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Born Retta Guest in Farmington, Maine, Retta's first singing performances took place from a child-sized rocking chair in the kitchen of the Guest household. The Guest family included 4 girls and 4 boys (enough for a harmonic choir) and Mom and Dad. The family spent many hours singing and harmonizing around the kitchen table, the piano or while riding in the car. Retta's brothers were influenced by Elvis and learned to play guitar. Soon Retta picked up the guitar and began to perform. Unlike many of the rural Maine kids she grew up with, Retta did not move away to the city after she finished school, but stayed in Maine due to her great love of the state, as depicted in her original tune, ME, from the Milkglass Flame CD, released in 2002. Retta began performing music professionally while in college, staying mostly with acoustic pop, soft rock and modern folk music. She has played in local clubs, Bowdoin College, community events and other area venues. Retta's past recorded efforts have been an EP released on an independent label, a video recorded in Nashville after winning a contest, and a promo video. Milkglass Flame was promoted by Bryan Farrish Radio Promotion on radio stations across the country with an acoustic venue. Milkglass Flame is Retta's first full length album released on her own label. It includes nine of Retta's originals and some covers. The first song, "Evil Villains", a haunting tune about the events of September 11th, 2001, will ring an emotional chord with any American. Also featured is a song about her love for the state of Maine, and a "Beatlesque" version of Rocky Racoon - very popular with audiences and selling internationally on digital websites. An emotionally moving and beautifully written work of acoustic pop and folk rock, Milkglass Flame is available at http://cdbaby.com/cd/choate. The full album or individuals tracks may also be downloaded at ITunes, cdbaby.com, Broadjam.com, Rhapsody and other digital websites.
Her second CD, "Daddy's Mill", was released in Feb. 2009. The single, "Daddy's Mill", is a tribute to Retta's dad, A.T. Guest, and childhood memories of adventures to his wood/dowel mill. Also on the CD are jazzy versions of Duncan and Brady, JT's Sunny Skies, I've Just Seen a Face (Beatles version) and some new upbeat originals. Retta has been busy writing songs and collecting ideas for a third CD. Also in the works is a collection of original and traditional Christmas music. Retta also ha a YouTube site which will feature videos of new copyrighted songs not yet released. Retta's cup of musical ideas runneth over. Retta relocated from Maine to The Villages, FL in 2018 and will be playing there over the next year. She has already performed at the Bellaire Social Club July 4th, 2020 driveway concert and a performance at Bohemian Cafe, The Villages.