When, nearly a decade later, two friends with, let’s just say, less than well-meaning intentions, sat her at at the throne of a drum kit for the first time, Meredith found herself playing in a small punk trio and obsessed with the local underground music scene. From high school to college, Meredith played drums in punk and riot grrl bands, and later led her own bands playing guitar and driving the songwriting. Her bands played with touring acts from the Pacific Northwest and all over, including The Shins, Mars Volta, Bangs, Sugarpuss, and more. 

With a shot at accelerating her degree at the University of Washington and armed with a fresh viewing of Hype, Meredith spent the summer of 2002 in Seattle, and discovered that Seattle was exactly her kind of town. Full of music, individuality, and a pioneering spirit. That summer, her entire mission (beyond getting an A in her program, of course) was to see Sleater-Kinney live – even if it meant hitch-hiking to Olympia to do so. Thankfully, they played the Capitol Hill Block Party that year (with Mudhoney, The Long Winters, and The Gossip no less), which at the time, only cost $5 to get in. Though she had to return to Lubbock, TX to finish her bachelor’s, she knew that Seattle was the place to call home. 

When she moved back after graduating from Texas Tech University in 2005, she landed in local radio as a digital producer for kexp.org. Having worked in college media as a DJ and web producer for the past few years, it was a perfect fit. At least, for a little while. Seeking better worklife balance than a music industry job would seemingly allow, Meredith jumped ship to run her own venture until the time her daughter was born in 2015. It was around then that her creative burnout began to dissipate and she started to consider writing again in the wee hours while her daughter slept.

Like many musicians, Meredith spent her covid era rebuilding her home studio and gear collection. She dragged her grandfather’s Yamaha PS-01 out of storage, along with her dog-eared copy of the Bastian book of scales, and was surprised to find that her muscle memory was still intact. She picked up a bass to work on recording a demo of her music with a full sound, and found herself enamored. It was like the best of all the instruments she’d played throughout her life: drums and piano.

She met Matthew Amster-Burton while searching for collaborators and bandmates through a local musicians group. The two began recording in her living room, under the name Twilight Diners, and Meredith linked up with producer and vocal coach Brendan Milburn. After a few years of playing open mics at the legendary Conor Byrne and other venues, Meredith was concerned about her growing stage fright and anxiety. It was Brendan who pointed her to School of Rock, where she met the rest of her would-be bandmates: Fernando Cuevas, Nick Wright, and Jason Starkie, and began to come into her own as a performer. 

Though Meredith and Matthew recorded More than a Dream together in Meredith’s living room, they’re excited about bringing the rest of the band in on the process.

By day, Meredith works in tech as an ecommerce project manager and is mom to Charlotte, a guitar-playing, Undertale-loving middle schooler. She is passionate about the growing School of Rock graduate community and participating in the local music scene. In addition to her own band, she plays bass in a local heavy-hearted metal trio called Shining Wire, and still performs the occasional open mic at Conor Byrne.