About Gerald Dowd:

Gerald Dowd has been described as “the hardest working drummer in Chicago” (Richard Milne, WXRT), playing on over 150 albums, and averaging 200 live dates a year around the world. Born and raised in the Boston area, Mr. Dowd began his musical life at the age of 10. Playing drums throughout high school in rock bands, orchestras and theater companies, he attended the famed Tanglewood Institute in the summers of 1985 and 1986. In 1986, he was accepted into both the Manhattan School of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music as a classical percussionist. He kept his talents near Wollaston Beach, studying jazz and classical percussion with Bob Moses, Fred Buda, Vic Firth and Arthur Press, while also playing in combos led by Mr. Moses, Dave Holland, George Russell, George Garzone and Hankus Netsky. Mr. Dowd continued to play in local rock bands, jazz combos, orchestras and musical theaters until 1991, when he moved to Chicago to attend DePaul University, securing the drum chair in the top big band upon his arrival. Over his 30+ years in Chicago, he has gone on to play with some of the top rock, jazz and country musicians in the area and nationwide.

About Heather Horton:

For the first decade of her career, Heather Lynne Horton carved a path from Minneapolis to Chicago wielding voice and violin. Soon she would be bolting from coast to coast, all with the blind, burning passion to exist, submerged in music and collaboration. After landing in Nashville, her future seemed all but solidified upon the release of her debut record, Postcard Saturdays. Signed to label and one of the world’s most prominent booking agencies, Horton married the love of her life, songwriter Michael McDermott. They soon welcomed daughter, Rain, into the world and Horton put her solo career on hold. While Horton would continue to tour with McDermott, the urgency to get back to her own roots, remained impending. In 2018, Horton resurfaced out of virtual nowhere with, Don’t Mess With Mrs. Murphy – unapologetically, swinging for the fences with every word, every nuance, every secret, seizing the eyes, ears and hearts of each critic that chose to press ‘play’. The comeback record received, among several accolades, a rare 10 out of 10 from Americana UK, as well as their year-end ‘Critic’s Choice Album of the Year’.