 For several years she worked as a singing teacher in Chicago, recording and performing with a variety of musical acts on the side including Born Heller, a project with free jazz-bassist Jason Ajemian, and The Children's Hour, a pop band formed with songwriter Andrew Bar.In 2004, joined by her occasional backing band The Supposed (Brian Goodman on guitar and Rusty Peterson on drums), she released a psychedelic rock album called "All the Leaves Are Gone" which has drawn comparison to Patti Smith and Jefferson Airplane.The songs on her first solo studio album "Hazel Eyes, I Will Lead You" (2005, Locust Music) evoke American folk and blues forms of the early 20th century.