I consider each performance to be an intimate conversation between me and the audience members.
I gleaned different style ideas over the years. In Southern California, there is a big rockabilly sub-culture. So when I would go to car shows, I would see women dressed like this. I had a teacher in high school that always had her Bette Paige bangs.
I like the Victory rolls, beehive, pompadour - all of that stuff. It's just cool. And actually, with ethnic hair, oddly enough, it works so well because I don't have to tease my hair to get body.
Tony Bennett is an iconic jazz legend.
My idols are singers like Billie Holiday and Erykah Badu because there's no gloss on what they do.
I play with doing a forehead bun a lot, just a bantu knot right in front of the forehead and keep it in with a clip. And I like doing real pinup styles but based on my natural hair.
I was heavily influenced by big voices when I was younger. People like Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, and Patti Labelle really spoke to me. When I got older, I was into Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, and Lauryn Hill, but it wasn't until I started working with a voice coach that I really dove into jazz music.
My sister and I - she's a musician - we jam all the time. We always play around for giggles with stuff that seem unconventional or stuff that seems funny. A lot of the stuff sometimes is just a response from jam sessions in her room, so she'll be on the guitar or the keyboard, and we'll just start singing and doing stuff.
I try to avoid hairspray, gel, and heat as much as I can - I will use a pomade or a very heavy conditioner to style it the way that I want it.
I'm very obsessed with pop culture of the mid-century and it goes hand-in-hand with the music that I studied in school.
As a singer, if I'm in a room that is too cold, I kind of freak out, so I actually like the humidity, and I love the heat.
I was always inundated with music, whether it be my mother's favorites like Fleetwood Mac and Carole King and the Carpenters, or my dad's jazz music.
My style icons are Lucille Ball for her bouffant hair and all the updos, James Dean for his rockabilly style - the denim and rolled-up T-shirt thing. And I am also inspired by Dita Von Teese and Gwen Stefani. Their style is retro, but it's still very feminine at the same time.
Listening to the stories told in jazz music and how those artists expressed their truths about the times and what they were dealing with is what struck me the most.
At a young age, I wanted to be a prima ballerina and had these grand ideas that I would go study at Juilliard. It's something I laugh about now.
I was living with my mom in a tiny apartment in Chula Vista, near Third and H Street behind the 7-Eleven. It was crazy to be on the phone with Stevie Wonder. I felt like a meteor hit our apartment!
I knew that I could sing when I was young. I would listen to a lot of jazz; I'm a big jazz fan. When I first got to high school and studied musical theater, I could sing. But I added certain things to my voice, and I realized after graduating high school that this is the kind of voice I had. It's not very nimble, but it's heavy.
I'm excited for the audiences to hear the title track, 'Cheers to the Fall,' plus 'Red Flags' and 'Rearview.'
I actually like the sort of industrial, working-class woman like Rosie the Riveter, so I'm kind of like the sort of street style of the '50s.
I search for items that have history, like vintage finds - I love fur kitten-heel house slippers from the 1950s - and pieces from fashion houses that have been around for a long time, like Chanel and Dior.
