OAKLAND, Calif. -- Raquel Aurilia simply isn't the "typical" major league baseball player's wife. Sure, she's got some things in common with many of them -- she is pretty, supports her husband in his career, pitches in with charity work, and does a lot of travelling. All the things you would expect of a player's spouse.

But these days, Mr. Aurilia is having to learn to push aside some of his sports equipment to make room for Mrs. Aurilia's musical equipment. Hopefully, he's prepared to share the spotlight with his musically talented wife, Raquel, who has just released her second album of songs called 'Holding On To Love' through Shea Records. Raquel took some time to speak with KTVU.com about her move from the background into the spotlight.

KTVU.com: So for those readers who don't know your history, why don't you bring us up to speed on what got you started as a singer?

Raquel Aurilia: I've always wanted to sing, I just wasn't sure how to get started. If you are acting or doing print work [modeling], you go and audition. Singing is totally different and sometimes it's hard to know how to get started. Even if you are a good singer or writer or whatever, it's not that cut and dry how or where to start. So I met with a producer in Los Angeles [Tony Papa] who is a friend of a friend. He sent me some demos to go through and then come in the studio and we would see how it worked out.

So I went in the studio and everything worked out great. Luckily, he liked the music and liked my sound. [It] was nice for me that he wanted to work with me. So next thing you know, we went from doing one song to doing an entire album and that became my first album [the aptly titled 'Finding My Way']. That was the end of 2003 and the first album wasn't finished until 2005. But that's how I got into recording.

KTVU.com: But you didn't write on the first album, correct?

Raquel Aurilia: No, I didn't write anything for the first album because it all kind of happened so fast and it was my first time, so I wasn't sure exactly what to do. So we found some songs that I felt really moved me, and we did those demos and made the first album.

KTVU.com: This having been your first record and you being half of a partnership that had one person who was already famous in the world of sports, was it hard to step out of the shadow of being Rich Aurilia's wife?

Raquel Aurilia: Yes and no. Obviously it has its perks, too. We work together a lot as far as when I do shows or we do charity events. [Editor's Note: The Aurilias are very involved with and heavily support the Make-A-Wish Foundation.] Because of baseball, it's been a really nice aid to me as well. So in one respect you do want to step outside the box and say "I'm on my own, I'm not doing this because I'm Richie's wife." I truly believe in what I am doing, my heart's in the right place whether I am married to Richie or not.

At the end of the day, as far as is that why my music is getting played? Sure, it might open up opportunities that I might not have had, some people may say "Well, I'm curious, let me hear her." But then again it might turn around and be a detriment. It could actually be "not a good thing" because people might not take you seriously because you are the wife of a baseball player. People may think this is just some type of hobby I'm doing. So you have to be careful. The way I look at it is I'm doing something on my own, something I've wanted to do forever.

I'm Richie's wife, yes, but I'm also his biggest fan. I support him and he supports me. It's very mutual and he's very, very supportive to me and my music. And as I said we've done a ton of charity work that's involved baseball and my music so we've been able to combine a lot of shows to raise money for good causes and things like that. So it's been good to use that in a way, the fact that he does play ball and I've been offered a lot of opportunities because of that -- to play venues and do other things.

But at the end of the day, will people listen to my music because I'm Richie's wife? Probably not. So you really have to believe in yourself and I do feel like I'm standing on my own on this one. Especially with this new album because I wrote some of it; [producer] Gardner Cole and I co-wrote it. And it feels great that I'm able to get out there and express myself completely separate from what Richie's doing.

KTVU.com: Well, you touched on something I was going to ask about which is people having you categorized in one box but now you are breaking out of that and becoming an entity all your own. How do you deal with that side of it?

Raquel Aurilia: Well, you have to be careful of is I do think there is going to be some curiosity, if people are fans of Richie will say "Well, let's see how serious this is." They may not take it as serious until they hear the music. I'm really confident that my music will speak for itself. I've never really been one to ride Ritchie's coat tail. It's not about that. I've wanted to sing since I was a little girl. I've always had my own thing going since Ritchie and I met. I got my master's degree at Arizona State University and I was on that path before Ritchie and I met.

I was getting ready to work in my field and then we met and we took a different path [laughs]. So I always have my degree to fall back on. Really, my passion was always singing. It's really important to me to have something to call my own. And a lot of the wives and girlfriends of baseball players don't just sit around and hang out. A lot of them do have their own careers. I think people would be surprised at the number of women raising their families, which is hard enough, but that are out there doing other things.

KTVU.com: Let's back up and mention that first record a little bit. To add some indisputable credibility to your career, you had a number 28 hit on Billboard's Hot Adult Contemporary chart with the track "Feels Like." That put you in the company of some pretty big names in the music industry. So for the person who may be reading this but has yet to hear any of your work, how would you describe your sound?

Raquel Aurilia: It's funny, on my MySpace page I get people comparing it to Natalie Merchant, Sheryl Crow, Nancy Griffin...

KTVU.com: Wow.

Raquel Aurilia: Yeah, and I'm like "Really? I'll take that!" So some of the comparisons people draw like that come from the new album. I'm not sure what it is about the sound of the album that's so different but I do feel like it is a stronger album. I don't know if it's because it came from my heart, but I do feel the production is very strong. I don't know how to describe the sound, per say, it's a little adult contemporary, there's a lot of guitar so it's a little bit light rock.

All the songs are very positive, I try to give a little hope when I write, a little light at the end of the tunnel, you know? If I can help it I try not to be a victim in the song because you are throwing your message out there and I do want other women to feel some kind of strength from it. And not necessarily just women, but anyone who listens to it. The "I got hurt but I'm OK" kind of thing. And that's the thing about "Feels Like," it has that kind of message. And I didn't write that song, but it has that message and I noticed it the first time I heard it as a demo. And I think it's doing well on its own because it does have a good message, its got a great beat, a great sound. And it's still getting played on satellite radio, I get calls all the time "I just heard your song the other day" or "We heard it in the store." It's nice to know its still being played even after we stopped promotion on it, that it has legs of its own.

KTVU.com: So now that we know what you are hearing from fans what they think you sound like. Tell me, who are your influences as a singer?

Raquel Aurilia: Growing up I used to listen to a lot of Billy Joel and Barbara Streisand and Elton John. I still listen to those guys today but I have always liked the messages in his songs and I like Bette Midler is amazing. So when I think back to what I grew up listening to and what inspired me those names come to mind immediately. And now, in the current music scene I really admire people like Justin Timberlake who can sing, dance, act and write songs. Avril Lavigne writes her own songs and I do admire her. Pink, she's another one who has her own style and is not afraid to be her own person.

KTVU.com: Moving on to the new album "Holding On To Love,'" there is some personal family tragedy that influenced some of the songs and even the title track. Can you tell us what happened and how the tragedy impacted the album?

Raquel Aurilia: Sure. January of last year, my cousin, Michael and his friend Kyle were out snowboarding at Wolf Creek Colo., and never came back that night -- they went out and didn't return. There was 20 feet of snow, white out conditions and they were simply never found. They did look for them for several days but there was such an intense amount of snow. This, obviously, was very, very sad for our families.

We did some fund raising to do some private searching, to keep looking for the boys, obviously knowing the end result because of the amount of time that had passed. We eventually did find the boys on June 16 of 2008. What we think happened was due to the conditions they just got disoriented and ended up on a trail that went around to the back of the mountain. So we were able to bring them home and give the families some closure.

And at the gravesite, I was sitting there watching everybody around me and we were all just so sad and that's where the song "Holding On To Love" actually came from, is that thought of "How do you actually walk away from this tragedy, how do you find the strength to go on?" So that's how that song came about, if you knew you had one more day with somebody how things would be so different. How you'd really stop and savor every moment. We used it as the title of the album because a lot of the songs are about holding on to love.

KTVU.com: I'm very sorry to hear about your loss. I am sorry your family ad to go through that.

Raquel Aurilia: Well, thank you, very much.

KTVU.com: Let's move onto something a little more upbeat...

Raquel Aurilia: (Laughs) OK...

KTVU.com: I'm interested in hearing how people who write songs write -- and especially you since you went from your first album not having written anything and now you've written half of your new album. What was it like going from singer to singer/songwriter?

Raquel Aurilia: It's funny, you don't really know what you can do until you apply yourself. I met Gardner Cole here in town when I was looking for some local band members. We were at Gardner's studio, I'd never met him before and I had the band run through "Feels Like" to see if we could play together and do some shows locally. Gardner just happened to be there because the studio is in his house so he said, "Why don't you come in and we could write some songs together." I said "That sounds like a great idea but I've never actually written any songs before." So he said "Why don't you try, why don't you write your thoughts down and let's see what you can come up with?"

So I took him up on it, I started to write some thoughts down and the first song I wrote with Gardner was called "Walk Away." And it's a song about a relationship you know you shouldn't be in but it's kind of a safe place so you just stay. And we've all kind of been there so I thought everyone could relate. So that's how the process started.

It's funny because sometimes I hear a melody in my head, sometimes I won't. Sometimes I go in with Gardner and I say "These are the lyrics but I'm not sure how its going to sound yet." He'll say "Well, what about this?" and he'll play some things on the piano or whatever and bring it to life. The first time one of my songs came to life it actually brought tears to my eyes. Gardner is amazing and can play any instrument. He's incredible. Sometimes you can write a song in an hour, sometimes it takes a couple of days to get it right.

KTVU.com: So you said you were at Gardner's studio when you met, did you have him slated as your next producer at that point?

Raquel Aurilia: No, what happened was I was over there looking at all his platinum albums on the walls - I knew he was a producer but we were talking about writing at this point. He wrote "Open Your Heart" by Madonna and he had written for Amy Grant and Jody Watley and when he said he wanted to write together I was like "Wow, this guy wants to write with me?" And so we are writing these songs and started talking about doing the album together and he said "I'll produce it for you if you want." I said "I would love that!"

KTVU.com: So how did you get Tim Pierce to play on the album? That's HUGE. It's actually easier to list who he hasn't played with than who he has.

Raquel Aurilia: I know! I have been so fortunate, I have to say, for me just being little 'ol me, I have been so fortunate to find the most amazing musicians. Tim Pierce being one of them and Bruce Watson who played on my first album and plays with me when I do shows. Tim has done tons of work with Gardner. They've known each other for years. So when I signed on to do the album with Gardner he said "I have my people that we'll use to do the album already." I went to L.A. to hear him and it was mind boggling. He is amazing. So once you get a guy like Tim you have to have a good guitarist to play live so that's where Bruce Watson comes in. He's played with Rod Stewart, Christina Aguilera, Jewel, you know, I'm just lucky to have him, too.

KTVU.com: Are you touring behind this album?

Raquel Aurilia: I want to get a tour together, but right now we are in the process of just saturating the online market as much as possible through MySpace and Facebook and every other Internet site we can to just get the word out because it seems like people are going to the Internet versus going to a store to buy CDs.

KTVU.com: Oh, yeah, with Virgin closing their brick and mortar stores it seems less and less important to even distribute through a retail outlet anymore.

Raquel Aurilia: Yeah, normally you'd be fighting to get distribution and get stuff in retail stores but we've kind of put that on the back burner but really, it doesn't do any good if no one knows your stuff is there. And then I want to do as many shows as I can in L.A. and San Francisco because my band is in L.A. and then I want to set up a tour where it makes sense and do that.

KTVU.com: So where can people pick up your new album?

Raquel Aurilia: Right now, at iTunes, CD Baby, and Amazon.com. And we're moving in on some other places soon, too.

KTVU.com: Raquel, it's been great talking with you, good luck with the new album and let us know when you come into San Francisco to do a show.

Raquel Aurilia: I will, thanks for having me!