APRIL/MAY 2026 | 23 “Some things happened in my life that were pretty rattling,” she maintained. “When we lost our little guy when I was six months pregnant, it was definitely one of the saddest and scariest things to happen to me, next to losing my mom. “And I realized that sometimes when big things like this happen in life, they weigh you down, and you have to make a conscious choice to not let it do so. You need to change your energy. It takes as much energy being sad about these things as it does to change your life.” After much reflection and doubt, the vocalist pushed on, even if the songs she was cobbling together weren’t satisfactory. Her struggles were compounded when her writing collaborator and former husband, Keith Slattery, was experiencing his own issues. “We have to grieve and go through the process. These songs were written after going through that cocoon-to-butterfly period, where there was a lot of stillness,” she added. “There wasn’t a lot of songwriting going on. Keith, my musical partner, had moved to Nashville to be with his father around the same time I moved to LA. (her former residence). “His father was ill, and then he passed. So, Keith wasn’t writing music, and I wasn’t at all. It was a very dark period. And I can look back at it and laugh a bit because we made it through, and we’re good now. These songs on the new album are from the time the sun came back out.” The songs on Music in Me reflect both Webster’s struggles and newfound sense of self. On the funky, bass-heavy groove “What Is Meant to Be,” she lucidly explains her new life philosophy: “Who’s to say at the end of the day whether all the (expletive) you’ve weathered was fair or in vain? If you listen to the doubts you got, you get stuck in your head; you will lose it in the moment you forget what was meant to be will be.” The successful title track, which has rocketed up the smooth jazz charts, is Webster’s declaration of her inherent creativity and love for music. It was the song that opened the floodgates for the creation of the entire album. “‘Music in Me’ was the first solid song I wrote,” she explained. “I had to say to myself, ‘Why am I having such a hard time writing?’ I had to have a conversation with myself and ask what was the feeling I had when I wrote that song?” She paused, as if remembering the rush of emotional and creative freedom she felt after writing the song. “I just remembered: I have the music in me, and it’s my joy, not just a job or something I have to do. And it was like I was back in my own world after writing ‘Music in Me,’ and a key was unlocking things. All the other lyrics began flowing smoothly.” One notable difference with the new album is its definitive R&B feel, which reflects the neo-soul movement of the 1990s launched by D’Angelo, Erykah Badu and Jill Scott, among others. One of soul music’s most underrated great vocalists, Anthony Hamilton, appears on the album, along with Stokley, formerly with Mint Condition. The sweet-singing Hamilton appears on the velvet duet “The Best in Me,” one of the album’s finest tracks. It’s part of Webster expressing the soul music influences that shaped her youth and the foundation of her music. “Growing up, I was completely immersed in the R&B world,” Webster said. “I didn’t listen to much jazz, believe it or not, but we know R&B has jazz elements. “If you listen to Brian McKnight, he’s playing jazz chords with these fabulous harmonies, and I was obsessed with him. So those sounds are always the ones I was enamored with. It’s interesting because smooth jazz is like the cousin to R&B, except it’s mostly instrumental.” The vocalist explained that working with Hamilton, one of her vocal heroes, was a watershed moment in her career. “I met him for the first time six years ago. We have a mutual friend who introduced us. He said, ‘You should work with Anthony,’ and I was like, ‘OK, sure,’ she said, laughing heartily. “I have been a fan of his for years. We have been trying to make it happen for a bit, but we finally did, and when I think about it, I laugh because I remember thinking, ‘Am I done as a musician?’ And here I’m able to work with Anthony and have this song. It’s like a dream come true.” Webster, who got married to Omar Viramontes last year, feels like she is in a good place now. Her artistry is maturing as she heads into the next phase of her life. “I feel super creative and excited. I’m writing for the next album already. I’m riding this wave and ready for what is to come now. It’s like night and day from where I was.” “I just remembered: I have the music in me, and it’s my joy, not just a job or something I have to do.” continued on page 24 Photo: Franco Vogt
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