I performed at one of the inaugural balls in 1993, at the first Clinton inauguration. I was invited because Al Gore was a family friend, and because I had played at a few events for him when he was doing environmental work as a senator. I was thrilled. I got a beautiful dress, lent to me by the designer Pamela Dennis. It was a black, long-sleeved sheath with wide bejeweled cuffs at the wrists. I had matching jeweled Manolo Blahniks. I looked quite fetching… [continued]