Sidney McMath Headlines Saturday
Coffeehouse
A love of animals and music come together in
hauntingly beautiful works by Sydney McMath,
who will generously share with us her unique
vision as she headlines UUCS Expresso
Yourself Coffeehouse this Saturday night,
October 26.
A DC native, Sydney, who began piano lessons
at age four, grew up listening to Neil Young,
Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, Phoebe Snow, CCR,
Carole King, etc. She was also influenced by
musicals such as Fame, Godspell, and Hair and
explored the art form at Billibay summer theater
camp where students staged full-on productions
of ambitious musicals such as Miss Saigon,
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor
Dreamcoat and many others.
She moved to SC in 2000 to attend Converse
College and subsequently earned her master’s
degree in biochemistry from USC Upstate.
She’s worked in-studio with various artists,
including 2 Live Crew, Snoop Dogg, and DMX.
She’s worked with Sheryl Crow and shared the
stage with countless acts when she fronted her
own band, Reverend Syd and the Homewreckers,
which she says will make a comeback one day.
Sydney wanders between Spartanburg and New
Orleans, where she plays regularly at Pat
O’Brien’s and various other venues from the
Gulf of Mexico up the Eastern Seaboard
(especially Spartanburg).
The focus of her jewelry venture, Humane
Heart Jewelry Company, is to raise money for
animal rescue and rehab. Profits from jewelry
sales buy materials she needs for animals she
rescues and support various rescue
organizations.
“I have been making jewelry my whole life,”
says the guitar picking, piano playing singer, a
Certified Wildlife Rehabber whose love affair
with animals began at age three or four when she
got her first rabbit. “After that, we always had
rabbits… We got guinea pigs and hamsters and
then, eventually, a family parrot. We always had
a family dog. Word got out somehow that I
worked with baby animals and I began getting
called when friends would accidentally mow
over a nest of baby rabbits and kill the mother,
or cut down a tree full of squirrels or birds by
accident and I would always take them.
“This involves being up almost hourly hand-
feeding until the babies are eating on their own.
I’ve had everything- skunks, squirrels, crows,
multiple songbirds, parrots, rabbits, snakes,
turtles, a deer once, raccoons, possums... name
it. I was not allowed to work with birds of prey
such as hawks, etc, because you have to have a
special license for that.”
Prior to moving to New Orleans, Sydney served
as music director for two Spartanburg churches,
First African Methodist for three years, and
Covenant United Methodist for eight years. She
has performed intermittently at UUCS for
approximately 20 years.
The show gets underway at 7 p.m. with the first
portion of the evening open mic. Suggested
donations of $5 (or more) are gratefully accepted
and go into the UUCS general fund. All
performers get in free. A variety of
performances are welcome so long as material is
in good taste and the performer is respectful of
time constraints.
Please bring a non-perishable food item to
support TOTAL Ministries. One-of-a-kind
pieces from Humane Heart Jewelry Company
will be available for purchase. Proceeds from
jewelry sales go to animal rescue and
rehabilitation efforts. Sydney, as all UUCS
Expresso Yourself Coffeehouse headlines, is
donating her time and talent. Please come out
and show your appreciation!