I love metal and I love the musicians who are putting every effort into making a name for themselves in the music scene. That love, and a little knowledge of podcasting, was what started the idea for The Metal Deli. On my show you will hear the music of independent and minor-label bands that you’ve probably never heard — and, to me, that is the beauty of it.

I wasn’t introduced to metal until I was 18, working in an arcade in Chicago. During the day the managers insisted on local radio stations playing “the oldies.” Once the managers left for the day, the customers would take out their cassette tapes of their favorite bands, and that was the music until we closed until 1:00. For the first time I was hearing Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer. But I was also hearing local bands like Trouble, Zoetrope, Stonehenge and Paradoxx. And I was hooked.

I was an assistant on an all-genre podcast starting in 2006, and by 2009 I wanted something more. One day I had to start an 8-hour drive before the sun came up — and I started thinking about what I wanted to do with my life. The ideas started to fill my head as the sun rose, and by the time the sun was fully overhead, I knew I wanted to start a podcast featuring only metal. Not Metallica, not Anthrax, not Slayer, but bands that were fighting to find their way to a stage and touring in a small van — the music you would never get to hear otherwise. That day The Metal Deli was born.

I can now say, almost ten years later, that I have never had so much fun doing anything in my entire life. I have met such amazing people and heard such amazing metal and made amazing friends.

And about me — I’m a little bit shy and a lot loud. I love my kids first, the rest of my family and my friends second, and music third. I am not a big city girl; give me the beach and a small town and I’m happy. I love to get to know people and all their different quirks. And I don’t just like metal — I like ALL music. From Graceland to Paisley Park, I love it. I love seeing people succeed and I really enjoy when I can somehow be a part of that.

The thing about metal that I love so much is that I am never angrier than the music I hear, and I often say that when the time comes that my anger outweighs the music I’m in big trouble. All sub-genres of metal calm me down and rev me up, all at the same time. I’ve even come across beautiful metal songs that have made me cry.

The Metal Deli is truly all me. I don’t edit the show. I laugh, I cry, I make mistakes — and I give you two hours weekly of metal that really rocks. I hope you search out the bands whose music sparks your interest. If you’re a musician, I hope you send me your music to play. I will treat it like gold. If you see me at a concert, please come and say hi. Listen to The Metal Deli — I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!