Authors

Amy Rigby has been writing, performing and recording transcendent songs about everyday life for nearly four decades. A teenage denizen of CBGB who fell in love with country songwriting, she started bands Last Roundup and the Shams in NYC’s East Village before launching a solo career with album Diary Of A Mod Housewife. She lives and records in Catskill with husband/sometime duo partner Wreckless Eric and tours when such a thing is possible. Her first book, Girl To City: A Memoir, was published in 2019.

Beyond The Shag is a beauty and lifestyle blog based in Kingston, NY.

As Wreckless Eric he needs little introduction — he wrote and recorded the classic Whole Wide World and had a hit with it back in 1977. Since then it has been a hit for countless other artists including The Monkees, Cage The Elephant and most recently for Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day. As Eric Goulden it's a little more complicated - a musician, artist, writer, recording engineer and producer, he didn’t like either the music business, the mechanics of fame, or the name he’d been given to hide behind, so he crawled out of the spotlight and went on to release twenty something albums in forty something years under various guises before realizing he was stuck with the name Wreckless Eric. He’s English and he lives in Catskill, New York.

Sean Grasshopper Mackowiak is an American musician with the band Mercury Rev. He has also appeared with Rev side-project Harmony Rockets, his own band Grasshopper and the Golden Crickets, and as a guest musician on numerous other recordings. Additionally, Grasshopper has been writing creative literature for 55 years.

Kingston native and lover of all things local, Jennifer Donovan graduated from SUNY New Paltz as a Public Relations and Business major. All the while, she worked as a hair stylist and salon coordinator for the infamous hair stylist to the rock-and-roll world, Mark Ferraro. Jennifer worked first-hand with the many great creative personalities that migrated to Woodstock and the Catskill region. After college, Jennifer continued to work on large-scale productions as a designer, and as head of the hair and makeup department at the Fisher Center at Bard College. She was also a hair and makeup artist for on- and off-Broadway productions, and continues to work with American Ballet at the Metropolitan Opera House. With several years of theatre, film, daily styling experiences, and endless connections in the industry, Jennifer continues to train and hire staff to provide expert skill sets to local productions, businesses, and stylists. Jennifer also stays busy in the entertainment world with commercials, album covers, documentaries, and films — even red carpet preparation for A-list clientele in NYC. Jennifer is now helping other women open their dream projects as a consultant and silent partner, as well as assisting with getting local film projects off the ground. “Your investment to giving people a better outlook on your future as a stylist is by using the devotion of time, energy, and connections from previous worlds towards a more local business, and for the people within that community,” she says. “Just because you leave NYC does not mean it's over."

Kristen Ciliberti is a hairstylist, artist and musician. Hailing from the lower Hudson Valley, she curated her crafts while owning a local cafe and venue for many years. Kingston NY is where she calls home now, which seems to be the perfect marriage of her time in NYC and her adoration of all things upstate NY. 

Lauren Goldfarb is the Editorial Director at Beyond the Shag. Born and raised in Woodstock, NY, Lauren has a deep love and appreciation for the area she has always called home — the Hudson Valley. After going to see Jen Donovan, owner and founder of Le Shag, for her haircuts for years, Lauren ended up working at Le Shag for a summer in 2018, helping out at the front desk and assisting with event planning. It was during this time that she and Jen came up with the idea for Beyond the Shag. Three years later — after Lauren graduated from Skidmore College in May 2020 — their idea is finally coming to fruition.