By Jessica Graham

After a long day teaching elementary school kids, Claudine picks up her children and heads back to her home in the Bay.

When she isn’t teaching or being super mom, she is recording and promoting her new album, “Wrestling Consciousness”, a project that has been two and a half years in the making.

The album features 15  tracks, 14 of which Claudine wrote herself and created with the help of Mark Kenoly, her producer and bass player and one cover of Leonard Cohen’s infamous “Hallelujah”. Kenoly helped Claudine, who had never played a musical instrument, bring the music she heard in her head to life.

“He was the one that worked all those hours with me and believed in me. I still had these thoughts in my head that I was too old, that I wasn’t good enough, that I can’t do this , and it’s stupid,” said Claudine. “He was really the one that hushed all those voices.”

Claudine grew up in San Bruno and has stayed close to the Bay Area her whole life. She always loved singing, but did not receive much support from her family. Instead, she pursued an academic career. Although she couldn’t make music her focus, Claudine continued to sing any way she could, often participating in church choirs and bands, all the while continuing to write.

Claudine in the studio working on her album, "Wrestling Consciousness"

Claudine kept singing even as an adult, performing at weddings and for friends. A few years back, she met a group of people, including Kenoly, who encouraged her to share her gift with the world. With a book stocked full of songs written over the years, Claudine hit the studio to record—funding her album herself.

Claudine spent countless hours writing and singing, then singing some more, often in a Santa Clara recording studio. Her most personal song, “In the Ruins”, was one of the toughest tracks to write. The song is about the struggles that women who are sexually abused go through.

“It took me my whole life to write,” said Claudine. “When I finally finished it, it felt so good. I knew that when anyone heard that song, I was speaking to so many women who didn’t feel comfortable to share or felt to blame or felt they were the ones who were wrong some how.  Mainly, my hope is that when they listen, at the very least, they will know they are not alone.”

Her other favorites, “If I Ran to You” and “All I Want”, are personal as well, like many of the tracks on her album. Her sound, accoding to her Facebook page, is “like Gwen Steffani and Pink, cooking in the kitchen”.

Claudine will be performing these songs, including many others, this Friday at the Rockit Room at her record release party. The party is also a fundraiser for the Make-a-Wish foundation—a foundation very close to Claudine’s heart.

Now that she has finished her first album, Claudine is already planning her next move. She plans to make another album, but faster. By working in longer spurts, she hopes to get more work done while still having time to spend with her family.

“Even if I don’t continue to perform and sing,” said Claudine, “I will be connected to music until my last breath, I’m sure.”