Dreams drive all artists, and musicians seem to dream in Technicolor with Dolby quadrophonic sound. The lucky ones actually get to live out their wildest dreams during their waking hours.

Central New York audiences know singer Kim Fetters primarily from her work as backup vocalist for Benny Mardones and as former lead singer for the lounge group Taboo. Back in 1993, she put the area on notice of her blossoming vocal talent when she delivered impassioned renditions of holiday tunes on Taboo's seasonal album Merry Christmas (Lakewood Music Group).

Now with the independent release of her debut disc, In My Wildest Dreams, the Cazenovia-bred vocalist makes a bold statement of pride and purpose: She's primed to fulfill her life's dream of pop stardom.

Fetters and producer Doyle worked long and hard on this 10-tune album. First they solicited top-notch Top 40-style material from some of the area's best tunesmiths. Then they slaved away for countless hours at Jamesville's Lakewood Studios, seeking just the right sounds to showcase Fetters' phenomenal voice. Having honed his production skills under the tutelage of hitmaker Maurice Starr (New Edition, New Kids on the Block), Doyle pulls out his entire bag of tricks to fluff up Fetters' bed of ballads on this disc, including synthesizer accents, slow tambourine, guitar punctuations, an often booming bass and bass drum (care of bassist Jake Cappozolo bass and drummer John Mangicaro), and heavily layered harmony vocals (Fetters performs her own overdubs and Doyle himself croons the huskier harmonies).

On some of the slower songs, such as "Once Upon a Love" and "Forever My Love," the massive production threatens to overwhelm the lady's lyrics. Yet Fetters rises to the challenge every time, projecting her own cool breeze and warm tone amid the blizzard of bells and whistles.

On the mid-tempo tunes, however, and the rockers like "Acid Rain," Doyle pushes all the right buttons and contributes some absolutely riveting instrumental accompaniment, both on electric guitar and keyboards. As a player, Doyle never goes overboard; if anything, his precision solos leave the listener wanting to hear more. After all, this album is a showcase for Fetters' vocals--he merely embellishes.

Fetters and Doyle waste no time grabbing listeners' attention on the first notes of the album opener, "The Lover I Want," with a clever electronically enhanced a cappella vocal, quickly followed by Fetters' full-bodied voice in all its natural beauty. For anyone who's never heard Kim Fetters--out-of-town record and radio executives, for instance--that initial salvo will signal the presence of a major vocal talent, exactly what an opening album track should achieve. And the song is an original, co-written by Fetters, Doyle and Joe Whiting, Doyle's longtime rock'n'roll partner.

As the disc's only cover tune, a version of the Beatles' nostalgic ballad, "In My Life," also accomplishes a goal. It lets listeners hear Fetters freshly interpret a familiar pop classic. Doyle holds it all together with his organ underpinning and a rippin' guitar solo.

Soon to be well known as Central New York's answer to Celine Dion, Fetters makes two successful voyages on Titanic-like material. Both the lyrics and arrangement of "Leave Your Heart with Me" (by Eric Kaz and Doug James) closely resemble Dion's soundtrack chart-topper "My Heart Will Go On." Later in the album, "Once Upon a Love" (by Syracuse songwriter John Annesi) also conjures images of the French Canadian superstar.

Doyle on "Hold On," which sports several clever slant rhymes: "I got to hold on to the good thing you gave to me/ ...your good love is saving me." And where else have you ever heard of rhyming "experience" with "serious"? Doyle tosses in a Van Halen-esque guitar rave at no extra charge, before Fetters finishes with a sensual, overdubbed vocal outro. You can practically feel the ache in her voice when she sings, "Oooh, how I need you!"

"It's No Secret," a celebration of a rare shared love, blends hand-clapping, wah-wah effects and a catchy chorus alternating with verses that recall Donna Summer's best-selling work. Doyle's old pal from Boston, Richard Mendelson, co-wrote and co-produced "Forever My Love," a quintessential slow dance, while Doug James' song of longing, "In My Wildest Dreams," features a long list of guest singers: Dennis Veator, Christine Labatos, Debra Jean Heilig, Doyle and Conan.

Fetters displays a surprising affinity for a Southern style, slow as molasses groove on "Unsentimental," a number which is nothing but sentimental, culled from the songbook of EMI composers David Werner and Charlie Midnight. Again, Doyle 's guitar part impresses, while never failing to frame Fetters' equally impressive pipes.

In My Wildest Dreams reaches its zenith on "Acid Rain," the song that Fetters performs live on her dates with national recording artist Benny Mardones. Composed by EMI writers Werner, Junior Vasquez and Joe Moskowitz, "Acid Rain" splashes and crashes like a late summer thunderstorm. A plaintive guitar line presages the deluge, followed by Fetters' declarative vocal--half rap and half recitation--which then explodes in angry warning and unfettered lust.

From concept to performance to production, "Acid Rain" deserves to be a hit. Not only does Fetters throw her entire being into it, the arrangement itself assures the song's success, as it balances tension and release, lusty vocal and blistering guitar, suggestive lyrics and Adirondack imagery.

For now, Kim Fetters' versatile voice echoes loud and clear amid the drumlins of Central New York. Once the powers that be get wind of the commercial potential of the talent displayed on this dynamic debut, however, her voice will ring out from the Appalachians to the Rockies and beyond...beyond her wildest dreams.