Another Dix Hillian Steps into the Limelight

and Julie Potash grew up together on the same street--Hunting Hill Drive--and their moms carpooled to the Dix Hills Jewish Center nursery school. 

Neither lives in Dix Hills any longer, but Potash, now known as Hesta Prynn, just opened for Star at Webster Hall in New York City.

"He was my first friend," Prynn said. "And it was really special that I got to open for him. It was a magical night at Webster Hall. What's so funny is that as kids, he always wanted to be a musician and I always wanted to be an actress, and in sixth grade, when we were signing each other's yearbooks, we both said, 'Here's my autograph. It will be worth something some day.' It's so wonderful that he's successful. I'm really proud of him."

Prynn took piano lessons as a child, and played the flute in the school band, while Star played the sax. 

She started a female hip-hop group called Northern State in 2000. The two other band members also graduated HS West with her in the '90s:  Correne "Spero" (previously "Guinea Love," due to her Italian heritage) Spero, and Robyn "Sprout" Goodmark. They named the group after the Northern State Parkway, the parkway running through Dix Hills.

Prynn said they all came up with the silly nicknames for themselves and when they were trying to come up with a name for the band, she said to them: "Well, let's not call the band something over-the-top-feminist like Hester Prynn from The Scarlett Letter or something. But they liked that and wanted it to be my stage name. So Hesta Prynn is my hip-hop pronunciation of Hester Prynn."

In 2002, the group released Hip Hop You Haven't Heard, a four-song collection that was given a four-star review by Rolling Stone magazine and whose songs ended up in remixed form on the 2003 EP Dying in Stereo.

They toured Europe and North America with The Roots, Le Tigre, Talib Kweli, De La Soul, The Gossip, Gym Class Heroes, Tegan and Sara, and Cake. Their songs "Better Already" and "Iluvitwhenya" were featured in season four episodes of the hit show Grey's Anatomy.

In 2007, Prynn decided to go solo.

Now she is about to go to Europe for two weeks to support her new single, "Turn it Gold" which is being released on Valentine's Day.

"After I come back from Germany, Amsterdam, Prague and all these cool places, I'm going to write some new music," she said. 

Ryan Star's not the only one with an autograph that's worth something.