To make a long story short – Brian’s musical path is an incredible string of coincidences involving famous folk musicians. Katrina’s musical journey is rooted in school choirs and shower solos. Always a vocalist, never a performer, until she met Brian at a fundraiser for Compassionate Communication of the Palouse. That night, Katrina and a friend performed an interpretive dance about transformation – from fear to courage. She found herself dancing near Brian, who asked her to request a song, which she did. She asked for the Kate Wolf tune “Give Yourself to Love.” But he didn’t know it.

The harmonies are now natural. Katrina can “slot right in” to Brian’s vocal leads. At the Farmer’s Market, or One World Café, Brian and Katrina blend their vocals with Brian’s acoustic accompaniment, seemingly without effort. It’s hard to believe this once-shy songstress ever needed encouragement.

In their second chance encounter at a Contra dance at the 1912 Center, Brian lured Katrina into the restroom to listen to him play the guitar and sing “Give Yourself to Love.” The venue here was all about acoustics. Since their first meeting, Brian had taught himself the song Katrina had requested. His goal was to get her to sing, which she did, and still does, beautifully and with confidence.

Katrina says that singing with Brian felt safe. At their first public performance at Sister’s Café, she felt she was “drafting Brian,” to use a cycling metaphor. After that, they played the One World, followed by their third public appearance at Rendezvous in the Park 2007, where they opened for Mavis Staples. That’s a whole lotta transformation. And that is fitting for this root strata folk collaboration, steeped in the socially conscious and uniquely American musical tradition. Katrina claims Brian as her musical influence, and he in turn cites Gibson and Camp and the Everly Brothers. The CD they loaned me previews their album-in-progress, which spans tunes done by Roy Orbison, the Weavers, Mahalia Jackson and Buddy Holly. The CD will also feature some of Brian’s original songs such as “This Living Earth,” where Brian and Katrina sing “Each blade of grass, each tree that stands, this living earth is in our hands.” Katrina takes the lead on  Pete Seeger's “Turn! Turn! Turn!", and they do a great job on a song from the civil rights movement called “You Can’t Hurry My God.” I’m sure there will be other treats at their live performances.

As day jobs, Brian teaches guitar at Guitar’s Friend and Katrina is a life coach. Brian also runs a non-profit organization called "I Hear America Singing," which is devoted to bringing acoustic music to school children. It is interesting that these endeavors are also to some extent about transformation. From the shower to the stage, from Kankakee to Moscow... Katrina and Brian join to offer the wonderful gift of harmony.

Written by Jeanne McHale

Please also visit Brian's website at BrianGillMusic.com