'Horses by day, Songs by night...'

By Marji Fenrow,
Special to the Chronicle

    Amy Gallatin admits her true loves are horses and music.
    And during the 10 years that she lived in Idaho and Montana, she was able to combine them.
    Her jobs at various ranches, including stints as a wrangler have allowed Gallatin to work with horses by day and sing around campfires at night.
    Her first real musical job was singing for a sleigh ride dinner at the Lone Mountain Ranch in Big Sky, Mont.
    But it wasn't until five years ago when she left the ranch life - and the horses - and ended up in Connecticut that her music career began to flourish. That occurred after she met Matt Nozzolio and Kevin Lynch and the group "Amy Gallatin and Stillwaters" was born.
    They will perform in a return engagement at Coventry's Patriot's Park Saturday. The coffee house will begin at 8 p.m.
    "I went to Europe and when I got to the airport [in the United States], I had run out of money," said Gallatin. "So I wound up staying with a friend in Connecticut."
    The first step toward Gallatin's musical success in the state began when she visited a music store and saw Nozzolio's advertisement for musicians.
    She thought it would be a good chance to perform with other talented musicians and contacted Nozzolio, a native of New York.
    "At the time, we did some stuff," remembered Gallatin. "We had a few real gigs, but I went back to my winter singing in Idaho."
    So for the next few years, she sang full-time at the Idaho Rocky Mountain Ranch in Stanley, Idaho.
    "I had been at loose ends that last winter and I wanted to come back here," said Gallatin, who now lives in South Glastonbury. "There wasn't much of an interest in folk music there, basically because of the sparseness of the population. There just aren't that many people there.
    "There are more people here, so you can put on a festival. I think there's a thriving folk scene here and the whole Bluegrass scene is here. And there are a lot of coffee houses and other venues here where people like to come and hear the music.
    Gallatin said she called Nozzolio and asked if he would be interested in performing again. He thought it was a great idea, so Gallatin packed up her things and traveled back East.
    Gallatin said when she returned to Connecticut, she felt her music had become more polished and she was ready to accomplish more.
    And that's when Lynch entered the picture.
    An accomplished mandolin and guitar player, Lynch, a Coventry native, offered to produce a CD for Gallatin. The result was Northern Girl, which was released in 1993.
    Since then, Gallatin and Stillwaters have performed at the Connecticut River Valley Bluegrass Festival in Moodus and the Elizabeth Park Family Folk Festival in Hartford and many other places throughout New England.
    Saturday will mark their second time performing in Coventry. Last June, they entertained audiences at the Lake Wangumbaug Folk Festival Revival.
    "We like venues like Patriot's Park," said Gallatin. "And small audiences are great. It doesn't matter if you're singing for one or 100. Singing is a communication thing.
    "I'd much rather sing for 10 people who really want to hear me. And because of all the singing I did out west, where the people are right in you face, [the closeness of a small audience] doesn't intimidate me.
    Gallatin and Stillwaters will be performing songs from Northern Girl, including "Blue Highway 29" and "Daydream Cowboy" and selected songs from the album they are scheduled to record in March.
    Gallatin said she is under contract to perform one more summer in Idaho, but plans to stay in Connecticut for a long time.
    "I know that I like it here and music has a lot to do with it," she said. "Musically, this is where it happened for me."

-- The Chronicle
Willimantic, CT-- Friday, January 20, 1995

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