Carolyn Badders is the soulful voice of Heartsong. It comes naturally to the twenty one year old from Maryland. \"If I can\'t sing, I can\'t live,\" she plainly states. \"Singing is like breathing. It\'s an everyday thing for me. It defines me and takes me lots of places.\" The first song on \"Illumination\", \"My Brother\'s Song\", takes her \"to a place of memory and pain.\" It\'s a tribute to the life of a relative who died of a drug overdose. \"Start Me Over\", on the other hand, is \"a song of hope and encouragement.\" One verse declares,\"Don\'t let them tell you that this cannot be, standing before you is proof you can see.\" If art refects life, then Badders\' voice is her very personal expression of real experience, deep emotion, and ultimate survival.