Album Notes

Patty & Abigail first started singing together in a hot tub at a local athletic club nearly a decade ago; since then, the acoustic guitar-vocal duo has been favorably compared to performers like Sheryl Crow, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Indigo Girls, but has developed an original signature style based on intricate vocal harmonies and sparkling guitar parts.

At age 7, Patricia"Patty" Sutherland's sister handed her a guitar; she used it as a baseball bat, and wasn't given another guitar for ten years (an acoustic Yamaha she still plays and treats much better!). A native California girl, Patty grew up listening to her mother and sister perform at the St. Edward's Church fete, but really got bit by the music bug when she heard the poppy beat of the Osmond Brothers' "One Bad Apple." Many rock records later, Patty mastered her first cover tune on guitar -"Midnight Special" by Creedence Clearwater Revival - and never looked back. Always ready with a fast quip or quick come back, Patty hits home runs with pithy comments like "I LOVE the drums...so I play guitar!," "I can't meditate...I have adult A.D.D.," and "I'm so happy to be hooked up with Abigail, as I would not do this alone...I'm draggin' her down with me!" No one would ever call Patty a drag, as her cheerful personality sheds light whatever she does, whether its hanging out on the beach with her kids eating sunflower seeds, playing golf, planting trees or painting. "I used to belong to the PTA," Patty notes, "until I got kicked out with Abigail. "As a child in Chelsea, MA, Gail "Abigail" Muela demonstrated she was a born singer by performing the soundtrack to the film Mary Poppins for her parents and their friends. In an even more daring admission, she claims that an early favorite tune was "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini," noting "I thought I was so cool cuz I could sing all the words!" This helps to explain one of her main philosophies of life - "You gotta laugh!" - as well as her passion for boogey boarding in the surf (though she also coaches basketball at the local elementary school, weight lifts, and plays golf with Patty).

Abigail worked hard on her music, spending hours after high school locked in her room learning chords on six and 12-string guitar (she eventually also mastered the harmonica) and imitating the vocal harmonies on classic pop-rock tunes like "Big Girls Don't Cry" by Frankie Valle and the Four Seasons. Now, she laughingly admits to having "scraps of paper everywhere...with words, phrases, ideas for songs. I like to write music at the beach, or at night curled up in a ball on the floor. I'll hear music in my dreams, write down the lyric, play my guitar to capture the moment, then call Patty asap!" In the middle of the night? You betcha!