NEW HAMPSHIRE – Another Sherburne-Earlville graduate is proving to have musical prowess. Ellen Fagan graduated from S-E in 2008, and is making waves with the Brasen Hill Band, which she and two others just formed four months ago in Newmarket, NH.
“We're mostly a folk band. We kind of play around with Americana themes, country music and some honky tonk,” said Fagan.
Fagan is the lead singer and plays guitar but sometimes switches to the mandolin. She is accompanied by Scott Sutherland (mandolin) and Anthony Moffa (upright bass).
While her band is a recent collaboration, Fagan explained that music has always been a part of her life. In the past couple of years Fagan has been on the move and her guitar has traveled with her.
Before moving to New Hampshire Fagan graduated from Cornel University with a degree in animal science. She went to Kenya for a month to study chemical ecology with her research team. There they focused on plant production using a system for small farmers that excludes the use of herbicides and pesticides. She also participated in World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms in Ireland – there she worked on a farm for room and board.
After these trips abroad Fagan began working on small farms and ended up working in Massachusetts for a young couple as Assistant Farm Manager. Last August she followed the owners to New Hampshire where they started Brasen Hill Farm.
“We focus on humane animal treatment and locally focused agriculture,” said Fagan and explained the importance of sustainability. “We treat everything as if it were organic.”
She works daily with the animals on the farm, which includes sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, rabbits and one llama. Such an experience has been hugely influential in her music.
“My music and the farm have always been connected,” said Fagan.
She continued, “Farming can be really isolating. I started going to open mics... I met people through music, people with the same ideas.”
While originally music served as a create outlet and a way to interact with other artists in the area, people soon began to demand for more original pieces.
