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Surviving a Global Pandemic as a Working Musician

Once we settled into our little house in Long Beach, we dug in and began scheduling gigs up and down the coast. Our work load was looking good and we were booked well into the summer months. One of our early spring gigs was at a hopping club in Hermosa Beach on St. Patrick’s Day. We couldn’t wait to show all those “Irish” folks what we had to offer. Excitement was high. Until we got the news. The very bad news that our gig had been cancelled. The club was being forced to shut down. Everything was cancelled and being forced to shut down. No live music, festivals or concerts. No dining out, meeting friends for a drink or taking in a movie. No NBA, MLB, NHL, MSL, NFL...every facet of live entertainment. Done. Caput. We were reeling. Schools were closing, businesses were shutting down. All to prevent the spread of this little thing we’d just begun hearing about. Coronavirus. It just figures that the year we decide to move to the entertainment capital of the world, all hell breaks loose.

We were just as pissed off as we were terrified. Every booking was cancelled for the foreseeable future. It began to sink in that we could no longer work. All that hard work booking and promoting ourselves, in basically a foreign land with no reputation and few connections, had essentially been a waste of our time and energy. We felt defeated. What did this mean? Did the music industry really just disappear overnight? Is the entire economy going to collapse? Should we head back to the safety of our home in Illinois?

Once we composed ourselves, we realized that we weren’t ready to give up so quickly. We’d been thrown a curveball. Everyone had. It happens all the time in this little game we call life. We had to find a solution, and we had to do it quickly. We put our heads together and figured, people were expecting a performance from us on St. Paddy’s Day, so why not give them one? The solution? Go live! We could reach people in California as well as our fans in Illinois simultaneously with the help of Facebook Live. The very next day we gathered all the gear we thought we might need for a successful broadcast in glimmering 4K resolution.

We had no idea what to expect from this little experiment. We’d established a little web presence, but we certainly didn’t think our engagement had been sufficient enough to host a successful musical livestream. We were advised to have a virtual tip jar but figured nothing could compare with the lost revenue from our cancelled live shows. Nevertheless, we held our chins high and kept our expectations low.

We couldn’t believe the response we received. It was unreal to see how hungry everyone was for entertainment since the dawn of the Covid pandemic. Between 50 and 75 people watched consistently and shared our livestream with their friends. We played original music and took requests for three straight hours, engaging with our wonderful fans. It was a ton of fun playing for old friends again while meeting new ones. It was humbling and gratifying to be rewarded for our work with generous tips from our viewers.

Streaming our Friday Night Quarantunes has become part of our routine. We reach well over 1,000 people each week, topping over 6,000 viewers on our best night. We’re always trying to find ways to reach potential new fans. We enjoy hearing about the weeks our viewers have had; everything from celebrating birthdays and anniversaries to starting new jobs and welcoming new babies.

We also host private livestreams to entertain residents at several retirement communities. We love seeing the shared photographs and videos of our older viewers tapping their feet, singing along, even dancing to our music. Seeing their faces light up when we play our music and fulfill their requests is extremely rewarding.

Not only have we been able to remain in California, we continue to perform several times a week for people from all over the country, and even for some new fans oversees. We’ve met people from California and Illinois, of course, but also Arizona, Washington State and Oregon, as well as Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana and Tennessee. We’ve also made new fans in Ohio, Virginia, Georgia and Florida, and from as far away as France, Ireland and England. All from the comfort of our little house in Long Beach. Ah, the wonders of technology.

We sincerely hope that you’re all doing your best to stay healthy and get through this pandemic. It has closed a number of doors for so many of us for the foreseeable future, but fortunately for us, a new door has opened. We have learned that there is a demand for our music and we’re trying to find more awesome people who might want to listen. At first, we saw this pandemic as an insurmountable hurdle; a curse. Now we see it as a blank canvas, glowing white with the gleam of possibility.

Thank you, thank you, thank to all of you who have consistently supported us throughout all of this madness.

Be well and rock on, friends!

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Playing Sun Sesh LA

Chicago has a private concert series called Sofar Sounds. We always wanted to play it, but no matter how many people we had pulling for us it just never happened. It was a different story in LA. We had only been living in Long Beach for a few weeks when we got the call. We’d been invited to play Sun Sesh LA! We weren’t given many details other than the date and time. The address we were given in Brentwood was a crazy affluent part of LA, and each audience member would be personally invited by the host.

 When the day came, we were unusually silent as we put our gear in the car. Our nerves were getting the best of us. We had no idea what was in store. We’d been given an amazing opportunity. Everything had to be perfect.

Once we arrived at our destination, we were clueless how to even get inside. The house was impossibly huge. We knew we couldn’t be late, and we were concerned about losing our spot. Fortunately, we finally found someone who could lead us through the maze of oversized rooms and lengthy hallways, down the stairs to our sound check.

 The house was unbelievable and the place where we were to perform was insane. It was a 120-seat theater with a fully decked out stage that included a grand piano and of all things, a 50-inch gong. This was just part of the basement. Thoughts of being in way over our heads began to consume us. During the sound check we were told we would be the third act of five, including two stand-up comics. We were dialed in and ready to go right on time as people began drifting in. We were nervous as hell.

As we stood behind the curtain waiting for our introduction, unfamiliar feelings of anxiety began taking hold (PTSD – Performance-induced Traumatic Stress Disorder). The house was completely packed with some very high-profile people, including “America’s Next Top Model” from a few years before. Not surprising, the owner of the house was a prominent member of the LA business community and an avid supporter of the local entertainment scene.

When the curtains finally parted and the spotlight was on us, we bounded onto the stage with an enthusiastic “Good evening Sun Sesh!” and the audience whooped with excitement. We then took off with an explosive rendition of our own track, “Liquid Lover.” We were playing for a crowd of total strangers. They’d never heard of Common Allies or the Ashe Brothers. They weren’t familiar with our music. How would they react? We were anxious for that first song to be over. Then it ended. There was a brief moment of ecstasy when we were met with thunderous applause; that kind of moment where time literally stands still. This was it. We were in our element. We brought out our inner rock star for the remainder of our performance and were in the zone. We closed our set with another original called “Be My Paradise”.

After drinking up the exuberant approval of the audience, it was time for a little Q&A. We’d been so preoccupied we’d totally forgotten about the Q&A session we’d been told about and had absolutely nothing prepared. We perform music for a living for hundreds, sometimes thousands, of people but speaking to large crowds can make us uneasy. Something took hold of us that night though as the Q&A flowed very naturally. We comfortably played off one another, finished each other’s sentences, and made the audience howl with laughter. We constantly get compared to Tenacious D and this night was no exception. We were described as “having the songwriting prowess and vocal talent of Simon and Garfunkel mixed with the humor and intensity of Tenacious D.” It was very humbling.

 Every act that night was very impressive. We felt super optimistic that so many important people would take a chance on entertainers they didn’t know yet. Both new friends and incredible memories were made. We were on Cloud Nine as we got into our car and drove away from Brentwood. We can’t wait for more opportunities like this one. It was an amazing start to this wild and crazy journey of ours.

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The Creative Process of Writing a Song

A song comes to us in a variety of ways. It can be the product of a gripping newscast, a thought-provoking story, or it simply shows up in a dream. We’ve found the best time to attempt writing a song is in the morning when our minds are fresh.

Sometimes it’s the words that come first, sometimes it’s the music. For us, it’s always helped to have an extensive list of potential song titles on the back burner. Once we develop a melody or mood, we then find a title which we think best fits that particular melody. Then, we can begin to tell our story.

Have you ever thought of writing a song? Do you have a story that might be easier to tell if put to music? Is your story about you or someone else? Perhaps it’s about a place, or a specific space in time. What’s your subject thinking or feeling in this particular moment? Are these emotions difficult to express in words? These are all things we think about when writing a new song. Putting our thoughts to music often answers questions we’ve been pondering. Someone once said, “Where words fail, music speaks”. It could have been Hans Cristian Andersen. But for us, truer words were never spoken.

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What It's Like to Play Music for a Living

We love music. We love making music. We didn’t think it was feasible to play music for a living, though, because literally everyone told us it wasn’t. After college, these brothers were on a fast train going nowhere. We’d wake up at 3am to meet a 5am call time and proceed to do back breaking hard labor until 10pm the following night. Ah, the distinction of working in the film production industry. We were looking for any possible way out.

While we were involved in film, TV and commercial production, we were putting out Craigslist ads to get a band together. Many people would use Craigslist merely to find other people to jam with, but we were more determined. We got a four-piece band together and started picking up gigs immediately. The only problem was, we weren’t making shit.

It was at this point, that we noticed acoustic duos and solo acts performing all over the local circuit. We thought to ourselves, “Hey, that’s fewer guys that need to be paid!” We hit every local open mic and started to get in front of a lot more people. These spots gave us a lot of our first jobs. We took our duo anywhere and everywhere that would have us; from concert venues to theaters, from bars to retirement communities, from corporate events to private parties. Once we reached more ears and started to get better offers, we began to perform at more distinguished venues and events. We were doing what we loved and what we were best at. And we never looked back.

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Opening for Jefferson Starship

After continuing the hustle consistently and playing a couple bigger festival gigs, we received yet another call from the society. They asked if we would be available to do a special event on a day that we unfortunately would not be in town. We were going neighborhood shopping in sunny California, a trip we had been planning for many months.

However, they didn’t give up easily, and we love them for that. We received another call, this time insisting that we should really consider doing the gig. We weren’t about to change our plans, so we simply asked them what it would entail. When they told us that Jefferson Starship was coming to town and needed an opener, we shit ourselves and changed our plans right on the spot.

This would be the ultimate opportunity to showcase our original music with a full band of professionals. We would be opening for the most influential group of the Psychedelic 60’s besides The Beatles and The Grateful Dead. There was marginally no room for error. We were up to the challenge. With only one timed rehearsal, we put together an opening set that would surely flow nicely and keep everyone rocking out.

The energy felt that evening in front of a packed theater of almost 2,000 people was surreal. We didn’t quite feel like we were even grounded in our own bodies or in the realm of reality. We moved to the music, felt it, lived it. We played off of each other’s energy and executed the dynamics exactly as they had been written and recorded. We, of course, tossed in a couple covers for familiarity’s sake and to show off a bit. We concluded the performance with our rendition of Joe Cocker’s monumental cover of The Beatles’ “With a Little Help From My Friends.” We knocked them dead, were met with thunderous applause, cheers, and a standing ovation.

We got a chance to banter a bit with The Starship after the show. They, of course, were beyond fantastic and have maintained a lineup which truly does their music justice. We were thrilled to find that they had actually listened to our performance and enjoyed it. We gave one of our T-shirts to the lovely and hyper talented Cathy Richardson. What a voice! David Friedberg, a San Francisco rock legend, told us he enjoyed our vocal work. You can imagine what that meant to us if you’ve ever heard how he can still belt it out at the age of 80. Chris Smith, Jude Gold, and Donny Baldwin, all veterans of the field who have played with so many of our heroes, said we were going places. They congratulated us on our upcoming move to Los Angeles in our continued pursuits as artists and entrepreneurs and expressed interest in doing another show together down the road. When they left, they told us they were looking forward to meeting again. We really hope they meant it.

This crazy little musical journey has only lasted a mere 16 years for us thus far. There have been many moments where we’ve thought of quitting and pursuing something more practical. It’s too damn late. It’s in our blood now. If we were to stop, what the hell else would we do? We’ve stuck to it and will continue to do so. We’re still incredulous at all that’s happened for us as a result of sticking to it. We have the work ethic, the stage presence, and the creativity; but we wouldn’t be anywhere without a little help from our friends.

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Why We started Playing

Our fascination with the entire aura of rock music can be traced back to when we were toddlers, growing up with such gems as Alvin and the Chipmunks and Gumby. Both shows were geared strongly towards the musical coordination and artistic exploration of young kids and we were hooked from the start.

Our musical journey officially began at age 11 when we saw Richard Linklater’s movie, School of Rock, for the first time. Seeing Jack Black in that role was incredibly entertaining. However, the aspect of the movie that really excited us was that the kids were the same age as we were. They were incredible both on and off the stage. We figured, if they could do it, then why couldn’t we? Not to mention, the doors of perception had been opened. All we had while growing up to that point were shitty NOW CD’s and overly-accessible media. And here Jack’s character was exposing his pupils to some of the coolest music we had ever heard. At that age, we didn’t even know it existed. Our minds were blown. We’d found our calling.

Jack Black.jpg
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Filling in For Art Garfunkel

We had been fortunate enough to reach the ears of some pretty influential people in our hometown. We honestly couldn’t believe they even gave a damn about us. However, we got a call from a prominent member of a society of people who patronize the arts at the local college. They had heard us busting it out at multiple clubs around the area and we had had drinks with them several times. They told us that they had hired Art Garfunkel, yes, THE Art Garfunkel to perform an intimate show for them at a beautiful local amphitheater. However, in a stroke of luck for us, it was snowing buckets in New York City and he wasn’t able to attend. They asked us if we were available, telling us that we were the next best thing. Simon and Garfunkel were our biggest vocal influences besides CSN. Hearing this gave us goosebumps.

We were beside ourselves. Although we had another gig that evening in a neighboring town, we naturally made the time, who wouldn’t? We played a mix of our original material, as well as Simon and Garfunkel covers, for roughly an hour and were met with roaring applause and a standing ovation.

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