#kit gallagher

                   cassel resident : kit gallagher.

full name. . catherine ‘kit’ gallagher. age. twenty eight birthdate. november 3rd, 1992          zodiac. scorpio. gender. female                            pronouns. she/her occupation. radio host / former musician lives in. main street.

                                       about kit gallagher.

TRIGGER WARNING: parental death, boat accident, car accident, injury description, minor suicide mention

Catherine has the subtlety of an earthquake, says Mrs. Gallagher, when her eldest daughter is around five years old. She didn’t know her words would last longer than herself, standing the test of time under the skin of an unrelenting woman. Catherine, or Kit, because Catherine sounds so serious, would grow up to be just that — seismic proportions, more havoc than human. Well, some could say she was some kind of natural tragedy.

Nick Gallagher had been a roadie (slash backup guitar, backup bass, backup producer) when he met neuroscientist Dr. Elena Rhodes in Chicago. At the time, he’d been more worried about Eddie Vedder’s concert schedule than starting a family. Similarly, Elena was concerned with her distinguished career: she had just obtained her PhD and was starting a teaching position at Northwestern, hoping to further her research into early diagnostics of neurodegenerative diseases. Being such different people, they didn’t even plan to see each other again after the initial attraction, so it was a surprise that they would be forever linked: even then, it seems their eldest daughter hardly ever sought permission to do anything. Their story starts backwards: first came the baby, then the love. Kit was a toddler when they decided to actually get married — more for practicality than anything. Elena was a canadian citizen and had just been offered a more financially advantageous position at the University of Toronto as deputy head of the Department of Neuroscience. Nick, on the other hand, felt pretty much lost for a while. He had never expected to be anything other than a musician — a business school dropout as he was, but he was smart and quick to adapt. While they were living in Toronto, he made a name for himself teaching music, or teaching rock and roll, as he would say, especially because of his classical training and the famous band names he was able to attach himself too. When they moved back to Cassel, he finally had enough money to start his business (and put those classes to good work). He bought a corner store that used to be a big pub for cheap — turning it into the bar/music venue of his dreams: Firehouse. It was modest, but just big enough for Cassel, IL. The one place where cool people went for a good time and good music.

Kit grew up in Cassel, a small house in the Meadows as background, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. She was early trained in critical thinking and classical music, which she understood as pillars of a life well-lived. To say she was an easy kid would be dishonest: Catherine was opinionated, to say the least, and she loved being right, which was a regular occurrence. She grew up watching amazing women rule the world around her, her mother at the forefront of adventure as a scientist and, for that reason, she grew to believe that she could do anything. Besides the constant annoyance of the little sister she loved, she figured her life was pretty perfect.

Until it wasn’t. In 2007, Dr. Elena Rhodes passed away under strange circumstances after a car accident, leaving a shattered family behind. Despite having two daughters to provide for, Nick was often overtaken by his grief, which meant that the girls’ grandparents had to step in and help the family get back on track. It was two years before they moved back to their own house. At sixteen, Catherine began to help around the bar and the rest of the town pretended they didn’t notice — helping the family business stay afloat or not, she was still a minor. The bar never lacked the clientele, but her father’s state the previous years made a mess out of many things. The death of her mother, her very own superwoman, made her retreat more into herself. While she spent the majority of her free time at the bar, her study hours were spent with her violin, her chosen instrument, in a type of self-imposed, focused solitude. As much of a coping mechanism as it was pure love, she threw herself into the music. In addition to her poignant personality, she became a tad unapproachable, resulting in the once popular girl becoming a person of fewer friends, even though she appreciated the fact that they were good ones. It was no surprise that she was accepted into the prestigious Juilliard music program — the surprise came with the rejection of financial aid.

After Nick almost sold the bar to send her to her dream school, Kit discovered that her mother had left her and her sister a tuition fund for college. It wasn’t enough to pay off everything, but the community of Cassel once again came around and helped her find summer jobs and promote Firehouse around the area. Soon enough, the business was back on track and thriving more than ever — enough that it became a town staple. And when the time came, Kit left for Juilliard. She graduated with honors and, despite her desire to stay in New York City, she couldn’t afford to — not when the competition meant that the job market was a bloodbath. After acquiring a reference letter from her mentor, she auditioned for several symphonies and orchestras, eventually landing a position at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, where she worked diligently for a year as second violin.

In the beginning of 2017, when the 10th anniversary of her mother’s passing arrived, everything changed: as she drove up the way from Chicago to Cassel in a rental car, trying to arrive at the memorial on time, it crashed. The road conditions were already terrible because of the snow, but she had been rushing, which caused the whole thing to take a turn for the worse. Luckily, she survived, waking up four days later at the hospital, but as she took a look at her arm, for a second she wished she hadn’t. To save her movements on the broken arm they had to insert a giant nail, which made it impossible to hold the position required to play the violin — at once, she felt like she had lost everything again, grieving the mother she no longer had and the dream career that wouldn’t be.

Good morning, fellow suburbians, it’s time to rock and roll. It’s that time of the year again, so don’t forget to save water — if nothing else, you have an excuse to shower together. We’re starting slow today with the The Smiths, says Catherine, twenty years later. After half a year recovering, she decided she would permanently move back home to Cassel, moving back into her childhood home and working with her dad at Firehouse Lounge. Her family had been known around town, which brought attention to her mother’s accident and the untimely end to her career. The story caught the eye of an executive at the local radio station. At first, they brought her in to talk about music and work as an assistant producer. Then, trying to appeal to a younger crowd, the station started a live program, where she was once invited to give pointers to the local youth about getting into prestigious programs in North America. Kit was snarky, humorous and knew her music — unlike her peers at school, who were often intimidated by her presence, the public liked her. After almost a year, she was promoted to full-time radio host, now presenting daily music programs and a weekly podcast: The True Shrew, filled with real life, no bullshit feminist discourse, pop culture discussions and true crime. In the past year and a half, she gained a decent following, which allowed her to venture into social media and afford to leave her dad’s house — barely. Her sudden success was something she was grateful for. She might even tell you she wouldn’t have it any other way. If you know her, however, you’ll know how much she misses playing music. Some might even suspect that she is scared to go back into it, which is why she spends so much time commenting.

                                     five songs. angel of small death & the codeine scene ( hozier ) / arabella ( arctic monkeys ) / poltergeist ( banks ) / dark necessities ( red hot chili peppers ) / cool girl ( toye lo )