About Us

    Hello! My name is Nancy Hart, and this is my precious kitty cat Maggie. Thank you for visiting our website. Let me tell you a little bit about how this music came to be.

    I have loved animals, nature, and music since I was a small child. I grew up in the suburbs of Southern California, where my family always had a lot of animals…dogs, cats, rabbits, pigeons, ducks, parakeets, mice, chameleons, chickens, roosters, to name a few. My parents were raised on farms in the Midwest in the early twentieth century, and they had a great appreciation for animals and nature.

    For family vacations we would typically take car trips to visit beautiful places in nature. Often times I would sing along with the car radio. One day I fondly remember my mother encouraging me to get my brother and sister to sing along with me in the backseat of our Chevy, as we drove up a winding mountain road.

    It's interesting that about four decades later it was in the car that Sing to the Animals began. I was driving my beloved kitty cat Maggie to our vet's office to have her teeth cleaned again, due to a severe gum problem. As she meowed her displeasure to me, I suddenly found myself spontaneously singing the words that I would usually speak to her, as a way of making her feel better.

    It turned out that she had to have seven teeth pulled. When I picked her up that afternoon, I had to sign for narcotic pain medication, and my veterinarian, Dr. Cindy, told me that I would probably have to baby her for a few days, and maybe even force feed her. Maggie had blood dripping out of her nose from the teeth extractions, and Dr. Cindy said it was important that I get the pain medication and antibiotics into Maggie, so that she could heal faster.

    As I drove her home, I sang loving, reassuring words to her again. The rest of the day she stayed perched on the old towel that our vet had given to us to catch the blood that was still draining. Maggie wanted to be left alone after her ordeal, and refused to cooperate when I attempted to give her medications. I did not want to hurt her by forcing her to open her mouth for me, so I let her be and kept a close eye on her that night.

    The next morning when I woke up, I went to the end of the bed where Maggie was curled up. I asked hopefully, "Maggie, how are you feeling this morning?" She immediately rolled onto her back, stretched out all of her legs, and started purring. Then she jumped onto the floor, and walked into the kitchen. I offered her soft food, and she ate it right away to my great relief and joy.

    A little later our vet called. She said, "How is Maggie doing? She has been so on my mind."

    I said, "It's amazing, Dr. Cindy. She's doing great!" And I happily relayed the story to her.

    Dr. Cindy was thrilled to hear that Maggie was doing so well. She said she would call again the next day to check on her.

    The following morning when she called, I told her that Maggie was still eating well, and seemed to be feeling fine for someone who had had seven teeth pulled. I said in wonder, "You know, Dr. Cindy, for some reason I started singing to her on the way to your office, and then again on the way home."

    She was amazed once again to hear about Maggie's very speedy recovery, and she said, "Keep doing whatever you're doing!"

    Dr. Cindy's words stuck with me. I took them to heart, and for the next six months, I made up a song and sang it to Maggie every day. My whole life I had wanted to sing and write songs. Over the years I had sung at an occasional wedding and some showcases in Hollywood, but I was so shy that I could not seem to stick with it on a regular basis. Also, I had never written any songs... it was very difficult for me to express myself, but I had started writing down ideas for song titles seven years earlier in 1995.

    With Maggie I felt so completely loved and safe, that I was finally free to sing every day and start expressing myself by singing the words of love and appreciation for her that I felt so deeply. I was especially grateful for her unconditional love, affection, and companionship at this particular time in my life. After 20 years of marriage and being a homemaker, my husband and I had separated and were getting divorced.

    It was time for me to start my life over again at the age of 49. I felt heartbroken and very frightened to have to make my way in the world on my own, but this major upheaval in my life turned out to be a great blessing.

    I wanted to do something that I genuinely loved doing and believed in—something that could make the world a better place. I always felt the happiest when I sang, and one day I had the idea to write a song entitled "Sing to the Animals".

    A few years earlier, a wonderful woman named Leslie Schwartz had suggested that I write songs “to” animals. We shared a deep love and respect for animals, and I kept saying how much I wanted to be a songwriter.

    I asked her, "Write songs 'to' animals, not 'for' them or 'on their behalf', but 'to' them?"

    And she replied, “Yes, they need that.”

    I thought this was such a lovely idea that it stayed with me for years. So, as I started my new life, I decided to follow my calling to write and record songs for an album entitled Sing to the Animals.

    Since I hadn't written songs before, I needed someone to help me get started, so I bravely introduced myself to a very kind and gifted singer/songwriter named Bentley Kalaway after her performance at a small gathering, and asked her if she could help me.

    To my delight, she invited me to call her. She gave me some great suggestions over the phone and soon I had written my very first song. It was a song to my beloved kitty cat Maggie entitled "You Made a Singer Out of Me".

    Then, my new and dear friend, Wendy Singleton, who is a beautiful singer and an incredibly prolific songwriter of very sweet songs, taught me a lot about songwriting as she cheered me on throughout the process of writing the rest of these songs. Some of them are songs to specific animals, some are to all animals, and many are inspired by the loving connection that Maggie and I feel with each other.

    After about a year and a half, I had completed writing all twelve songs on this album. It was almost one year later that I had finished recording them with the talented help of several wonderful musicians and engineers, and the loving support and encouragement of my family and friends.

    I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to write and sing these heartfelt songs of love to our precious animals. Inspired by my lifelong deep love and respect for animals, I feel that this CD is a wonderful gift to the animals and animal lovers everywhere.

    It is my sincere wish that it is soothing, uplifting, and healing for you and your pets. Music and nature have always been so healing for me throughout my life, and I believe that music certainly is a universal language, that connects all of us in a very special way.

    Singing my love to my dear sweet kitty cat Maggie has definitely made a positive difference in both of our lives, and brought us even closer together than we already were before.