Brenda Hillegas

Brenda has been running around various folk, Irish, and Celtic festivals up and down the east coast for the past fifteen years. Long story short, Friends was a rerun one night so she ended up at a bookstore, fell in love with a band's in-store appearance filled with didgeridoos and bagpipes, and here she is today. She'll tell you the incredibly long version if you ask. She grew up in Bethlehem, and graduated from York College of Pennsylvania in 2008 with degrees in public relations, speech communications, marketing and advertising. Shortly after, she moved to Philly because her friends told her to and because the apartment complex was close to an Irish pub she would often see bands at while in college (yes, traveling an hour and a half each way down a couple of highways on any given night was no big deal, and much closer than some of her festival road trips). A chance Craigslist writing gig eventually turned into Brenda becoming the editor for Philadelphia's That Music Mag. She is also the marketing/editorial assistant (as well as a bit of everything else) for Philadelphia RowHome Magazine. And if that's not enough, she freelances for Elmore Magazine, Philadelphia Family, and The Laugh Button websites. At festivals, you'll often find her behind a band's merchandise table. At the Folksong Society, you'll likely find her checking people in for open mic nights or concerts. At home, you'll find her watching '80s and '90s sitcoms. She lives in Roxborough with her husband, their dog, and a wide variety of pop culture clutter.