The Last Town Chorus

Last Town Chorus is the nom de musique of contemporary singer/songwriter/lap steel guitarist Megan Hickey (born near Pittsburgh, PA on June 26, 1974). Although she was always interested in music, Hickey didn't get serious about playing and writing until she moved to New York City in 1999. "I grew up in a little town and my childhood was quite idyllic," the redheaded singer says. "I like it more now, in the rear view mirror, but Pittsburg was a livable sweet city. In the '80s the steel business came to a halt and after years of glory as a center of winning sports teams and heavy industry the city declined a bit. Now it's reinvented itself as a high tech and service center. It's still a nice, hilly mellow place to live." Hickey's older brother was a hip-hop, free jazz, soul music junkie while she favored new wave MTV bands like Culture Club. As her musical curiosity grew, she backtracked to Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell, Ray Charles and reggae. In college, she started collecting obscure vinyl and listening to her mother's classical albums. "I willfully kept my ears open to a broad range of music," she explains. "In sixth grade I was given a bass guitar and a used Fender amp. I have a picture of myself in my graduation dress holding a big bass guitar. I was always a huge music fan; I tinkered with the guitar while I was still quite young, and played a bit of piano sitting beside my mom. I always wrote the occasional song, but I was never thrilled by any sentiment I expressed to the point I was ready to change my life and start a band. "I was the leader of the new wave kids in my town and hung out with the suburban punk rock wannabes. There were half a dozen at every high school in the city and we'd hang out together at radio station parties and dance to the...