Get Pretty

Which came first, your passion for massage or your love for music? Both. I love doing massage, and I’d wanted to do that for the longest time.... But I also love music. I’ve done selling T-shirts and things like that, handing out flyers. And then when I found this way of combining the two — my love for massage and my love for hanging out with bands and listening to great music — it’s just been such a great combo.

How does it all work? Do you have artists and their managers calling you directly? Or are you booked through the concert venues? It’s all of the above. It started off with Dr. Dot, who does international backstage massage for any band that’s coming through any city [where] she possibly can get a qualified person. I met up with a lot of the people from Live Nation, and the bands got to know me and the management knows me, so they ask for me. Within two years, it’s come from me just showing up and saying, “Hey, would you like a massage?” to me getting phone calls, booking months in advance.

What’s the most bizarre place where you’ve ever given a massage? The hall closet — literally, I was able to just fit my table in — at the Orpheum Theatre in Boston. I have done massages on buses [where] there’s people playing video games over you.... You just never know.

So, which celebrities have you worked with over the past couple of years? I’ve worked with the Bruce Springsteen tour, New Kids on the Block (yay, Boston!), Britney Spears’s tour ... Def Leppard, Sum 41, some of the Boston Bruins, Maroon 5, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Kid Rock, Gavin Rossdale, Nine Inch Nails, and Jane’s Addiction. I got to massage Sting not long ago, and he’s the nicest person I’ve met in a long time.

Do you handle a celebrity massage differently than you would a massage for a normal client? I’m sure I probably should, but I treat them like normal people. They’re regular people, and I give the same massage to Bruce Springsteen as I would to anyone coming through my office.

Which celebrity has been the biggest surprise? Kid Rock. He came up and was extremely polite and asked, “May I please have a massage at your earliest convenience?” I’m like, “You’re the star of the show, sir. Of course!”

Is there a singular “rock-star moment” that stands out in your mind? I was working a Def Leppard show last fall, and at the end of the night, I thought all of the band and tour had left.... All of the crew had been standing around all night, waiting. They were tired, and local, and they just wanted to go home. And so I thought that singing one of the Def Leppard songs in the hallway at the top of my lungs while dancing around would be good entertainment.... The band didn’t leave.... They were standing right behind me while I was doing all this, and they started clapping at the end.

Massage is such an intimate practice. I’d think your job would offer you a really unique look into that whole celeb world. Truthfully, when you’re a massage therapist, as soon as you get a person on the table, it’s more like, “What’s going on with this muscle?” or “Why is this knot here?” You get so involved in what you’re doing that you don’t even realize who you’re massaging.

What about the perks of the job? You must pick up tons of cool concert swag. I’ve gotten tons of drumsticks; I think I could fill a wall with drumsticks from famous people. T-shirts, all the time. More than any of the stuff you can bring along with you, the fact that they remember you and they’re happy to see you is beyond anything.