The Beginning

…He was joining Rick Stone, who often invited his favorite musicians to sit in with him. As the seven-string player began, the woman walked up close, not looking at the man, just at his hands, at the instrument. When he finished playing, she looked up at him and said, “Hi. I’m Carol.” He said, “I’m Nick. Rick told me you’re a singer.” And then she stepped up onto the bandstand.

The Back Porch

They decided to get together for a session. The weather was nice, so they played on Nick’s back porch. The instrument Nick started out with that day only had six strings. Carol, who had ridden her bike over, didn’t have any percussion. A guy with a guitar and a chick singer. Simple. Nowhere to hide. They played for a while, exploring songs they had in common. The beautiful day felt easy, and they talked about their experiences. As seasoned New York City musicians, they had both been around plenty of great music, but also some jive jams. Carol told Nick, “I have great respect for improvisation, but every singer doesn’t need to scat on every song just because it's jazz. A vocalist has a responsibility to convey what the song is about, the mood, the story.” Nick told Carol, “Soloing is central to being a jazz instrumentalist, but the song must be part of the solo, and the solo needs to connect to the song.” A love of lyrics. A commitment to melody. Being dedicated to the song. Their perspective, as it turned out, was in tune.

The Small Band with the Big Sound

When they first started rehearsing regularly, they were terrible. It was odd since there was creative synergy, personal chemistry, and between the two of them, decades of experience as professional musicians. Yet, maybe not so odd. Carol, a seasoned singer, was just developing her chops as a percussionist. And while Nick had led an organ trio for more than a decade, he hadn’t been playing seven-string guitar regularly. Now there were shakers, a snare and brushes, a frame drum, a guitar looper, and an extra string tuned to a low D. Carol was attempting to hold the beat steady while sometimes singing on the off beat. Nick was trying to play bass lines and guitar parts simultaneously, solo over what he had just recorded in real time, all while transposing to another key. “The looper is the most honest member of the band! He never lies,” Nick said one day when their tempos had slipped again. Still, they kept at it for weeks, finding their groove, building layers, exploring arrangements until the idea revealed itself. They sounded like an electric bassist, rhythm player, solo guitarist, singer, and percussionist. Two people sounded like five, like a full ensemble. Like a small band with a big sound.

The Life

Nick and Carol started gigging in 2014. Over time, their sound grew, their repertoire grew, their fan base grew, their venues grew. Then their relationship grew. Their performances got tighter, and they did, too. Hours, then days, then years on the bandstand expanded to hours of talking about music, their backgrounds, their likes and dislikes. They rented an apartment together. Then they bought a house and set up a studio. Their life became music and music became their life. They find time to play with new musicians and to continue to work on the heart of their collaboration, on the duo’s sound and repertoire. They staying committed to melody and lyrics while being committed, now, to one another. They face the typical challenges of being a couple that works and lives together, dealing with the days when life gets in the way of music or music gets in the way of life. They will always seek to grow, balance their days, steady their tempo, harmonize with one another, and continue to find their rhythm together.