My wife and I met when she joined a band I was in. We discovered mutual musical tastes that weren't being met by the band, so we left and formed a duet act. We've been playing together ever since (19 years now - ackk!). We had to learn fairly early on to leave the marraige out of the music room and vice versa. We are both highly opinionated and strong-willed, so we bicker a lot about what to do with the songs we are learning. It goes back and forth and finally pops out as something a lot better than either of us would have come up with on our own. Fortunately, we are turned on by the same music and the same songs, so we don't have any problem there.

We have specialized somewhat over the years. Anna plays most of the lead parts and does all the singing, and I do most of the accompaniment. She is drawn to instruments like hurdy-gurdy, nyckelharpa, and fiddle and I am drawn to octave mandolin, guitar, and lap dulcimer. It's interesting to see which audience members think she defines our sound, and which think it's me. It's both of us, of course, but surprisingly few people get that.

A lot of our friends are also performing couples. It makes a lot of sense -- we have the same social calendar and the same level of commitment. Also, folk music doesn't often pay enough for larger groups to be financially viable.

John Peekstok