I grew up in South St. Louis and went to a now closed private school called St Francis DeSales where I attended mass in the coolest gothic mini Cathedral in the United States! My South side roots are strong. My grandma owned beauty salons in Soulard before I was born! When my brothers and I played outside, I could smell the hops from Anheuser Busch.
I grew up very much surrounded by music as my father was a professional keyboard player. While most kiddos were learning their abc's, I was practicing singing songs from the likes of artists like Linda Rondstadt, Connie Francis and Roy Orbison. I'd say around five years old was when I sang in front of a real audience with my dad's band at the St. Thomas Aquinas school picnic in 1986! My first professional/paid show was at fifteen years old at Westborough Country Club for a wedding anniversary party. I was hired by my high school band director as his band's lead singer after that first gig.
From fifteen years old and on, you couldn't get me off the stage as I went on to sing in many popular St. Louis bands like Boom (formerly Rupert's Orchestra) Boogie Chyld, Accolade and others. I took my own band (Uptown) on a Carnival Cruise ship (The Sensation) when I was nineteen and when I came back I continued working as a vocalist. I've gotten to sing with Theo Peoples of the Temptations and I've opened for Taylor Dayne. In 2005, I was the winner of the St. Louis American Idol Contest.
At one of my shows at Harrah's, all of the members of not only Motley Crue, but Skid Row —yes Skid Row—walked in and sat in with my band for a set. They wanted to hang out after, but you wouldn't believe that I actually said no. I needed to get back home to my cats One and Two.
I met my husband TJ in a band called Jukebox Jealousy. We bonded quickly over our love of music and our interest in of all things gardening. I thought he was even more handsome than one of my favorite Italian singers Dean Martin, and when he knew what a Black Krim tomato was, I realized I met my twin flame. We both share very motivated dispositions too, so I knew we would do great in whatever we tried to accomplish together.
Forming a band with him was a no brainer as he's a very talented drummer, too.
Ps: He also had a cool motorcycle when I met him, so there was that, and It wasn't long after we dated that we knew we were destined to be together.
Fast forward to today, we share my first born, Rooney (from my previous marriage) and our son Giugno (pronounced June-yo/It's Italian). Our kiddos love music! Rooney is eleven years old and is currently taking acoustic guitar lessons, sings like an angel and has an obsession for Elvis. She wants to work at Graceland one day. Juney, our eight year old, is taking violin lessons, sings impeccably and plays the drums like his dad. He has the energy of a superstar, and with his middle name Rocket we're sure he will pursue music with as much veracity as we did! We wouldn't be surprised if a family band pops up a little later as they continue on their musical journeys.
About a year ago we started Polly and the Pocket. Tj and I both grew up in the 90s. I'm a little older than TJ—5 years—so I was in high school between 95 and 99 and right smack in the middle of the grunge movement, as well as many other emerging musical styles like New Jack Swing, Britpop, Alternative Rock, pop punk and Emo. I loved it all and I was heavily influenced by a great many styles.
TJ and I noticed that there were a lot of bands covering 70s and 80s over the years, but not really a lot of bands covering the 90s decade. We also noticed a lot of "younger-ish" people wearing and re-introducing 90s fashion trends, so we thought "what the heck" let's make a 90s review band and name it after something so quintessentially 90s that no one will doubt what type of music we play (No Doubt); hence the name, Polly and the Pocket. Also, in musical terminology, the pocket is the groove, it's the backbeat, the bottom., and the drummer lays it down. Symbolic for TJ. And even the rest of the band really. Polly is me! I also kind of "carry" the band around with me wherever I go so there's that. And obviously the toy itself was very popular in the 90s.
As of right now, Polly and The Pocket covers a variety of music from the 90s into the early 2000s and we've recorded a demo soundtrack that is on our website at
Specifically, some of the artists/bands you will hear from us are No Doubt, Alanis Morisette, Nirvana, Four Non Blondes, The Cranberries, Lenny Kravitz, Spin Doctors, Filter, Ace of Base, Lisa Loeb, Natalie Imbruglia, Radiohead, Hole, Sheryl Crowe, The Cardigans and Chumbawumba—just to name a few.
You can catch us live at shows listed on our website, one of which will be played from the New Town amphitheater on July 3rd 2024! TJ and I moved there in 2017 and we absolutely love it. Every summer at the amphitheater, one can see a lot of great bands. New Town has been a huge blessing for our family. There is just so much to do in the summer. We love going to our pool because there's a great lazy river, and the lakes and canals around the community are wonderful for fishing and paddleboarding. The people in New Town are so warm and friendly and it's just been a welcoming environment for our kids. I know there's occasionally talk of the perfect look of the place and it can deter suspicious minds—lol—but it really is as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside. I'm not microchipped living in New Town and it feels like growing up in the neighborhoods of the 80s when kids would just ride their bikes around and go to the local grocery store for a candy bar and pop. Everyone that we know in New Town has been super supportive of Polly and The Pocket playing an amphitheater show, too, so we're super excited. It helps that I get to meet a lot of folks because I'm the manager of the non-for- profit coffee shop in town, The Bridge. I get to yap about everything to everyone!
And speaking of noise, Polly and the Pocket doesn't use any pre-recorded material in our show and what you're hearing is all live—there are no click tracks! We've been told by our audience and sound techs that it's refreshing to hear a band that isn't using technology to fill in the holes. We all know our instruments and play them well!
Maybe in the future, you'll hear the band play their own originals, but for now we are happy reminiscing over the music we grew up with!
Originating from St. Charles MO, Polly and the Pocket is a high energy, female fronted alternative rock band covering all your favorite songs from the 90's. They encompass heavy sounds from the Riot grrrl movement while paying tribute to lighter tracks you might recognize them from the Lilith Fair festival. Throw in all your Pop favorites you remembered hearing Casey Kasem announcing for American's Top 40 back in the day and you've got - Polly and the Pocket.