THE FIRST TIME I heard her sing was at the Green Dolphin with Mr. A.L.I. Her command of the stage and sweet lullaby of a voice grabbed me right away, and I was instantly a Carla Prather fan.

Carla is best known as the lead singer of Mr. A.L.I. as well as one of the singers of the veteran Chicago band Poi Dog Pondering. She has recorded with the likes of Maurice Joshua, Byron Stingily, and performed with acts as varied in range from Hootie and the Blowfish, Blue Man Group, Cheap Trick, Common, Martha Wash, Loletta Holloway and Chico Debarge.

A woman of many talents, she not only sings and writes her own music, but is also proficient at the piano, drums and clarinet. Early on in her career in 1996, Carla penned several tunes under the production and guidance of club legend Maurice Joshua. In 1998 she started her own publishing company (CarlaPratherMusic Publishing c/o ASCAP), and began writing songs for not only herself but other artists such as Latin recording artist Zanya and dance diva Dajae.

It wasn't long before she was invited by Frank Orrall of Poi Dog Pondering to become a full time member of the band. She began touring with them across the country to sold-out venues. Shortly after that Carla joined neo-soul band Mr. A.L.I., and she and Dajae sang to a huge following, first at Green Dolphin and later at The District.

To date, she has released several singles backed by powerhouse producers such as "Rainy Day" (Jere McAllister of Mr. A.L.I.), "One Day" (Byron Stingily), "The First Time" (Kenny Carvajal), "Somebody" (Nick Santillan), "Come Into My Life" (Anthony Nicholson) and "No More Love" (Quentin Harris).

One day at Claremont Elementary School where she is currently teaching, Carla Prather sat down with us and told us a little about herself.

Tell us about your background.

I feel like I've been singing forever. Most of my background began here in the city of Chicago as a singer and songwriter... just working with local singers and producers.

Were you trained as a singer?

Not really. I had a few formal lessons with Lena Mclean, who is R. Kelly's godmother. As a kid I went to Mayfair Academy which is a music school on the southside of Chicago. That's where all of my formal piano training came from.

As far as my vocals are concerned, I was in choir as a kid, and I went to Alabama State (I was a music major there). I only stayed there one year and I returned to Chicago. I finished my degree in National Louis University. During that time I was doing a lot of shows locally. Initially I started out doing a lot of talent competitions around town which led me to doing shows with local bands, just as a person sitting in. Eventually I signed on with Poi Dog Pondering. I've been in the band for about seven years, since 1999. That meeting led me to a lot of opportunities.

After being in Poi for about four years I started working with Mr. A.L.I. I came in with Dajae as one of the lead singers and it just catapulted from there. We did shows at the Green Dolphin and then at The District. We started to record and a couple of songs got picked up. Eventually Mr. A.L.I. became more of a recording band, as opposed to us doing live shows which are not always as economical.

What kind of music did you listen to? Did you always want to sing House?

I did listen to House growing up, but it wasn't on purpose - my neighbors used to have the craziest parties next door! It was always a style of music I wanted to try out but I had never really had an opportunity. So that was pretty much my influence.

I've always loved every style of music. I don't really have a particular preference because I do gospel, dance, hip-hop, R&B, folk, jazz... I just really feel that music and singing are therapeutic and so I really don't have any preference.

Did you go to House parties back in the day?

The only House parties that I used to go to were at Mendel High School. That was my very first experience with House music outside of the next door parties. It was the greatest experience. Just this free flowing atmosphere, everybody was on their own just dancing. There were even some people crying, they were so in love with the music.

That's what I love about the House music scene... I think that it's a place where you can express yourself and not feel guilty about anything that you do.