Empty Handed

The daughter of a Blues and Jazz guitarist and an avid music fan, the lullabies of Yonat Mayer's infancy were Albert Collins and John Coltrane. The metallic smell of her dad’s Fender guitar amp stayed with her into early childhood, when she would sing Love Potion Number 9 to a rapt crowd with his band in the bars of Tel Aviv and Milwaukee. Grade school saw her singing lead parts in her Jewish school choir and performing in professional theatre companies around Milwaukee. Soon, Yonat woke to Aretha Franklin, Carole King, and Sheryl Crow.