Sandy was originally trained in the depths of the Southland to sing opera, as her father was an opera buff and wept to hear her sing in that manner. Her parents sent her to school to study classically, but she had the fortunate opportunity in 1986 to hear Bonnie Raitt in an intimate concert on Martha’s Vineyard. There she found her musical calling: the blues and rock n’ roll. Throwing dirt on her pure tone and getting all gravely and groovy was way more fun, and way more people liked to listen to it. Soon after, she began guitar lessons with the late Sal Salvador (well-known jazz guitarist in New England) and studied for three years getting her groove down.
She now joins forces with lots of musicians on the Connecticut Shoreline including Johnny Memphis (The Lonesome Sparrows), Sam Bradford (Blues on the Rocks), Freddie Rathbun, Vic Dias, Tom Knapp (Mojo Boys), Ric Haddad (Hot House), Tommy Nagy, Mark Otterson, and the Green Stamps (Tom Price, Brian Wilkens, and Bernie Soroko. Her latest project is forming The Sandy Connolly Band, which is Sam Bradford on lead guitar, Freddie Rathbun on bass, and Vic Dias on drums.
She also runs the very popular, monthly Acoustic Open Mic at Guilford's Country Tavern. Musicians from Connecticut, New York, and Massachusetts show up to try out new material, meet other cats, and jam together.
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