I consider Northampton my musical home. When I left college in '89, it was to stop studying music and to start making it. My CD release party at the Iron Horse in 1994 is probably one of the best and most defining moments of my time there in the Valley. I had been working as a waitress there for a few years, seeing show after show of great musicians while working on my own craft; rehearsing, playing open mics, playing shows at the Montague Book Mill on my own (and with the band Free Press), Sheehan's (oh my… my age is showing… I made my very first wages from music in the corner upstairs at the bar in Sheehan's), Pearl Street, the Iron Horse and all the little cafes in between. When it came time to release the CD that I had recorded at Slaughterhouse in Amherst (She's Not Herself, produced by Pete Keppler), there was no other place I wanted to play than the Iron Horse. I sold the place out, gosh darn it, and had one of the best nights of the nine years I spent there in Northampton. My mom died shortly after that and I can only say that I'm grateful she lived to see that night and that she lived to see me doing what I loved best. I left for NYC in 1997, and have now returned to Massachusetts, currently living in Boston. Thank you, Northampton, for the amazing support you gave me during those crucial, beautiful days.
