A Hendersonville librarian is a rock star at heart.

by Mick Kelly . photo by Matt Rose

It was clear Martha Huggins had some serious inner cool. When we started talking with the 54-year-old assistant librarian, a few twists and turns in her personal life were quite intriguing. Huggins spends her days at the Edneyville branch of the Henderson County Public Library tending to the stacks and telling people to shush. (Actually, she and her fellow librarians are chatty, and sometimes a crew of elderly library volunteers tells them to shush.) She lives just two miles from the library, where she and her husband Fred raise two goats and ten chickens.

But Huggins also has a bit of a rebellious streak, which started young. The New Jersey native skipped college—too “establishment” for her taste at the time—and moved to northern California at 19 to live on a commune. She never went to college, something her librarian colleagues sometimes hassle her about. In fact, she always wanted to sing on stage like Bonnie Raitt.

Raising two children (and now babysitting five grandchildren), plus her work at the library, meant she tabled the musical career—but not entirely. A decade or so ago, Huggins and a half-dozen Hendersonville women friends started singing sassy Christmas carols at the kitschy-cool Aluminum Tree & Ornament Museum in Brevard. The museum’s acronym was ATOM, so the group became the Atomic Sisterhood. Now, Huggins and the Sisterhood sing two or three gigs a year in Hendersonville, often at Earth Day and Christmas, with twists on cover songs like “Mr. Trashman” (to the tune of Mr. Sandman), or “We Want Clean Air” (to the tune of I’ll Take You There). It’s an excellent outlet for Huggins. “I sing all the time,” she says. “In the car, down at the barn. I like to jam with friends when that comes up.” Huggins describes herself as generally happy and community-minded. When her older brother Charlie needed a liver transplant in 2005, Huggins donated half of hers. The transplant was successful, but complications during surgery meant Charlie passed away two months later. Still, she considers it one of the biggest accomplishments of her life, and her 31-year-old son is named Charlie.

For her makeover, we wanted to pay tribute to her rock-star roots. Judy Haynes at The Sanctuary helped us find a black corduroy Christopher Blue motorcycle jacket, rad feather earrings and skinny-leg pants (size 2). Robin Vaughn of Moxie Salon gave Huggins a mod, stacked cut and caramel highlights to freshen up her bob. Makeup artist Jana Focarino put on the finishing touches with bright Jane Iredale lip color and smoky eye treatment. “I’m getting compliments every five minutes,” Huggins says. Rock on.

Martha’s hair by Robin Vaughn of Moxie Salon & Spa. www.moxiesalonandspa.com.
Clothing by The Sanctuary. 828-698-2646.
Makeup by Jana Focarino. 828-699-0699.