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Member since? 

July 2016 is when I first worked up the courage to come to a rehearsal. I was spotty about coming to practice for a while because of a combination of Real Life and excessive nerves. I still get those moments, but it’s much better now! (Kudos to Leanne and Tyler for fostering a positive atmosphere that’s friendly to those of us who need a bit extra encouragement!)

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How did you hear about/find us? 

I originally saw the flier in The Abbey, and took a picture of it to find out more, but got busy and forgot all about it until Renee told me she’d been coming. Renee knew I played flute and really encouraged me to come. I was incredibly nervous, and my car broke down when I finally got up the nerve to come the first time. The band was warm and welcoming and understanding, and now even though I make tons of mistakes, I’m having a blast!

 

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What is your musical background/history? 

• I started band in 5th grade. Flute was the only instrument I could get a sound out of. It took me about a month to get that sound to come out consistently. Our band was tiny, so I started marching the next year. I wasn’t ready, and the older high school students went to the band boosters meeting to complain about the new 6th graders who didn’t know their right foot from their left. I was very driven to prove the older kids wrong, and persisted. By the end of the next year I was first chair. I played all the way through high school and a little in college at Montevallo.

• I also sang choir in elementary and Jr. High school. I’m a lyric soprano, and was a part of the National Kodaly Children’s Choir in Boston in 8th grade. It was a super cool experience, and I really miss singing regularly.

 

 

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What is your favorite “Band Song” to play? 

Right now, I’m really digging the Prince Medley. I had three 45 singles when I was a kid – Ray Parker Jr’s “Ghostbusters,” Kool & the Gang’s “Misled,” and “When Doves Cry.”

 

 

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What do you do when you are not playing music? (work/hobbies/for fun???)

• I am a freelancer, doing a lot of writing, communications, and social media, with a little bit of ecommerce and web work thrown in. My ill-advised degrees are in English and History. I had been assured those were marketable degrees that were very flexible and I could find work almost anywhere. My advisor was a bit behind the times. I am constantly considering going back to school to follow my true passion, but astrophysics isn’t much more marketable. We’ll see.

• I’m an unapologetic nerd. I read, roleplay, game, and geek out about almost everything science and literature related. I write poetry and never have enough time for all the things I want to do.

• I married a student athlete (football player), but I won at parenting – both kids are band nerds!

 

 

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What type of animal/breed of dog/cat/bird/fish/other etc…. best reflects your personality and why? 

My inclination is to go with a mythical creature, but everyone else has been straight-laced with this one, so I’ll go with a fox  – seemingly innocent and friendly, but surprisingly observant and always planning something. I’m quiet because I’m thinking ahead. It takes some time for me to let my guard down, but when I do, I am playful and fun. I’m also very fond of the night, although I’m not strictly nocturnal.

 

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Tell us something fun!  You know, like “That one time at band camp…” Or elsewhere.  (funny anecdote/story/amazing coincidence/hidden talent/celebrity encounter, etc…) 

• One funny celebrity encounter I had coincides with Renee’s – the same year Malcolm McDowell grabbed her butt at Dragon*Con, we had ridden in the elevator with him. I kept nudging my husband, and after we got alone I said, “Did you see who that was?” Chris didn’t believe me until later when Renee told him the butt-grab story. He emailed me and admitted that it must have been Malcolm McDowell in a corset in the elevator with us.

• I met my husband on orientation night at college. I was trying to work up the nerve to talk to people and he came up to me and said, “Hi, I am Chris and I don’t like people either.” I was horrified, but he managed to overcome that rocky first impression. We walked out of a terrible stand-up comedy act together and walked around campus in the dark until 3 a.m. Only after I got home did I realize that I still had a boyfriend back home who might object, and also that maybe walking around campus with a complete stranger in the dark wasn’t the brightest idea I’d ever had. 

• I once had a Labrador retriever named Zaphod Beeblebrox who brought home most of the parts of a car, one piece at a time. One week we’d get a water pump, the next a bumper.

• I used to ghostwrite books. Two have been about an Illuminati conspiracy to take over the world.