She found her space in Eastport
By Bob Keyes, staff writer for the Portland Press Herald
Jan.6, 2008

Singer/songwriter/video artist Shana Barry is loving life in America's easternmost outpost.

In early December, the night sky above eastern Maine and the Canadian Maritimes seemed aglow with extraterrestrial activity.

Some attributed it to a meteor shower. Others suggested the fiery balls were remnants of a rocket booster from a spy satellite.

Shana Barry has another idea.

Barry, a singer-songwriter from Eastport, thinks it might have been a visitor from another planet. In her song "Visitor," she surmises the friendly guest landed on an isolated Maine island.

Barry, who used to perform with the band Seekonk, posted her song on the Internet in November. After media reports of the sky show, her song and accompanying animated video caused a minor stir, recording 10,000 hits.

Coincidence? Barry thinks not.

"At night when I walk my dogs, I can see millions and millions of stars," she said. "Feels like you're right in the center of the Milky Way. Sometimes, I see peculiar moving lights. How do we know they aren't UFOs?"

The buzz for Barry's song can be attributed at least in part to exposure she received on the radio show "Coast to Coast AM," the overnight talker made famous by longtime host Art Bell, now retired. The show focuses on the paranormal, and Barry is a loyal listener.
She dedicated "Visitor" to Bell and his successors, George Noory and Ian Punnett. The three make an appearance via Barry's animation skills in the video, which is available at theshaggallery.com and on YouTube.

The larger story is Barry herself. She's a Portland native, born and raised on Peaks Island.

Now 32, she left Maine when she was younger, traveled a bit and decided it was time to come home. She settled in Portland, worked her skills in Seekonk and then moved Down East for a quieter life.

Eastport beckoned.

She and her husband desired the isolation and remoteness that only a place like Eastport offers. It had less to do with distance than mindset.

Eastport is the eastern-most city in the United States, and there's something about waking up every day knowing you are about as far removed from mainstream America as you can be. There's a sense of community in a place like Eastport that is lacking in a lot of other places, she said.

"I was ready to move away from the big city," Barry said. "I figured being in a place like this, it's beautiful, inspiring and there are fewer distractions, allowing me to focus on art and music a lot more. That's certainly been the case."

The Internet is the great equalizer. As the video for "Visitor" illustrates, Barry is part of a much larger world. After posting her video, the first e-mail she received came from someone in Korea -- as in Korea, the country; not Correa, the small Down East town.

Clearly, Barry is not idling in Eastport.

In addition to making music -- "Visitor" is part of her CD "Overdreaming" -- Barry has taught herself to be a cartoon and animation artist. She's the creator of the Fofers (rhymes with gophers). They are gentle furry beings in human form, who occupy a magical island that Barry calls Fof.

She came to Eastport with the idea of the Fofers in her head. Her first winter in town, she created the sculpted dolls. Their characters emerged as she made each one.
She's written songs for them, made movies. Some even keep blogs. Their world can be accessed at www.fofers.com. Barry is working on "A Pink Whale and a Very Tall Tree," a family album geared toward children and featuring the Fofers.

Eastport hasn't held her back. There, on the edge of land, her imagination has never been so fertile.

"I love being here, because it is just so beautiful. It's a really unique place. The fact that I can be in this rather isolated place and still have this connection to the outside world is really important and pretty remarkable," she said.

Staff Writer Bob Keyes can be contacted at 791-6457 or at:
bkeyes@pressherald.com
Copyright 2009 by The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. All rights reserved.