Danielle Ponder found her own voice after years of giving a voice to others

When you think of demanding professions, it’s possible that “attorney” comes in somewhere near the top of the list — long, long hours doing mentally exhausting work. That’s what my guest today, Danielle Ponder, was used to when she worked as a public defender. For a long time, singing was something she did on the side, but with the release of her debut album, Some of Us Are Brave, last fall, it’s become her main focus.

In this session, Ponder explains how her two careers are connected and how she found her own voice after years of giving a voice to other people. You’ll also hear just how powerful her voice is in a live performance recorded live for World Cafe during a WXPN Free at Noon concert in Philadelphia, Pa.