The first in a series of interviews with musicians from all four corners who will be playing the 2013 AITP Online Music Festival comes from the always witty +Sara Corbin of North Carolina. Sarah is also hosting online performances with the festival. She is a well known musician on Google Plus and is a seasoned host and guest performer from many music shows, already.

MTM: Let’s start at the beginning. Tell us a little about yourself. how and when did you start making music?
SC: My grandmother bought me a guitar for Christmas when I was 15, and my family ordered me to learn to play! No one in my immediate family played any instruments, and they decided one of us needed to be able to entertain.

MTM: Why do you do it, now?
SC: Music now plays a lot of roles in my life. It has transformed from a hobby into a necessity, a release, a form of expression, and even a part-time career.

MTM: What were some of your early influences and what inspires you today?
SC: Jewel was definitely one of my biggest influences starting out, as well as Lisa Loeb. Rob Thomas has remained a huge songwriting influence for me throughout the years. As for what inspires me, it really comes from all over; my own life experiences, the experiences of other people, other songs, books, movies, etc.

MTM: What was the last song you listened to (disc in the car or what-not)?
SC: Everybody Say by MadCraft

MTM: How did you connect with Artists in the Plus and what attracted you to working with them?
SC: I honestly don’t remember how I first connected with Artists in the Plus, but my guess is that it was probably through James Olmos. John Voshell is a great guy with a sincere love for music, so as a musician, I was definitely drawn to that. When I saw all the great things AITP was doing, I realized I wanted to be a part of that, so I started getting involved in ways beyond just playing music, like hosting shows and booking other musical guests.

MTM: Last year’s festival was a huge success and changed a lot of things about music on the net. Were you a part of that?
SC: Hahaha…..I played the music festival last year at some unholy hour, like 3am or something. I like to think that my grouchiness during that set helped shape the music festival this year….we decided not to do those 3am time slots!

MTM: What would you like to see as a result of the festival, this year?
SC: Naturally I would like to see the musicians involved gain even more recognition and fan following; I’d like to see the viewers/listeners who may be there for a particular artist find other artists and music that they enjoy as well. I’d love to see AITP continue to grow and gain more recognition for all the work that’s being done to bring independent artists into the spotlight, and I hope that the festival may shine some light on how useful and fun Google+ can be, for those who might not yet be aware of all the ways it can be used.

MTM: Have you been using services like Hangouts On Air, U-Stream, Street-Jelly, or others to perform live via video on line? What kind of reaction are you getting?