If you are here then you have at least some interest in Polly Panic's strain of cello art Rock. To introduce you a little more... I am Polly Panic, my normal name is Jenette Mackie, my Alter Ego is Polly Panic. She can say things that I can't, and she most certainly can do things that I can't. I have done Polly Panic on and off for 15 years. There was a period of about 2 years when I kind of gave up pursuing Polly Panic as a career and way of life. I was too overwhelmed and discouraged to keep going. What I thought was meant to be, was not panning out the way that I dreamed. The other part of it was that I had a hard road to travel in recovery from Alcoholism. It did paint the early years of Polly Panic... shows that I would not remember having played the next day, shows cancelled because I was too drunk to play. Unfortunately during this time I was not healthy, and I did not attract healthy people to be a part of Polly Panic either. Makes sense right? I was pretty sure that I could not do the laundry without alcohol, not to mention play shows and travel. Turns out shows are better when you are not blacked out!! Who would have thought? I finally quit drinking (It has been 11 years). Then you just have the problem of how to live without alcohol. I have spent quite a bit of time battling depression, in all its swampy fury. I am sad to think of how many years I lost to that deep sadness and inability to function. After I quit drinking and thought I had quit music, I moved to South America, thinking that I could find my real life in another place, with another way of life. Turns out life is life no matter where you are. BUT. I found myself dragging my cello around with me from bar to bar in Cotacachi, Ecuador, singing my heart out. The audience would always be completely involved, this gringa playing an instrument they did not know, singing in a language they didn't know either. I had some painful and deeply personal things happen, so I returned to the U.S. again... lost. But I keep playing and slowly built Polly Panic back up. Regardless of the results, THIS is what I am good at. It is what I do. I still get overwhelmed and mentally defeated at times. I do my best to battle it and take it easy on myself. And enjoy the actual act and art of music making. EVERY SINGLE person that listens to Polly Panic is precious to me. I try to be as honest and open as I am able, because I believe that is what is so needed in art and in life(especially now). From: https://www.pollypanic.net/
