Daily Inspiration: Meet Fawn

Today we’d like to introduce you to Fawn.

Hi Fawn, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
My journey into the entertainment world began when I was six months old when I appeared in national television commercials for Cain’s Coffee and others. I started print modeling around age two. At age five I became an honorary cheerleader for one season of the Denver Broncos and by the time I was seven years old I auditioned and was chosen to sing and tour with The Children’s Chorale under the direction of world-renowned Duain Wolfe. The Children’s Chorale appeared on shows such as NBC’s The Today Show, various Christmas specials, and CBS and BBC broadcasts of The Proms at Royal Albert Hall with the BBC Orchestra and Chorus of Wales, among others. I sang in the Children’s Chorale for five years, having to audition each year, not knowing if I would get in.

I remember being a nervous wreck every time I had to re-audition! Around the same time, I began writing songs at the piano, and writing, singing, and recording voice-overs on jingles for Jaimie’s restaurant chain in Texas and The Great American Bull restaurant in Colorado, as well as others. At age eight, I started training in ballet, pointe, tap, modern, African, jazz and break dancing at the Gwen Bowen school of dance and competed in gymnastics on the balance beam, uneven bars, and floor exercises. I also competed in figure skating and won first place every time. I guess you could say I was (and still am) very competitive, haha.

At age ten, I started piano lessons with Tom George and later trained with classical pianist Allen Hobbs and jazz pianist Ron Jolly, which furthered my musicianship and composing skills. A few years later, I started private vocal lessons with Julliard’s Dr. Silvia Bagley who wrote the book “Viewpoint for Singers”. While studying with her I became the youngest stage manager ever hired for the Denver Chamber Orchestra with Grammy award-winning conductor Joann Falletta. Around age 13, I began acting, continued print modeling and jingles and became a cheerleader. By age 16, I started singing live in various restaurants and venues, simultaneously being hand-picked by French composer Jean Berger to sing in his eight-piece vocal group which toured the United States and Europe. After my tour with Berger, the following two summers, I went on tour to Hong Kong, Japan, China, Europe, Russia, Romania, Scandinavia, and Australia with the Rocky Mountain Singers led by opera singer Robert Lansing. I joined a 12-piece jazz A cappella group and formed a four-piece jazz A cappella group in which we won the Elevox Open Jazz Vocal Competition for my lead jazz vocal rendition of “Here, There and Everywhere.” I landed my first directing gig for “Spoon River Anthology” for the Cenkor Foundation with a special performance for first lady Nancy Reagan. At 17 I entered Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, where I won the yearly songwriting award from Berklee and SESAC for my original pop ballad, “Just Look At Us Now” and gave a sold-out performance in The Berklee Performance Center for my show “Stand Your Ground.”

Within a month after moving to Los Angeles, CA I re-wrote and sang the song “One day” as well as arranged the background vocals with Vincent Covello for the Oneday nonprofit founded by Rick Watson. The song was produced by BT (Brian Transeau) and raised money and awareness for families and people affected by HIV/AIDS. With the exception of the money Brian was paid to produce the song, and the other two background vocalists, Vincent Covello and Deborah Sharpe, 100% of the revenue from the song went to the Oneday nonprofit, helping it promote awareness and purchase the Rainbow House in Denver, Colorado which serviced 12 surrounding states for families, children, and adults with HIV/AIDS. Brenda Epperson, Thelma Houston, and I were flown out to Colorado to help raise funds at a special gala in Denver and later on, another benefit entitled ‘One Night for Oneday’ thrown in Los Angeles, CA. Years later, in 2011 the song raised money for 9/11 victims’ families, with 100% of proceeds donated once again, including art and CD manufacturing.

In Los Angeles, I auditioned and sang for Los Angeles Master Chorale’s Grammy-nominated conductor Paul Salamunovich, working with him for three years. Our work together was heard in the movies Flatliners, Grand Canyon, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Independence Day, Lincoln, Air Force One, Mars Attacks!, Twister, True Confessions and others. During this time, I continued to write and sing jingles and record voice-overs for a variety of commercials such as Ford, Mazda, Lavazza, Pontiac, Barbie, Target, Ponds, Kitchen Aide, and a host of others. After learning how to tighten up my lyrics from Pat Pattison, I continued training with award-winning lyricist Marty Panzer to further fine-tune and hone-in on my craft. Studying with Marty truly changed my lyric and songwriting forever. At the same time, I started working with troubled children, using my minor degree in child psychology. With the money I earned from that, I built my recording studio, Terrace Studios, and began recording my songs there, rather than continue to rent out big studios. I began mentoring children in music, teaching them piano, voice, and songwriting. Today I am in the top 5% of private music coaches in the United States, as researched by Google, who hired me for their now-defunct Google Helpouts program. I also coach privately lyric writing, hip hop, rap, performance, voice-over’s, speech, acting, spoken word, accent reduction, vocal and music therapy online all over the world. I work with all ages, including special needs and some of my students have been seen on The Voice, America’s Got Talent, and American Idol, with a few placing as high as the top eight. I’ve also worked with students in shows seen on Disney, The WB, Vampire Diaries, Nickelodeon, Freeform, and others.

In addition to coaching and singing jingles and recording voice-overs, I compose and write songs for television shows and films such as Spike Lee, Nickelodeon, CBS, ABC, NBC, WB, The Natalie Holloway Story, CSI, The Young and The Restless and others. I have appeared in shows and films such as How To Look Good Naked with Caron Kressley, Forever Plaid, The Grifters, and America Flyers and also done stand-in work for award-winning actress Catherine Oxenberg.

In the mid-2000’s my close friend and music colleague Vincent Covello and I collaborated with ‘Body Soul and Mind’. We did a short European tour and our first EDM chill-out album won Best Dance Album Of The Year in 2009 by the JPF Music Awards in Nashville and Best Dance song, “Wish You Love.” Later that year, with a spelling change and two new producers, I re-released the song as a solo artist with Chad Jack and Tim Letteer. “Wish U Love” went to number six on the Billboard Dance charts January 2, 2010, alongside Lady Gaga and Mariah Carey. The music video of the song remained in the top ten videos on the LOGO Channel alongside Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, and Taylor Swift.

In 2012 I became a published author in a collection of scary stories entitled “Unnatural Tales of The Jackalope”. In 2016, I had two top ten original chill-outs hit songs produced by Digital Sixable, “Where Has Your Love Gone” on Armada records and Silk Sofa records and “Solitude”. I’ve been blessed to have won a few songwriting awards over the years, including Song of The Year and The Great American Song Contest and have recorded a few holiday albums with Halloween songs, Christmas songs and Hanukkah songs on Stonedef Records. I was nominated for nine 2020 JPF Music awards for Best Holiday album, Best EDM Album, Best Alternative Rock Song, Best EDM Song (four songs), and Best Holiday Song (two songs), and won Best EDM Album for “Idiosyncratic” and Best EDM Song for my song “Small”. During COVID, I released my music video, “Wait For The Sun” Black Lives Matter, featuring Debra Wilson with cameos by Joanna Cassidy, Shanice Wilson, Kate Linder, Judy Tenuta, Pato Banton, Jay Tavare, Brooke Lewis Bellas, Al Burke, Valerie Watson, Calista Carradine, Molly Hopkins, Hunter Payton Mendoza, Cher Rue, Christy McGinity, Sylva Kelegian, Marlon Saunders and many others. This year, I was hired to produce and record music for an upcoming podcast series, “A Voice In Violet” with actors Brooke Lewis Bellas, Nikki Blonsky, Bronson Pinchot, Eric Etebari, Nelson Lee, and Wilson Jermaine Heredia. I am going back in the studio for 2023 to work on my third Halloween album, record some more Christmas songs, pop songs and begin a Jazz album project and Christian album project. I also plan to eventually put out a collection of short stories in the near future.

Almost three years ago my entire world and focus shifted when my mother earned her angel wings. I spent many months flying back and forth to my parents house to help my father pack up their home of 58 years. It was a huge undertaking. After helping him sell their home, I continued taking care of my father who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s/Dementia. He passed away this year on July 2, 2022, and I am still grieving.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It most definitely has not been a smooth road! Lots of twists, turns, and u-turns! The biggest struggles were combating managers who were more interested in being intimate with me, then helping me with my career. After several years of these types of situations, I decided to rely mostly on myself. So, as an independent artist, there has been a big learning curve and lots of trials and errors.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I would have to say I am known for my honesty, integrity, giving heart, spirituality, songwriting, performances, animal rescue, and animal and child advocacy work. I am most proud of my son Leo.

He has followed his father’s and my example of always doing the right thing, even when it isn’t the easy thing. Through all the ups and down, I have chosen to be better instead of bitter and I pray my son continues that choice. I also feel at peace and it is well with my soul knowing that I took care of both of my parents I credit my Aunt Le’ and Uncle Danny who sacrificed their home, energy, and well-being for eleven months helping facilitate my father’s care.

Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs, or other resources you think our readers should check out?
These books are my favorite because they changed my life. “Battlefield of The Mind” by Joyce Meyer and “Beauty For Ashes” by Joyce Meyer. I also enjoy the “Grace To You” podcast by John MacArthur.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.Fawnmusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fawn_music_official/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Fawnmusic
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Songirl
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/FawnTV
• Yelp: www.Fawn.rocks
• SoundCloud: tik tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fawn_music
• Other: https://www.facebook.com/ProMusicLessons; https://www.facebook.com/animalsmatter2

Image Credits
FFD Images, Andre’ Cohen, Satu, Debbie Major, and Anca Sola