Music runs deep in my bones. I got into the live music business because time stops for me at a show. I grew up surrounded by classical and jazz (both my parents were musicians), so I had to work pretty hard to find pop music outside the house. At Vassar College, the first show I ever booked was the Motet, a jazz-funk band from Boulder, Colorado. Watching the musicians and fans come together in that shared, transformative exchange gave me the itch to see if I could make a career out of it. Artists on heavy rotation right now include Bon Iver—especially the more electronic albums. I always come home to John Coltrane’s Ole and Miles Davis’s In a Silent Way—perfect for a party or a deep hang. My true happy place is dancing barefoot in my kitchen to Sylvan Esso, Michael Jackson, Yebba, Jamie xx, Bill Withers, and Remi Wolf.
I love the silk-smooth voice of Malian singer Oumou Sangare and the intimate guitar work of Jose Gonzalez. My all-time favorite album is Head Hunters by Herbie Hancock—I was blasting “Chameleon” while driving up the West Side Highway on the way to the hospital to give birth to my son. I love a clear powerful voice that cuts through to the center of your soul with no effort or vibrato, like those of Aoife O’Donovan, Mon Rovia, Danielle Ponder, and Maggie Rogers. And my slightly secret favorite? “Jolene” by Dolly Parton. I’ve also got Iron & Wine on heavy rotation and I’m so excited that he is playing The Egg on Mother’s Day.
Diane Eber is the executive director of The Egg in Albany. She has spent over 20 years in the arts and previously worked as the executive producer and artistic director of BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn. She also worked on the performing arts programming for over four years at MASS MoCA and served as the interim executive director at GlobalFEST.
This article appears in April 2026.
