Two members of The Parking Lot band, Jean Kagan and Jay Gerhard, decided three years ago to form an instrumental duet.
Primarily, they play soft instrumentals at local country clubs and restaurants, invigorated with the music TPL plays.
“We play relaxing background music,” said Kagan, who resides with her husband, Lewis, in the Village of Pine Ridge.
“Our music is always soft enough for people to be able to hear each other talk,” said Gerhard, who plays guitar and resides with his wife, Cynthia. in the Village of Sabal Chase.
In an unexpected musical twist, members of the Celtic Club hired the two to provide their club’s St. Patrick’s Day fun.
And as time passed, many such events like Oktoberfest lined up in their schedule.
As quickly as they mastered Irish songs, Kagan knew that her beloved accordion was a perfect match for their audience. She also knew that supplementing chords on Gerhard’s guitar would brighten the overall sound.
“So yes, we went from playing Irish music to playing German,” Gerhard quipped.
By the time they found themselves belting out well-known lyrics at the Italian Club, the genre switch didn’t seem unusual anymore.
“We play all kinds of holiday and patriotic songs, but also rock ‘n’ roll, gospel and even old standards, like maybe, ‘Yes Sir, That’s My Baby,'” Gerhard said.
Both consistently meet to rehearse for at least six hours each week at Rohan Recreation Center. Many a times, Gerhard shows up for practice with a new song idea in his head.
“He never stops,” Kagan said of her musical partner.
In his own defense, Gerhard never feels like it’s a big deal to give Kagan new suggestions.
For Kagan, the best part of being a musician is performing in local memory care units and nursing facilities, which remind her of the healing power of music.
“When I look up from playing my accordion and I see the joy people experience, just from listening to the music, I feel like I’m doing something very important,” she said.”In a memory care unit, when someone suddenly looks up and sings along. That’s just really special.”
Since adding Irish, German and Italian tunes, their song lists continue to expand. The duo has a collection of 2,000 songs under their name.
“Jean only needs to play something new once or twice, and then she’s got it,” Gerhard said with a smile.
– Attributed Source, The Villages Daily Sun
