Q: Who are you?

A: My name is Kimberly Jean Hood, and I was born in 1969, in Salem IN. I'm a Liberal Catholic, and I have a B.S. in Education from Indiana University. I attended both Western KY University and Indiana University Southeast. I'm single, and yes I’m straight (but not stupid: It’s not who you love, it’s how you love!)
        Oh yeah, I'm also a musician.

Q: How can you stand all those depressing songs? (var. "Why do you like all those depressing songs?", or "Oh, God! Another depressing song!")

A: Some people avoid intense sadness, melancholy, or regret. I avoid it too, I suppose, in my own way, but I let it out in little bits, like a pressure valve, one song at a time. I’d rather wallow in self-pity via a really heart-wrenching song than to mope around the house wailing and beating my breast with cheetoh stained fingers. Sadness is one emotion that all human beings have in common, no matter what the cause. When I know what has torn your heart in two, I have seen a glimpse inside of you. We’ve made an intimate connection.

Q: Do you write songs all at once or work on them for a long time, revising repeatedly?

A: Yes. I mostly write songs (at least the ones I consider to be really good) all at once, but occasionally there’s one that’s been lurking in the corner for years that gets pulled out, revised, and thrown back to gather dust until it’s revised again.

Q: Which comes first, lyrics or melody?

A: Usually, I come up with a chord progression, then I hum a tune, then I start singing out words. Occasionally, the order gets turned around.

Q: How long have you been playing guitar?

A: I think I’ve been playing since I was about 7, but I could be wrong. My Dad used to play, and he taught my older brothers, and I wanted to do everything that they did, so I learned how, too. Incidentally, if you have a child who wants to learn to play, I mean, really wants to learn, don’t listen to people who say they can’t do it on a steel string guitar. I learned on an adult-sized, steel string guitar, and I don’t even remember complaining about my fingers hurting.

Q: When did you write your first song?

A: When I was 13. That was also when I first learned to sing and play at the same time.

Q: When did you first start performing?

A: I wanted to do it all my life, but I really didn’t perform for an audience until I was 18 and in college.

Q: How many instruments do you play?

A: Let’s see... Guitar. Saxophone. Recorder. I noodle around on the piano, banjo, mandolin, and about anything else I can get my hands on. I have a lot of instruments around, in the hopes that folks will come over to visit, and it will turn into a jam session.

Q: Do you mimic any particular artist?

A: No, not really, although once in a while, a particular song may want to be sung by, say Joni Mitchell, and that certainly affects how I sing it.

Q: Who are your favorite musicians?

A: I like almost everything, so I could go on and on answering this question. My favorite female artists are: Indigo Girls, Cheryl Wheeler, Shawn Colvin, Allison Krauss, Gillian Welch, Ferron, Joni Mitchell (Blue, Ladies of the Canyon), Tracy Chapman, Victoria Williams, Tori Amos, The Roches, The Smith Sisters...
        Favorite male artists: Jackson Browne, David Grey, Andrea Bocelli, Dan Fogelberg, Elliott Smith, Arlo Guthrie, Elton John, Keb Mo, Paul Simon, Stan Rogers, Sting, James Taylor, Neil Young...
        Favorite groups: Firefall; Jethro Tull; Crosby, Stills, & Nash; Boston; Kansas; Scorpions; Nickel Creek...
        Like I said, I could go on like this forever.

Q: What do you do besides make music?

A: I write fan fiction for fun sometimes (Behind the Wagon, Apocrypha), and I love angst. If you read one of my stories, you’re almost guaranteed that someone’s shot or run over or something...
        My day job currently is as a school teacher. It could change at any moment, but if it does, I hope it’s to become a full-time musician!

Q: Do you like animals?

A: I love animals of all kinds, and I’ve been a dog person for a lot of years now. I also like cats very much, but I won’t be getting one of those until my 2 cat-terrorizing dogs have lived long full lives.

Q: Could you list lots of things that you like?

A: That seems a silly question, but sure.
        TV: Bonanza, Star Trek (Any Series, but I never really got into DS9), Kung Fu (TOS), Gunsmoke, King of the Hill, The Simpsons, Law & Order, Friends, Ponderosa, The Addams Family (I am an Addams!), Everybody Loves Raymond...
        Movies: Any Jackie Chan Movie, Smoke Signals, Big Night, O Brother Where Art Thou, Raising Arizona, Star Wars (all of ‘em), Star Trek (First Contact is my favorite, but I like ‘em all), almost any Harrison Ford Movie, almost any Mel Brooks Movie, Everyone Says I Love You...
        Books: I’m a painfully slow reader, so my reading list is incredibly long, but here are some of my favorites: To Kill a Mockingbird, The Grapes of Wrath, The Milagro Beanfield War, Harry Potter (all of them), any Tony Hillerman book, Black Elk Speaks, The Color Purple...
        Food: Italian, Mexican, and Chinese, not necessarily in that order. Also Pizza. I love pizza... I have a terrible sweet tooth, especially for chocolate.