Singer/songwriter Carol Cockrum has been writing and singing since she was a teenager in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan. "I love the songwriting process. There is nothing better than sharing your music with others and having them connect with it… with you, essentially," she says from Meadow Lake, where she returned after living in Vancouver for eight years. Playing with and singing back-up vocals for local rock pop bands there, she eventually followed a path that led back to her roots. Growing up the youngest of twelve children, she formed a band with three of her sisters and recorded four albums, toured Canada and Europe and was nominated for several awards as The Cockrum Sisters.

One of the primary songwriters for The Cockrum Sisters, Carol was nominated for two SOCAN Song of the Year awards for her songs "Mystery To Me" and "She Don’t Cry." But on her way to an opening gig for the Bellamy Brothers one day, Carol suffered a terrible industrial accident that landed her in hospital for a month, her life hanging by a thread. She was told that if she survived, she could possibly lose her eyesight and her voice. "I remember praying, ‘If you have to take something away from me, take my sight! Please leave me my voice!’" she recalls. Losing sight in one eye, she now sports a striking, yet sexy, new look with the eye patch and is grateful every day that she can still sing her songs. Pursuing a solo career was the first thing on her mind when she recovered. "After going through everything with the accident, I realized that time is too short and it was now or never. You only have today, and I wasn’t about to squander it. So I followed my heart. I got into the studio and started recording,"

Collaborating with ingenious producer Bart McKay, Carol co-produced her solo debut. Also lending their expertise to the project were long-time Mutt Lange engineer Kevin Churko (Celine Dion, Shania Twain, Bryan Adams, The Corrs), bassist Mike Lent (Jann Arden), guitarist Murray Pulver (Crash Test Dummies, Doc Walker), drummer Matthew Atkins and cellist Brenda Nightingale.

The result is the dozen tracks that make up the album Joan of Arc, featuring her strong, confident voice and equally strong, confident songwriting. "I think the common thread that runs through my songs is the intensity of feeling," Carol muses, "whether I’m stating what I think about love, disappointment, or seeking resolution." Influenced by blues, rock, country and jazz, Carol cites the Eagles and Etta James as favourites. The album’s first single, "You Make Me Want to Run," surprisingly conveys the energy of both icons equally. Carol is as comfortable on a rock venue stage as she is on country radio, which speaks volumes about her range, dynamic and drive.