So for her next record, appropriately titled "Speechless," she went into the studio with just a few riffs and her new band.
"It was a great opportunity to do something I'd always wanted to do - an instrumental record," she said. "I'd bring in riff ideas and we'd take them to the next level in the studio on the fly."
The biggest challenge, she said, came after the recording, just in trying to find the right mix. The recording itself, she said, was smooth as can be.
"I just spent the last year building a recording studio in my home," she said. "So all I have to do is be in a good mood, go into the studio and play guitar."
Her rhythm section now consists of two Indianapolis-based musicians, David Clawson on drums and Jimmy V on bass, who have known each other for many years but had never been in a band together.
"The chemistry between us is great," she said. "They're both very talented, but through the years I've found that in the big picture, talent is the least of it. Both of them understand what it's like to be a side man. They work hard to understand waht I'm looking for and know that I'm open to their ideas.
"They let me drive, and then make suggestions when I get stuck."
Consequently, once the tune and arrangements for the record were worked out, it was usually a matter of two or three takes to get it right.
She'll be trying out some of the new "Speechless" tunes on Thursday when the trio mounts the Oxford Music Festival stage, a venue she's played frequently.
"I've been playing the Oxford Music Festival since before I moved to Cincinnati" nine years ago," she said. "It's really a nice festival, especially since they re-did the parks a few years ago."