acoustic music

“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.” ~ Maya Angelou

*New album: “Dandelion Breeze” by The Clements Brothers*.

There’s nothing like a good song to lift your spirits. If you’re lucky, sometimes one musical surprise can lead to another.

Earlier this year, while scouring YouTube for a good cover version of Simon and Garfunkel’s, “April Come She Will,” I chanced upon a video featuring New England singer-songwriter and guitarist George Clements. His rendition was my favorite of the dozens I had listened to.

Wow. The beautiful voice, the exquisite guitar picking (and yes, the blue eyes!). Who is this guy, I wondered? How had I missed him before? As a longtime S&G fan, I just knew I had stumbled upon something quite special.

So I listened to George’s other swoon-worthy covers — Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Paul McCartney, more Paul Simon — a veritable playlist of all my fave singer-songwriters. Then I learned George had played Paul Simon in an off-broadway show called “The Simon and Garfunkel Story.” Well, no wonder.

But there was more. To my surprise and delight, I discovered George has an identical twin named Charles ( I love twins!) who also has a beautiful voice and plays upright bass.

*Blue-eyed twin musicians in blue (who could ask for anything more?).*

Double the deliciousness, double the fun. Yes, please!

Charles and George grew up in a musical family, have been uniquely “in tune” since the womb, and have been playing music together for as long as they can remember. Another nice surprise: they are the youngest sons of popular children’s book author Andrew Clements, who sadly passed away in 2019. (Did you know that before breaking into publishing he’d moved to NYC to pursue a career as a folk singer-songwriter?)

Both twins are formally trained: Charles studied at the New England Conservatory of Music and the Manhattan School of Music, while George is a Berklee College of Music alum.

*Cutie pie twins* *(my guess: Charles in the blue t-shirt?).*

After fronting The Lonely Heartstring Band for about seven years, the brothers decided to rebrand as a duo, releasing their debut full-length album, Dandelion Breeze (Plow Man Records) in August 2023. This acoustic gem is an appealing blend of bluegrass, roots, jazz, rock, and classical influences, elevated by sublime vocal harmonies and instrumental virtuosity. The album features all original material save one track, and I’ve pretty much had it on continuous loop the last few months.

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THE MONTH OF ALL by Henry Grantland Rice You may take your winters southward, You may have your golden Junes, You may have your summer mountains Or your eastern fog-swept dunes; But I’ll take the first red ember, Where the Painter works his will, When it’s morning in September, Or it’s noon-day in September, Or it’s twilight in September, And the flame is on the hill. There is orange down the valley, There is crimson out the lane; There’s a fleck of purple tinting Where the maples meet the rain. For the glow that I remember, With an everlasting thrill, Is a morning in September, Or a noon-time in September, Or a twilight in September, When the flame is on the hill. (This poem is in the public domain.)