'Mommy is a rock star'
09.05.11
Down the long Shaftman Performance Hall dressing room, with its twin rows of mirrors and chairs, Maria St.Clair paces the parquet floor.
The rehearsals are all behind her. The sound check is done. Headliner Southern Culture on the Skids have gone out for supper -- two of the band members are from Roanoke, and preferred revisiting Star City haunts to the usual catered backstage spread.
But Maria -- a lifelong Roanoker, working mother of three and lead singer for the punk rock band Oinker, the opening act -- is too nervous to eat.
She is wearing a short red dress and high-heeled shoes with rings around the heels. With her short, golden blond hair and smooth skin, she looks decades younger than her age, 45.
As she paces, an interior argument is raging. It's an argument Maria has had with herself before:
I have no idea why I'm doing this. Why am I putting myself through this? This is ridiculous.
But it's too late to back out now.
Scream therapy
Source: Roanoke Times