released “A Little Bit Hot Tonight” - a sultry pop-hybrid of soul, blues, Latin and jazz - on July 22nd, 2019.
In 2019, I served as the Music Curator for the Sourceress podcast and in 2023 I worked with Light in the Attic Records to author liner notes for the re-releases of Betty Davis’ first two albums and a previously unreleased album called Crashin’ From Passion.