Cafe Mantra Music is beautiful blend of sacred mantras and flowing melodies that drift over hypnotic rhythms, ambient soundscapes and deep cello drones. My voice has always been pure and sweet and when I sing my heart fills with joy.

My career in music has spanned 40 years. In my 20’s I performed the club and pub circuits in Australia and Asia, singing and dancing with acts like Nick Bavarell & Nettwork, The Stilettoes and Wildchild. In my 30’s I owned her own burlesque cabaret club Joanna’s creating a unique blend of exotic lunchtime entertainment with singing, dancing and striptease cabaret performances. In my 40’s I crashed and burned in the most spectacular way, landing in rehab. After 20 years of riding the wave of success and excess, I found I had burned out mentally, physically and spiritually.

Being in rehab was the most challenging time of my life and the most transforming. I had to learn to live again without drugs and alcohol. I had to learn how to relate with people, to go out and enjoy life, to feel love and connection without substances. I had to learn how to heal my body and mind of chronic fatigue, pain, anxiety. I didn’t want to live anymore so I had to learn how to heal my spirit. I found the way when I went to India and 15 years on I have my mojo back!

I did have another crisis. This time it was musical.

“All my life I sang other peoples songs, but after India, I had to write and sing my own. When the music is inside you, it just has to come out. At age 43 I wrote my first original album ‘Letting Love In’ which is all about my healing journey. I left Sydney in my campervan to travel with my music, do gigs and find a new home. I was in Byron Bay when I had a musical crisis. The tension was building. I was promoting my album and shopping around for gigs. I had so many knock backs in that area. Door after door closed in my face. In fact I didn’t get any gigs at all, so I started busking. I was at The Channon markets and had busked for 3 hours to thousands of people and only got 20 cents! I was very distressed. I had so much invested. So much time, energy, love, creativity and money into this album and got nothing in return!! Or so I thought. I’d finally had enough. I just let go. I decided no one was going to buy my music, so I went to the tip and chucked all my CDs in the dumpster. I remember looking down into the grubby bin and feeling such relief! Time to move on. After that I started singing mantra and my life changed completely. The profound part about this story is that 7 years later, I entered my song ‘Himalaya’ into the Dolphin Music Awards and won! People want my music now, they are coming to gigs, buying my albums and loving what I have to offer.