A little bit about me:

I grew up in Grafton VT, and had the benefit of the wonderful arts scene that was mainly centered in Brattleboro at the time. I got to take ballet with Kathy Keller, piano lessons with with Becky Graber and then with Susan Dedell through the Brattleboro  Music Center, attended Camp Allegro in the summer-time, sang in the Children's Chorus, and had amazing mentors like the Amidons and Verandah Porche come through my elementary school on a regular basis. My father Bill Toomey plays lute and vihuela; he also books all the music for events at the Old Tavern at Grafton. He was one of my earliest teachers and helped me immeasurably with understanding basic theory and ear-training.

Later on, I played with classic rock covers bands out of Keene NH, and also made connections with jazz musicians in the region through Attila Zoller's Vermont Jazz Center and Don Baldini's student big band at Keene State College. I wrote articles for and helped edit my friend's independent jazz newspaper project, "The Green Mountain Jazz Messenger." [No longer operational - absorbed by Jazz Improv in 1999.] The work was really gratifying, and there was a strong response especially to our calendar feature. The brilliance of the jazz artists working in town - not only Zoller (1927-1998), but also folks like Dave Shapiro, Fred Haas, Tom McClung [now in Paris], Howard Brofsky, Claire Arenius, and Steve Sonntagg,  plus later arrivals Eugene Uman and Scott Mullett -  let me fall in love with jazz first-hand.  I was also fortunate to learn appreciation and respect for what it took to cut a gig in a different style -- Country and Western can take you to school if you're not careful. I learned not look down on any style of music -- that they all take artistry and know-how to do well, and good music in any style has a lot of elements in common.

One thing that puzzled me at the time was that Brattleboro VT and Keene NH, two active large towns only 20 minutes apart, seemed alienated from each others' cultural lives.  Though I think things have improved in recent times, I still have a sense that our performing arts community would benefit from growing and strengthening ties across state and county lines. Why do Franklin County artists and presenters often get short shrift in VT, NH, and 5-College Area media? As any local will tell you, travel is usually easy driving north and south along I-91... but in wintertime especially, it can be tough going east-west over the mountains out of the CT river watershed!

In more recent years I was lucky to connect with someone who would become a life-long friend and inspiration, Nancy Stefanik, who was pulling together a community low-power FM radio station in Bellows Falls. Once Black Sheep Radio got on-air, (WOOL100.1fm - http://wool.fm ) I was able to use my show to publicize my friends' dates and to try and raise awareness about live music in the area. That's when the calendar started, and I wasn't able to put it down for long, even after relocating to Jacksonville to finish my degree!

Thanks for reading and for supporting the music.
And please keep in touch!

Anneke Toomey
Keeper of the List