January!

Hello!

Well…we did it. We are off social media. We left all Meta platforms and deleted Tiktok while we were at it because…why not! Once you start removing things from your life it gets a little addictive! I (Marianna) have figured out that I am very momentum based, so as soon as I get started on something, watch out. But hey, we are not stopping, we are still out here! Gigging, live-streaming, writing, and connecting. So, for those of you who are interested, we will be blogging (old school!) to update you. This one will be a January catch-all and we’ll try to do more regular short ones from now on. But wow, what a start to the year.

We kicked off the year with a New Year’s Eve gig at the Jo Bar with a five piece band that had never played together in this particular configuration, so that was FUN - Reece, Marianna, John Moak(trombone), Christopher Woitech(guitar) and Tim Gilson(bass). It was a hybrid band and we played jazz, pop, and even some reggae! :) Where else can you get a standard, the MASH theme, a Blondie song and Billie Eilish all in one night?!

If you are a Patreon member, you know that we released 2 new songs this month - Reece’s solo piano tune inspired by a hike, Wanderlider, and a behind-the scenes tune about a part of our job that we mostly love, Mingle. We also live-streamed twice on Twitch. (We post our broadcasts to Youtube after the fact, if you miss them live.)

We played some wonderful gigs this month including an amazing winter opening night at Durant Vineyards, our trio with Leah Hinchcliff at Wilf’s, a set for the lively group over at Everybody’s Brewing.

The highlight gig this month was a house concert at Parrot House. We did 2 sets of all original material (and had the wonderful Ashlie sit in and do a Cole Porter tune, Delovely) to a sold out group of folks in an amazing listening room. This our second time at this venue and we absolutely LOVED it!

Reece and I had a lovely experience volunteering with BRAVO Youth Orchestras and went to a couple elementary schools and met all of the energetic and aspiring woodwind and string players and singers! We played songs for them and they even sang a tune for us about a mango! :)

We’ve been making an effort to see music and shows and wow, when it rains it pours! That momentum thing is no joke. Between the two of us we saw a play reading for Josie Sied’s new show over at Many Hats, Bruce Burkhartsmeier in a one man Beckett show, Kimberly Akimbo (Broadway tour), Kimo Camat’s cabaret, the amazing Aaron Diel trio at the Reser, Tank and the Bangas at Revolution Hall, (Mar’s favorite!) Bill Wadams at the White Eagle, and a local musical! WHEW!

We were also so honored to attend the Final Cabaret of our friend Darcy White, who passed away in December. It was a remarkable celebration of her life and the community she built. We’ve never experienced anything quite like it -- a live performance interspersed with videos of her and even her voice coming through on the “god mic”. An evening that reunited the community with each other and included a lot of f-bombs, red wine, and a singalong. We love you Darcy, thank you.

In addition, Marianna is working on a new podcast with Leah Hinchcliff (out this spring or summer) and is now the artistic director of the Lullaby Project (more on that later). AND - we are making plans for some new recordings and projects, so stay tuned. Lots of goodness coming your way. Thanks for reading. See you out there, take care of yourself and the folks around you.

(L to R) Everybody’s Brewing, BRAVO visit, Coda helping Reece practice, Ticket and drinks from Parrot House Concert