"Shades of Autumn" was created to portray the many shades of love, from "You're my everything!" to "What I need, I can't have!" to "Stop messing with me! What's going on here?!" The style is Country Rock/Adult Contemporary; showing shades of tempo and color as beautiful as autumn can be. People describe it as "Fleetwood Mac meets Color Country". "Slow Dance" has been noted as a favorite among listeners, although it almost didn't end up on the album! The original album contained only eight tracks, until one night I got inspired, and. . .after sharing it with a friend of mine, decided to go back in the studio to add it on! Every song holds a special meaning to me. Autumn is my favorite season, and with the support of nature, God has given me creativity to write each song during this wonderful time. I've been playing music since age 4, starting with piano, and perform with many different groups on various instruments. Outside of 12-string guitar, vocals, and some drums on this album, I play drums in the Grant Monroe Orchestra, percussion in the Southwest Community Concert Band, and trumpet in the Southwest Brass Ensemble. I've composed and arranged symphonic works for the Southwest Community Band to perform. Right now, I'm the band director in Midlothian, Illinois. My Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Music are from DePaul University, and I presented research to the Illinois Music Educators' Assn. Conference in January, 2005. Thanks to my "family" of musicians on this album for their time and talents; for making this dream a reality, and to my friends and family for their never-ending support. We'll always have autumn. ---Karen Ann