Five Firsts: MaryLeigh Roohan

NAME: MaryLeigh Roohan
INSTRUMENT: Guitar – sea-foam green Telecaster Deluxe named Ramona

1. THE FIRST ALBUM I EVER BOUGHT WAS … The first album I remember buying myself was Weezer’s Pinkerton. I do remember having a booklet of CDs that included a whole bunch of random stuff, but I think most of them were gifts.

2. THE FIRST CONCERT THAT I EVER SAW WAS … The first concert I ever saw in a proper venue was Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers when I was in the eighth grade.

3. THE FIRST MUSICAL INSTRUMENT I EVER OWNED OR PLAYED WAS … The first musical instrument I ever played was piano. My mom got me lessons for my 11th birthday, and I totally hated it after a few weeks. I get so mad at my 11-year-old self for not sticking with it!

4. THE FIRST SONG THAT I EVER PERFORMED IN PUBLIC WAS … I performed a song I wrote at a school talent show when I was fifteen. It was a goofy song about being a student at an all girls school. At that point, I couldn’t sing and had incorrectly taught myself every chord on guitar, but I ended up winning. Humor was on my side.

5. THE FIRST BAND I WAS EVER IN WAS … The first band I was ever in was Polar Bears Eating Polar Bears. We were huge in the Arctic.

Singer-songwriter MaryLeigh Roohan will celebrate the release of her new album, “Skin and Bone,” with a party and performance at the Parting Glass in Saratoga Springs at 8pm on Friday (November 8). She’ll be accompanied a rotating roster of Local 518 musicians, including Jason Brown, Joel Brown, Chris Carey, Meg Duffy, James Gascoyne, Sam Zucchini and possibly a few others. In addition, the evening’s festivities will also include performances by hometown faves the Rodeo Barons and Philadelphia’s Juston Stens & the Get Real Gang. Admission is $5.