FIVE FIRSTS: Katherine Etzel of Bobtown

NAME: Katherine Etzel
BAND AFFILIATION: Bobtown
INSTRUMENT: Drums, ukulele, accordion

1. THE FIRST ALBUM I EVER BOUGHT WAS … Candy-O by The Cars, dig those synths!

2. THE FIRST CONCERT THAT I EVER SAW WAS … The Stray Cats in Des Moines, Iowa. They did, indeed, rock this town.

3. THE FIRST MUSICAL INSTRUMENT I EVER OWNED OR PLAYED WAS … flute in the fifth grade. This lasted all of six months, after which I never played an instrument again until relatively recently, when I made up for my lack of instrumentation with fervor.

4. THE FIRST SONG THAT I EVER PERFORMED IN PUBLIC WAS … an original song called “All Is Fair” by the very first band I was in, Mirrored Image (see below).

5. THE FIRST BAND I WAS EVER IN WAS … Mirrored Image, a quasi-rock, five-piece band in South Florida, where I moved after fleeing the Iowa winters as a teenager. Our first gig was technically a jazz festival, but our guitarist’s mom was well connected (she was also our manager), and she hooked us up with the gig. My first time ever appearing on stage was in front of 2,000+ people. Very intimidating!

Katherine Etzel (far right in above photo) and the other members of the NYC-based folk/Americana quintet Bobtown will take the stage at Colony in Woodstock on Thursday (January 11), co-headlining with Low Lily. The show starts at 8pm, and admission is $15 in advance; $20 at the door.