"The only singers I consciously remember are
Rosemary Clooney and Dean Martin."

   Radio and television. Baby boomer, Wesla Whitfield's musical memories have their basis on what she saw and heard over the airwaves, like the Perry Como show and, she freely admits, Lawrence Welk. She might not recall who was singing those songs, but she liked the music. On the radio, she remembers Rosie and Dino, whose keen sense of swing must have remained with her because Wesla today performs with a similar breezy spirit.

   She was born north of Los Angeles, in the town of Santa Maria. Because her parents were struggling to raise two older daughters, Wesla lived with her grandparents until she was four, and then returned to her parents. She insists that she knew from the age of two, when she saw Molly Bee perform on the Red Owen Television Show, that when she grew up, she too wanted to be a singer .

  Wesla's parents owned a piano, and they supported her interest and obvious talent in music. They managed to provide piano lessons and later, voice lessons. They sent her to study classical music in college, and she went on to sing in the chorus of the San Francisco Opera. During this time, she married and divorced.
But that tuneful popular music from her childhood must have been lingering in her mind, because Wesla kept slipping out to sing in piano bars and finally, in the mid '70's, she quit the opera chorus to become a singing cocktail waitress on the Baywind Boat / Restaurant.

   Obviously, Wesla was finding that classical music did not suit her as well as the popular American songbook. She said she was moving from the Julie Andrews School to the Carmen McRae Apprenticeship Program. She began working in small cabaret clubs around the San Francisco area, gaining critical notice, and then one April evening in 1977, her life took yet another decisive turn. Walking home from a rehearsal session, Wesla was struck down on the street in an apparent random shooting. Although she underwent extensive therapy, she was unable to walk again.
But she was still able to sing, and after less than three months, Wesla was back singing in a club. Her physical disability is something she is impatient speaking about.

   "There's only one thing I can't do. I can't walk." Wesla concentrated on trying to make a living singing, but before she could do so, she had to rely on day jobs for many years, including paralegal work and computer programming.