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The Roundtable

Down here on the highway looking for signs: Heather Maloney's releases "Exploding Star" on Signature Sounds

By Sarah LaDuke

Published February 13, 2025 at 11:30 AM EST

Heather Maloney in front of a projection of a linocut of a flower, and the album cover for Exploding Star

Tomorrow night at Caffè Lena, Pioneer Valley based singer-songwriter and visual artist Heather Maloney will play a concert marking the release of her first full-length album in five years.

“Exploding Star” - now out from Signature Sounds - is a reverie on loss and grief. A collection of songs written after her father died in 2021, “Exploding Star” is made up of sweet and sour memories, wistful, beautiful melodies, and heart.

The album is produced by Darlingside’s Don Mitchell. Mitchell’s multi-instrumentalism is on display throughout “Exploding Star” - along with harmonies and arrangements from Maloney’s tour mates and collaborators, Isabella DeHerdt and Isaac Eliot a.k.a. Indie-folk duo High Tea.

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The Roundtable singer-songwriter music record release grief caffe lena signature sounds heather maloney loss linocut

Sarah LaDuke

Sarah has worked in public radio since 2006. She grew up in Saranac Lake, New York where she worked part-time at Pendragon Theatre all through high school and college. She graduated from UAlbany in 2006 with a BA in English and started at WAMC a few weeks later as a part-time board-op in the control room. Through a series of offered and seized opportunities she is now the Senior Contributing Producer of The Roundtable and Producer of The Book Show. During the main thrust of the Covid-19 pandemic shut-down, Sarah hosted a live Instagram interview program "A Face for Radio Video Series." On it, Sarah spoke with actors, musicians, comedians, and artists about the creative activities they were accomplishing and/or missing. She is on the board of WAM Theatre and lives in Albany, New York with her husband, Paul, and their dog, Doritos.

See stories by Sarah LaDuke

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