March to May

Artist: March to May
Hometown: Seattle, WA
Song: "The Navigator"
Album: Through the Night
Release Date: Spring 2017
Label: Northbound Records

In Their Words: "We wrote 'The Navigator' while we were sailing on a historic steamship and thinking about what it must have been like to be a sailor a hundred years ago. You had to rely much more on your own faith, intuition, and skill to guide you. We wanted to capture a sense of hope and optimism, but also of uncertainty. Dreams and ambition don't come with any guarantees, but what can you do? You take what comes and keep chasing them." -- Beth Wesche

"From an unexpected sojourn on a steamship to a phenomenal collaborative experience with an amazing choreographer and two incredibly talented videographers, 'The Navigator' video metamorphosed from a seemingly impossible vision to an unbelievable reality. We filmed en-route on the same steamship upon which we wrote the song, underwater with an Emmy Award-winning videographer, and at a historic lighthouse on Whidbey Island. We tried to capture the essence of the steamship era with the mythological story of the sirens of ancient Greece. We wanted to convey a feeling of love and connection, as well as distance, isolation, and uncertainty of the future." -- Darren Guyaz - The Bluegrass Situation

Darren Guyaz and Elizabeth (Beth) Wesche make up the folk duo March to May. The name represents the time it took for these Seattle transplants to transform from perfect strangers to perfect musical harmony. We chatted with the duo about how they met, their unique and captivating sound, and what to expect at their Triple Door show with Whitney Lyman tomorrow.

Q. When life brings change, it is very rarely something that can be clearly marked. Did either of you have an “ah-ha” moment in those first few months, or did March to May just become your life?

MtoM: Both of us definitely had “ah ha” moments, but they were different for each of us. For Darren, it came early on – we were sitting around a campfire with some friends and Darren was singing and playing the guitar. Beth started harmonizing, and there was something really powerful in the sound of our two voices. Musically, it was definitely something to pay attention to. For Beth, it came a little bit later. She was playing her harp in her room one day and started hearing really interesting overtones in what she was playing – until she realized it was Darren, standing in the hallway playing his guitar. We just kind of went from there, and things kept building when we realized we wrote really well together, too.

Q. Your music is unique and captivating, between the blending of your distinct voices and your choice of instruments, but it’s Beth’s harp that stands out. Why doesn’t every band have a harp?

MtoM: Hahaha, we ask ourselves that every day. I think it’s probably because they’re so hard to lug around. Beth definitely wishes she played the piccolo or something every time we tour. But in all seriousness, thanks – we appreciate that. The harp definitely adds a richness and character to our music that would be missing without it there.

Q. The Water’s Edge, your first EP, had some level of success with “Embers” especially making a few charts. Do you feel any pressure to repeat that success, and did The Water’s Edge teach you some things you didn’t know about “the business?”

MtoM: The Water’s Edge is our first release, so the learning curve was huge – there are some things we did really well with it and will definitely draw on for future releases, but we also had a number of learning moments, and did things we certainly WON’T repeat. Releasing music has so much more going into it than simply recording a piece of music – there’s publicity, artwork, distribution, legal stuff, and more to consider. There’s so, so much to learn in this business, especially as independent artists building our own expertise. But it’s a good journey to be on. As for feeling pressure to repeat the success of “Embers” – no, we don’t think pressure is really the right word. I think we’d love to build on that success, but we’re also evolving as artists, and know that success will never look quite the same from one song to the next.

Q. Dancers! Tuesday’s show will feature a couple of dance numbers, but also dancers are a key element to your upcoming video project. Would you like to share with us a little of the inspiration behind these endeavors and your collaboration with Version Excursion?

MtoM: Absolutely! We were incredibly lucky to meet our good friend and choreographer, Erin Nichole Boyt, early this year at an Office of Film & Music happy hour. We hit it off, and our music and her choreography complemented each other really well. What began as an idea around combining live music and dance evolved into a full-fledged video project combining dance, music, and underwater cinematography, as well as continuing to build on the original live performance concept. It’s been a pretty inspiring project, and one that is definitely continuing to grow. Just to start, we’re guest performing at her dance show “Embers” (named for our song), and her dancers are joining us onstage at the Triple Door. It’s exciting to start performing our work together!

Q. So, along with the dancers you’re bringing a full band to the Triple Door. Would you like to tell our readers a little something about the band?

MtoM: Absolutely. Our full band consists of Dave Bush on drums, Tracy Hagen on cello, Ben Shields on violin, and Birch Pereira on bass. We all initially started playing together when we were recording our EP (except for Ben, who we met a few months later), and have built on our full band sound since then. They’re amazing musicians, and we’re thrilled to be working with them. They give our music a richness and movement that’s different than what we can achieve on our own.

Q. Tell us about your opening act. What can we expect from Whitney Lyman and her new single?

MtoM: Whitney’s a great musician, and our styles are very complementary. We found out about her through our bass player, initially – they play together sometimes in the band The Theoretics. We’re excited to share the stage with her, and really excited to hear her new single, “Firebreather!”

Q. Darren, you’ve done a lot of incredible work in the Seattle Music Scene. It appears the band has not slowed you down any. Could you discuss a few of your other projects?

MtoM: Thank you. Free time is definitely not in my vocabulary right now. But I also launched a concert production company about three years ago that continues to grow each year called M-bibe. We hold intimate, acoustic concerts all around Seattle in unique locations. A lot of work, but a lot of fun!

Q. Beth, what kind of projects outside the band are you pursuing?

MtoM: At this point, my projects are mostly personal – I’m focusing right now on what I can learn to help us on our way as artists. I do a lot of research around the music industry, and am digging into learning the basics of design and music production. Darren and I are also in the early stages of starting a production company with Erin, our choreographer.

Q. Getting ready for the upcoming show on Tuesday, the two of you have done a lot of work. How do you manage to fit this level of preparation into an already full schedule?

MtoM: We wonder that ourselves! It can be a lot to juggle. But our music is something we’re both deeply committed to; after a certain point, it comes down to just being really organized, doing as much as we can, and being creative and adaptive when it comes to getting things done. It helps that it’s a labor of love – even when we’re going a lot and are really busy, we both get a lot of joy out of the work we’re doing.

Q. Thank you both for taking the time to share your story with our readers and thank you for bringing something truly unique to Seattle. Tuesday’s show at The Triple Door is genuinely something to look forward to.

MtoM: Thank you! We’re so excited about the show, and can’t wait to see you there.

Show info:
March to May w/ Whitney Lyman
The Triple Door
November 10, 2015
Doors: 6:00 P.M. / Show: 7:30 P.M.
All ages / $12 - Seattle Music Insider

Hang on, I promise this is going somewhere: when my brothers and I were young we spent many summers in the islands of the North Puget Sound and Canada. Our time out in those islands afforded us ample opportunity to explore the riches of this beautiful region and to see things that awed classmates in the Fall. One such exploration was on Jones Island in the San Juans just off of Orcas Island, which is less remote than many of the islands we traversed, but secluded enough that you can’t get there by ferry. This particular hike took place in 1989 a year before a massive storm would bulldoze its way through the region and literally erase many of the island’s trees. We were bored with our heads down when we started down an overgrown trail, it was easy to write off the simple beauty of the trees and the water just beyond them. As we continued around the far side of the island we came to a small clearing where the trees abruptly ended and brown grass licked the edge of the clearing’s rock face. Dry summer moss blanketed the ground and looking out toward the Puget Sound I saw two madrona trees leaning in toward one another almost kissing. As if this little slice of natural beauty were not enough, our approach startled one of the islands many Blacktail deer and it bounded off deep into the woods. It was one of the first moments in my life I can recall being awed by nature, awed without being prompted by someone else, and I nearly missed all of this.

I decided to open this review with that lengthy story for two reasons, the first being the cover art for March to May’s EP The Water’s Edge, with the rocks, trees, and shoreline, it could easily be a point on Jones Island. The other reason is because there are a lot of elements within March to May that got me traveling down a path of expectations only to look to my left and notice that somewhere down that path I missed the moment where the music defied my expectations and became something else and amazing.

There’s no way around it, The Water’s Edge is a truly graceful and beautiful album, it just has the clean and flowy tone to it. I won’t say that I ignored the first part of this EP but I was easily distracted and it wasn’t until I got to the meat of the album that I started to pay attention. The album sneaks up on you with pretty melodies but it eventually takes hold of you in the most compelling way and demands that you take notice, and I noticed.

The album opens with the Monk and the Lover, a gloomy and haunting song with vocals that have exceptional range and harmony, it’s a great way to start the album but also a little deceptive of what is about to come, because The Water’s Edge has some teeth, not sharp like fangs something more like molars. Falling Down, the track immediately following is slightly brighter but becomes the first real taste of the pop hidden within this album, it was around the chorus that I began to take notice of what was happening with The Water’s Edge.

As I said before the real meat of the album comes in with Count the Days, which is a really incredible song, a kind of Fleetwood Mac “Rumors” tempo and a chorus that nearly had me convinced they stole a lyric and music sheet from the studio while Fleetwood Mac was busy not talking to each other. It has that hook that I’m always looking for, something that exhibits great songwriting and production. Count the Days is one of the best songs I’ve heard in 2015, it inspired me to go back and give a second more attentive chance to the album’s first two songs.

Georgia is another song that seems to present March to May at their finest, a little more on the folk pop side, but still riding that classic tempo and slight vintage tone, with a highly catchy chorus. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy the albums final two tracks, Ember’s and Crazy Universe, tonally they were more similar to the albums first two tracks and as I mentioned they really are beautiful a little more somber but very good, but once I heard Count the Days and Georgia I only wanted more of that.

Jones Island has a lot to love and admire, there is so much to take in from shoreline to shoreline, but for me once I noticed that clearing with the rocks and the madrona’s overlooking the San Juan Islands, that was all I cared about. With The Water’s Edge the whole thing from beginning to end is really great, at times a little too polished and pristine for my taste but very good, the thing is that once I head the album’s middle two tracks that really did me in, they are so good that that was all I wanted. I look forward to hearing March to May explore those sounds a little deeper because they’ve clearly proven here that they are excellent songwriters.

You can pick up The Water’s Edge right now at Marchtomay.bandcamp.com. - Secretly Important

March To May – The Water’s Edge

URL: http://www.marchtomay.com/

In a world of indie rock being a big majority of modern rock music, it seems rather difficult to find something new that is truly special. Sure, there’s a lot of great modern music out there, but I mean something that resonates with your soul in a big way. Allow me to turn your attention to Seattle, where indie, folk and Americana is thriving. Duo March to May is set to release their debut, titled “The Water’s Edge”. This recording is six tracks, full of haunting vocal harmonies and instrumental passageways and melodies. Even among the sea of modern rock bands that the west coast is, it’s clear to see that March to May truly is something special.

The major emphasis of “The Water’s Edge” is the vocals. Beth and Darren have made a point to move mountains with their voices. They are exhilarating and refreshing. As dynamic as this album is, so are their expressive vocals. Some songs are fun and upbeat while others are mournful and disconsolate. Regardless of the tone of each individual song, their voices adapt appropriately. March to May nails it instrumentally as well. In addition to each one singing, Beth plays a Celtic harp and Darren plays guitar and piano. The result of these combined is a powerful and moving force that will force the listener to look deep into their own selves.

My favorite and the most upbeat is “Georgia”, the fourth track. This one is about wanting something more than anything that may seem unattainable – in this case that’s “Georgia”. Beth leads this vocally upbeat song with Darren harmonizing and adding depth to Beth’s beautiful voice. It seems impossible to not sing along “Take me home, Georgia!” with Beth. Warning, there will be some involuntary head bobbing. Don’t resist, allow yourself to get lost in Georgia. This is by far the most memorable and catchy song on the whole album.

One last must hear song is the closer, “Crazy Universe”. This song is very fluent and universal. I doubt that anyone would not be moved on this song, regardless of nationality. If you respect good music, you’ll respect Crazy Universe. The vocals melodies soar high above as the strings begin to build up into a melody. This song is teaching the lesson of the power of love. We live on this Crazy Universe, but even after the chaos love is still there, so we need to find our place here and accept it. This is a lesson we all need to be reminded of from time to time.

March to May have proven with “The Water’s Edge” what a dedicated talent band they are. They may only be Beth and Darren, but they’ve displayed what incredible musicians they are. I’m more than certain that that intend on sticking around for a few more years. They have created awe-inspiring moments that make the listener to think beyond the lyrics. I find those are the best kind of songs. Fans of Joni Mitchell and Fiona Apple.

9/10 - Music Existance

Seattle folk duo, March to May entered the national music scene in April 2015 with their critically acclaimed debut EP, "The Water's Edge." The lead single and video, "Embers" has spent a whopping 9 weeks atop the Yallwire Most Watched Videos Chart (Yallturnative). Darren Guyaz and Elizabeth Wesche have taken the success in stride, with much gratitude to their fans. They both took time from their busy schedule, shooting two videos and performing at venues across the Pacific Northwest, to talk about the past year, and what the music world can expect from the pair.


Q. Tell me about your recent Washington/Oregon tour. How was it, where did you play, and what were the highlights?

A. Our most recent tour was incredibly fun and successful. We made it a house concert tour and had mostly sold-out shows, with one highlight being hosted for one of the shows by the mayor of Hood River, Oregon!

Q. What's the craziest/most interesting thing that has happened while on the road, and where did it happen?

A. We were gifted a stunning, handmade classical guitar by one of our fans in southern Oregon; not that much on the crazy side, but such a powerful gesture of appreciation and support.

Q. You've both lived all over the western hemisphere; where is your favorite place that you've both lived, and how has that place influenced you in life, and in music?

A. Though each of us has a soft spot for Latin America, we both absolutely love Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. This place is absolutely beautiful – and the landscape and maritime culture both greatly affect our songwriting. We seem to have an ever-growing repertoire of music strongly influenced by the water surrounding us.

Q. Since you've both migrated quite a bit, how did the two of you manage to get together to form March to May? Tell me about the first meeting and how that developed into what we hear today.

A. We met randomly through Craigslist, of all places – but to be housemates, not musicians. Beth was moving to Seattle from Washington, D.C., looking for a place to live – and voila, she moved in with Darren. Neither had any idea the other played music – until a few weeks later, they went to the Washington coast with a group of friends, and when Darren started playing his guitar around a beach bonfire, Beth started harmonizing to his vocals – and the sparks flew.

Q. Tell me about your debut EP, The Water's Edge. How did the title come about, and what was the recording process like?

A. The title came from a lyric in Crazy Universe, and it speaks to this powerful space, this liminal space, that exists between….between day and night, right and wrong, land and water…a space that defies limitations and boundaries. We felt like it was very representational of our music. The recording process at Bear Creek Studios was one of the most impactful experiences both of us have ever had in our musical careers; with the space itself (this large old farm house and barn), with our producer, with our band-mates, with the summer storm that passed over us during the recording of Falling Down. It was magical.

Q. You've had some major success with your video for "Embers." Congrats! Can we expect a follow-up video any time soon, and which song will it be for? Give me some details about it, please.

A. Thank you – and yes, Embers has really taken off! We actually have TWO videos in the works right now, with two very different, but wonderfully talented directors and collaborators. One is for our song Georgia (on The Water’s Edge EP) and the other one for a new song, The Navigator, which will also be released as a single this fall. We can’t give away too much, except that The Navigator involves a dance company, underwater videography and a historic steamship. Shhhhh.

Q. Up to this point, what has been the highlight of your respective music careers?

A. We’ve had so many small, but incredibly meaningful highlights, in the form of behind the scenes praise and appreciation of our music – stories from fans that brought tears to their eyes or inspired them to make a big change in their lives. On the larger sense, we felt so blessed to have sold out our EP release show in April on a historic steamship here in Seattle – and to have overfunded our debut EP Kickstarter campaign with 152 backers. But we are very, very excited for what is upcoming: we just got booked to headline one of Seattle’s premier venues, The Triple Door.

Q. Critical praise, record sales, or industry awards...which one is most important to you and why?

A. Hard choice, but we’d have to say critical praise. Sure, having record sales and industry awards would be wonderful – we can’t deny that – but having praise of our music means a lot to us as artists, as our hearts go into it and our music is a reflection of who we are as people.

Q. What is one career goal that you hope to accomplish in the next year?

A. We already feel incredibly appreciative of what we’ve accomplished in this past year – so our biggest goal is just to keep pushing forward and upward! Opening for large acts, playing larger venues, more tours and more unique musical experiences.

Q. If fans could know one unusual personal thing about Darren and Beth, other than being in March to May, what would you tell them?

A. Beth was a competitive gymnast until she grew too tall (and then switched to playing harp) and Darren solo backpacked across SE Asia, Turkey, and South America (all of which inspired his music). - No Depression

March To May’s Darren Guyaz (guitar, vocals, keyboard) and Beth Wesche (Celtic harp, vocals) first met in December 2012. By March 2013, the Folk/Indie/Americana duo had co-written their first two songs, by April they had a paid gig under their belts, and by May they had a name and shows booked out into the months ahead. Before settling in Seattle, Washington, where the act is now based, both Darren and Beth had traversed the Western Hemisphere separately.

Darren migrated from the northern Appalachians to his birth state of Montana, before heading on a South American adventure across the Andes mountain range, eventually falling in love with Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. The daughter of a US Foreign Service Officer, Beth also spent time in the Andes, as well as a host of US states on both coasts, before moving to Seattle, just blocks from where her beloved Celtic harp had been created, years before.

march-to-may-coverThe Water’s Edge is hauntingly beautiful music with an ethereal, soulful feel. Extremely relaxing to listen to, yet so lyrically brilliant you hang on every word. I’m new to March To May, but I couldn’t have been more impressed. Darren and Beth sing and perform with such great chemistry and alluring harmony. I have listened to this nearly every day for over a week now and I have yet to tire of it.

Clear, crisp vocals, music that is at once simple and complex, and a tone that flirts with the past while remaining resolutely modern, are all interwoven into a remarkable album. The themes are common to Folk or Americana music – longing, expectation, loss, love, hope – but that is true of most music. The lyrics go to that quiet place inside where you feel small and fragile and it brings you hope and a sort of catharsis.

Their voices meld together like chocolate syrup on ice cream. Some duos are meant to sing together – that is definitely the case here. From the eloquent “Crazy Universe” to the sadly moving “Embers” and the impeccably arranged warmth of “The Monk and The Lover”, this album is a refreshing example of what genuine artistry really is and of the beauty that can be created when two people come together to create something amazing.

The depth and seamless musical qualities of March To May are at times chilling and awe inspiring, as on my personal favorites “Falling Down” and “Georgia”. Case and point; The Water’s Edge is a poignant and moving manifestation by two deeply talented musicians that deserve a chance to be heard.

March To May steps it up and reaches out in this debut effort. They have a lot going for them; fantastic voices that emanate pure emotion, sublime acoustic instruments and intense storytelling. If you don’t know this duo, do yourself a favor and listen. They are something special.

The Water’s Edge is the debut release from March To May, and will be out April 25th, 2015. - JamSphere

Those who haven’t lived in the Pacific Northwest don’t understand the magic that takes pace as Spring gradually transforms the region. Though the Winter’s are not devastatingly harsh with cold or snow, the landscape shifts into barren dead plants with a wet green sheen covering everything, it’s like six straight months of living inside of a cold wet sock. Spring brings the sun and with it wild schizophrenic weather patterns, piles of dirt you assumed were long dead begin to sprout life, the unending gray has been broken and our lives are full of variety. By May the region is well on its way to Summer, but before the sun scorches the lush green yards into dried brown patches, we have this beautiful moment when everything is just damp enough and just warm enough to be truly magical. There are few visuals than standing by a frigid bay your skin brushed by the warmth of the sun while being overwhelmed by the power of the Olympic mountain rage still capped in a white snow glaze. Just as you should not judge a book by its cover, though from an aesthetic point you should and do, no band should be entirely judged by their name, though you probably do, March to May’s name contains great personal significance and also captures the beauty of the region which is ever present in their sound.

You have to get past this idea that March to May is designed to be played at wineries or fancy cocktail parties for aging bohemians ferociously gripping to the last shred of their barefoot, ivy-wreathed past. With Darren Guyaz playing a folksy guitar that rides a line between classical and folk, and Elizabeth Wesche playing a celtic harp, they do seem tailor made to play a lot of parties in grassy fields with lots of white linen shirts. At first listen things do seem to present to you some very beautiful sounds executed perfectly with appropriately accenting strings and percussion, but scratch that away just slightly and you can hear that there is much more to this band than the simple and beautiful melodies they first present.

Elizabeth Wesche answered an ad for a roommate on Craigslist which sounds about as un-serendipitious as possible but the way she and Darren Guyaz began to play music was much more so. “I had intentionally not put in my Craigslist response that I played music at all because I thought it was going to be weirdly competitive, or I was going to have to join the band,” Elizabeth explains. “I remember having [my harp] up in my room and I was tuning and I was playing a little bit and I started hearing these interesting overtones I wasn’t playing the same rhythmic patterns as some of the overtones, they were syncopated to what I was doing. I was like ‘this isn’t me!’ So I looked out into the hall and there was Darren standing there with his little guitar-” Darren interjects “It’s not a little guitar.” The joke is that in the end Elizabeth did in fact join the band. Going back to the name of the band, the pair began writing songs together in March and by May they were playing them as full fledged songs with the serious intention of being a band. Also there’s the almost underlying fact that their birthdays are in March and May.

The pair started off by writing what played to their strengths; Darren’s guitar playing, Elizabeth’s harp, and their blank background copyexceptional ability to harmonize vocally with one another. “We started with a chord progression, whether it was on harp or guitar and then the other person started playing along with that, playing something that kinda complimented it. Once the chord progression was we place we started doing melodies to go over the top of that we made up lyrics,” Darren tells me, then Elizabeth adds, “Our process has always felt a bit like a conversation.”

Early on the duo was writing a lot of songs that played into what you might expect from a band that has a harp, the songs were undeniably beautiful, moody, melancholy, or as they put it “sad.” Embers, Crazy Universe, The Monk and the Lover, are stellar on every level but Darren and Elizabeth recognized that they were somewhat limited by what they’d written up to that point. “We had a lot of sad songs, that’s just what came out, but then we were asked to play this wedding rehearsal dinner and then we realized our set was totally inappropriate for this show. So we consciously went out to write some more upbeat and happy songs. We’re always a little dogged by this fear that if we write too many sad songs even if their beautiful they might get boring,” Elizabeth explained. This was the birth of two of the bands most upbeat and standout songs, Georgia and Count the Days which has all the makings of being a song that might have been left on the cutting room floor of Feetwood Mac’s Rumors.

With a more diverse list of songs the duo launched a Kickstarter to fund their debut EP. With 152 backers the band reached their goal and after putting together a full band they released The Water’s Edge in April of 2015. The EP offered a taste what the band was working toward mixing up those moody songs with newer really upbeat jams. Not long after the EP was released the band began working on a video for another new song The Navigator, a massive undertaking that includes underwater choreography that eventually led to a relationship with choreographer Erin Nichole Boyt who was so impressed after seeing the band at their EP release show that the three have worked together on a video, dances that coincide with the bands liver performances, and there have been hints at a fully choreographed performance.

With music that feels so refined it’s impressive to think that March to May is just beginning, and still just finding their voice and their artistic vision. In June they’re hoping to release the video for The Navigator which early previews look truly gorgeous, and this month they launched a Kickstarter to help fund their first full-length album. For the last year Darren and Elizabeth have been performing with a full band and it’s pushed their sound and with this latest album their going to be using that experience to find a sense of intimacy across every song on the album investing in more upbeat pop songs and growing their slower more moody songs as well. They’ll be recording with Martin Feveyear who they hope will help guide them towards the sounds they’re working hard on developing.

Darren and Elizabeth are just beginning in this journey with March to May, artistically there are so many wonderful things that are happening and I look forward to hearing what they will be doing in the next two months just as much as I wonder what they’ll sound like in the next two years. There was one thing that really surprised me during our conversation back in December, which was the revelation that the pair both share an interest in electronic music and that they’ve been toying with starting another project that could explore those interests, but I personally am intrigued to see if those sensibilities manage to eventually work their way into March To May.

You can find March to May at Marchtomay.com, or marchtomay.bandcamp.com. Their Kickstarter has a lofty goal of almost $13,000 and with 26 days left to go they’re going to need you to pitch in and contribute, you can do that here. The above quotations were taken from my interview with the band which you can hear in our full podcast interview available tomorrow here, in itunes, or at depthsounder.org. - Secretly Important

March to May is a ‘folk’ duo out of Seattle, WA. Formed in the Spring of 2013 as a collaboration between singer/songwriters Darren Guyaz and Beth Wesche. Overlaying Celtic folk harp, guitar & keyboards with rich vocal harmonies, they sing deeply relatable stories of every day life and what it means to love, to live, and to reach beyond what seems possible. They sing from the heart, and carry the listener to a place within their own imagination, their own story. I use the term ‘folk’ (using quotes) because while there are elements of traditional folk within here, there is much more involved and the influences run deep as the ocean. With each listen you unearth a little different piece of what these two fold into their sound.

The dynamic between Guyaz and Wesche’s vocal certainly lends itself to comparison of The Civil Wars. Maybe even hints of Damien Rice and Lisa Hanigan. A beautiful heartache of sorts is injected into their music. There is a delicate beauty and wavering texture to the way their songs twirl and dance. They use their voices as instruments and do so extremely well.

IMG_2555Sonically, some of the music here has an almost Victorian age color to it. The guitar styles and harps on “The Monk and The Lover” feel like they could have been playing at a theatre entertaining a king and his court hundreds of years ago. There is some true beauty in the ability to evoke such a vibrant picture in my head when I listen. This is one of the stand outs contained on this collection. I will be revisiting this tune again and again.

Where “Monk” is so successful, however, the follow up tune or 2 lose me a bit. Perhaps because I was so taken aback by the first tune and lost in the music a bit. I feel as though the duo is most successful when they sing together and the softness is really where it all comes together for me. “Falling Down” and “Count the Days” aren’t quite as captivating for me after being taken away by the beauty of the first track in the collection.

The remaining tracks on the collection, however, win me back again and the closing track “Crazy Universe” again hits on those harmonies and dynamics hard. I do believe I have found something I like quite much here. March to May is delicate but powerful music. This isn’t your “lets go to the gym and run 11 miles, Rocky” music, this is music that needs to be listened to. And deserves to be listened to intently. Two voices intertwining, occasionally becoming one, and then splitting back off again. Really beautiful.

http://www.marchtomay.com/about/ - Red Line Roots

I must admit, this show came with a lot of really fancy distractions; I got to sit for this show, I got to dine on wine and delicious food, I got served like a king, and I got to stare at a beautiful stage with an ornate proscenium arch like I haven’t seen in a while. Whitney Lyman and her band as well as headliners March to May had to contend with an intoxicating wine, a seven season beef that melted in my mouth, and perfectly cooked duck hugging a feeble bone. I point all of this out because of the many things I could have written about I’m still going to write about the amazing music I saw at the Triple Door in Seattle.

Whitney Lyman was pretty spectacular opening, not to diminish the performance from March to May but this in many ways was an either or in terms of headliners, both could pull off the feat of putting their name in the biggest boldest letters. Over the last decade my alma mater, Cornish College of the Arts, has produced some really talented individuals, mostly out of the music/dance departments; Molly Sides, Lena Simon, Mary Lambert, Katie Kate, the TheeSatisfaction duo, and others who just slipped my mind, that list also includes Whitney Lyman. She has some really superb songwriting and her music walks this really beautiful line between folk, pop, and rock, is that a line or more like standing somewhere in the middle of a venn diagram?

For this performance she really pushed into this gorgeous rock vibe and it worked well, with a full band behind her she filled the vast expanse of the Triple door with what felt like a deep and yet fairly intimate performance. She capped her set with her latest single Firebreather which is pretty sweet, and if you’re the indie pop type you’ll definitely want to pick this one up. Whitney has a certain cadence to her melodies that are really unique and jarring in the best way possible.

March to May also came equipped with a full backing band that kept that full and deep sound from their EP The Water’s Edge alive, but upped their stage presence by having a live dance performance on two of their songs. I really love it when a band knows just how to accompany their music with theatrics, I’ve seen it done wrong, and then I’ve seen it done right, just go to a Deep Sea Diver show and you’ll see it done to perfection. March to May also walks a line, this one is a little more treacherous, where one side is full of beautiful lyrics and melodies and the other side dips into self indulgence and boredom. In all honesty, when you see a harp come out onto the stage you’re likely to let out a suppressed yawn, but March to May walks the line like a tightrope walker never taking you into that beautiful but boring place, and always keeping you awed. Their harmonies are perfect and the way they incorporate instrumentation works perfectly for what they’ve created.

March to May has these really sweet and slightly dark ballads, ones that rely on the strings and the harmonies of the vocals, but they also have a few upbeat songs that are good, like amazingly good. Count the Days shined particularly bright at this performance and proves that May’s best is when they up the tempo and get the audience grooving. I’ve said this before but Count the Day’s is like that song that Fleetwood Mac never recorded, the kind of song that could have made it onto Rumors.

Sometimes theatrics really make the performance memorable, to March to May’s credit the beautifully choreographed dances were a compliment to the performance, adding quality of the show and not distracting from it.

Again, in the face of the many wonderful distractions that this evening provided to me, it was still the music that shines brightest and I think that’s really the best compliment I can give everyone. - Secretly Important

While bossman Jeff was across the street at Thunderpussy, I posted up at Conor Byrne to check out Wren, March to May, and If BEARS were BEES Thursday night. Before I say anything else: I love that bar. It’s the perfect balance of home-y and hipster-y, and they do a great job of showcasing bands I’ve never heard before, which I love. Maybe it’s cheesy, but I love the corner stage with the chandelier and lamppost, and how in the same night you could see a duo with a harp player followed by a “folk-punk” band, but more on that later.

Wren opened the show; a singer-songwriter/poet joined by Ariana Taylor Stanley on piano and Anna Boyd on fiddle. I’m a huge fan of the genre descriptor of “alt-folk” but it felt very traditional to me. Before the show started I had made a note that apparently I’d missed the memo about beige dresses being the dress code, before I realized as they all went onstage that it was planned. Got it, my bad. I wasn’t able to catch some of Wren’s lyrics, but picked up on a lot of PacNW allusions and influences from nature. Boyd stuck out to me the most, with incredibly warm tones and beautiful fiddle lines over their simplistic melodies. It’s sometimes difficult to gage an audience’s response to a folk act, simply because there’s no set way to move and dance to folk music. Sometimes you see swaying and foot-tapping, sometimes you see a man in gold shoes dancing on his own, but what struck me the most was the lack of audience chit-chat. It’s so easy during laid-back shows where a majority of your audience is sitting, drinking, and probably with a group, to start your own conversations and forget you’re actually at a show, but that did not seem to be the case during Wren. Once you tuned in, you were captured. They played some newer songs near the end of their set that felt much more dynamic and emotional than songs from earlier, especially with the addition of more vocal harmonies. I would love to hear more vocals from the three of them, but I’m a sucker for harmonies that are interesting and enchanting, which in inevitable coming from three female folk voices.

Next up was March to May, a local duo with a – wait for it – harp player. I read about them a bit before Thursday and realized that I’d never actually seen a non-classical show with a harpist before. I’ll be honest, I didn’t really know what to expect. I have no idea what the acceptable amount of harp is in a duo, but at the top of my notes was “more harp more harp more harp!”. It’s such a unique sound that feels underused in folk music. The duo performed a lovely Swell Season cover which matches their tone well, followed by The Navigator, my favorite song of their set. The beginning was engaging, their harmonies sounded stronger, and it created a more interesting melodic flow. I also appreciated that they utilized subtle but driving percussion which also helped move their songs more gracefully than is sometimes seen in folk duos. As they progress as a group with an album release in April (on a historic steam ship in Lake Union, aka the coolest), I would love to see them move away from a straight side-by-side comparison with artists like Swell Season and grow into their own style and sound. I’m personally a huge fan of covering music that isn’t your style at all and making it your own. I don’t disagree with the comparison and love the influences, but as they write and play more they definitely have the potential to stand on their own.

The final set of the evening was If BEARS were BEES which I can’t help but hear in my head as though it’s said by Dwight Schrute every time. Described as “folk-punk” (just for this show? Or all the time? Unsure…) I had no idea what to expect, but I dig it. The band is fronted by TJ Grant; the only person I’ve ever seen whistle while playing an electric guitar. They had tongue-in-cheek lyrics with moments of realness that, I felt, made them more piercing to listeners as you hear moments of emotional honesty amongst the punky storytelling. I was racking my brain trying to figure out who they reminded me of, but then realized I didn’t give a shit about that because the sound in front of me was strong enough to stand alone.

Genre-blending is definitely becoming more prevalent in our music scene, either intentionally or not. While it may seem odd at first to see some of these bands back-to-back, I think it should absolutely be embraced. As bookers become overworked and probably doing other jobs, it’s possible that the variety of artists isn’t intentional at all, just merely what was put together for that night. I think that’s a huge opportunity to find the common threads in artists, challenge artists and promoters to find a theme, and make a night out of it. While Wren, March to May, and If BEARS were BEES may be almost musical opposites, it would have brought the night to a new level to see some type of genre-crossover as a nod to each other as artists pursuing the same passion. Until then, I’ll just keep imagining a supergroup of fiddle, harp, electric guitar, and whistling. - No Cover Seattle

There seems to be a new wave of duo acts out there now — Hymn For Her, for example — in all genres of music. The latest one to catch my attention is the modern folk twosome of Beth Wesche and Darren Guyaz, aka March to May, who hail from Seattle, Washington. They will come to Unity and Turner for shows on Oct. 7 and 13. In a phone interview from their West Coast home, the duo chatted about that Maine mini-tour, their music (including their six-song first album “The Water’s Edge”) and a surprising Maine connection.

Q: Have you guys performed in Maine before?

Wesche: We have, actually. We have played in Maine twice now over the last two years.

Guyaz: We played in Waterville. My sister arranged for us to play there.

Wesche: Yeah, it was at a community arts center, a gallery place.

Guyaz: And this time we’ll be at Unity College on Wednesday the 7th, and then on Tuesday the 13th we’re playing at Nezinscot Farm over in Turner.

Q: Excellent. In our email correspondence you alluded to a Maine connection in March to May. What is it?

Guyaz: Yeah, I grew up in Winthrop, Maine, my sister lives in Oakland, Maine, and then my parents still live in Winthrop at the same place.

Q: And you’re living on the West Coast now.

Guyaz: Yeah, I’ve been in Seattle for a little over eight years now.

Q: There’s a picture of you two on your website with you, Darren, standing and Beth sitting with rock cliffs, a tide line and water lapping. Where was that taken?

Wesche: Oh, that one. That one was actually taken up on the San Juan Islands in Washington state. We tell stories in our music, and that island has been a pretty informative place for us. When we first started playing music, we went out there to see if we could work together and learn our first couple of songs there, including “Embers,” which is on the album. It’s always a place we go back to when we really need grounding, so that picture was taken at the water’s edge on Orcas Island.

Guyaz: And there’s really that kind of strong sense of place up there as well, Lucky, I think, for both of us, even though neither of us are natives. Those islands really have a special feel to them.

Wesche: Yeah, and the funny thing is that a lot of people have taken a look at the cover art for our EP and mentioned that that looks like the San Juans and have said that it reminds them of that, which is really gratifying to us, especially seeing the artist that did the cover is actually Darren’s sister, who still lives in Maine.

Q: That’s really neat. What I like about the album is the vocal harmonies. That’s something that’s been important to me ever since I started doing this; and for just being the two of you, there’s a lot of variety in here, as well. “Georgia” pops to mind.

Wesche: Oh, thank you. That was the first time we had recorded together — and I say “the first time” only because we actually got out of the recording studio again, but those songs haven’t been released yet. So when we recorded “The Water’s Edge,” one thing that we were going for was a little bit of a sense of diversity, and I think that our writing tends to span a lot of different feelings, as far as the songs go, and we wanted to stretch it out. Oh, and thank you for calling out “Georgia.” That’s one of my favorites.

Q: Is there anything you’d like to pass on to the readers of this article?

Guyaz: Well, I’d like to highlight some of the themes in our music — how strong a sense of place is, how strong elements of water are in a lot of our songs, and how a lot of out songs have elements of love, as well.

Q: Anything you want to add, Beth?

Wesche: Well, one thing that we always say at our performances is that after a show, we love talking to people. We don’t want to be the artists that come and play a show, then disappear. Having that sort of personal connection is important to us, so if people do want to talk to us after the show, we love that. We kind of live for that.

Lucky Clark has spent more than 45 years writing about good music and the people who make it. He can be reached at luckyc@myfairpoint.net if you have any questions, comments or suggestions. - CentralMaine.com

I was first introduced to folk-pop duo March to May by Michael Stover of MTS Management Group who also got me hooked on Country singer Amy Rose. When I took a listen to March to May I was also hooked to them. I am so excited to be able to share this interview with you because not only is March to May a talented group, they are so enthusiastic about their music, how can you not get engulfed by their debut EP The Water's Edge! Click here to purchase on Amazon and click here to purchase on iTunes!

For more on March to May be sure to visit http://www.marchtomay.com and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

1. Who or what inspired you to be musicians/singers? Both of us have been musical ever since we were children – music has been a huge part of our lives since before we can remember. Darren played classical piano as a child, and both of us sang in choirs from a young age. As a teenager, Beth started playing the harp and training as a classical vocalist. We’ve always loved music, but the spark didn’t really take off until we met each other and started playing together. We were definitely inspired by other artists, though – Tori Amos and Damien Rice have been big influences, in particular.


March to May: Darren Guyaz and Beth Wesche
2. You first met in December 2012, but didn't start collaborating as March to May until 2013. What was the moment when you were like "Let's do this?" We actually didn’t know we both played music until a few weeks after we met – then, we were out on the Washington coast with some friends and Darren started singing one of his songs and Beth started harmonizing. It was definitely a surprise for both of us, but things really took off. We started playing around with some instrumental and vocal riffs, and by March we’d written our first couple of songs. We played our first show in April, and it was pretty clear we had something special going on. By May, we’d made the decision to move forward as a band. So it took a few weeks for us to get started, but once the spark hit things moved pretty quickly.

3. What has been the best part about working together? The level of trust and communication we’ve been able to maintain around our music. Neither of us has really co-written before, so this has been a new experience, but a really wonderful one. We work together really, really well, which is something we’re deeply thankful for. There’s a kind of joy in just doing the work of the business together, as well as writing and playing and performing together. That’s a pretty rare thing to say about any partnership. So we count ourselves pretty lucky.

4. You just released your debut EP The Water's Edge. What excites you most about having your debut EP out, available, for the world to hear? It feels like we finally have something to offer the world in ways that our live performances can’t. When we play a song live, hearing the music is tied to being physically present in a space, watching two people embody the sound. That’s a pretty powerful experience – but you have to be there. Having music available online and on a CD means that anyone can listen to it, no matter when or where. It seems obvious, but it represents a HUGE difference in terms of how people can enjoy our music. In a funny way, it gives the music more of a chance to take on a life of its own.

5. What was your favorite part of the creative process in putting this EP together? Being able to get really into the process of how a song is made. We had a lot of say in the production of the songs, as well, which was exciting because it gave us the chance to look at the bones of each song and every little thing that fleshes it out to become the piece of music that you hear through your speakers when the recording’s done. When we play live, we’re thinking about the music much more intuitively – when we record, though, we’re looking at each piece of a song analytically. We’re not sure we’d say we like the recording process MORE than playing live, but it’s definitely a different – and interesting! – experience.


March to May: Darren Guyaz and Beth Wesche performing in concert
6. If you could give people one reason as to why they should purchase The Water's Edge, what would that reason be? If you believe the reviews (and you should!) – The Water’s Edge is just a beautiful album. Enough said. It’s great for listening to on a mellow evening, and we’ve heard from several fans that it’s great road trip music! Click here to purchase on Amazon and click here to purchase on iTunes!

7. You are currently on tour on the West Coast. What do you like most about performing live and meeting your fans? It’s really inspiring to be able to play for people and hear about the different experiences they are reminded of by our music. Ultimately, what we’re aiming for is to write songs that people can identify with and use as lenses for the way they see or interpret the world. Touring is a lot of fun because we can talk to people from so many different places and so many different backgrounds, and still see our music having an impact. Fundamentally, we both also really like meeting new people, and touring gives us the opportunity to do that as well as to explore different parts of the world.

8. What's the best advice you've ever received? Play a show to an audience of five people with the same love, passion, and professionalism as you would to a crowd of 500. They won’t forget it.

9. If you could have any super power, which one would you choose? That’s a tough one. Probably the ability to slow down time? There’s so much to do and see in the world! It’s a blessing and a curse.

10. If you could create your own signature drink, what would you call it, and what ingredients would you put in it? Haha, someone actually did that for us at one venue! Darren and I are both fans of the whiskey family – whiskey, bourbon, rye, scotch – so we’d definitely go in that direction for the base. We’d probably base it off of one of the best cocktails we’ve had here in our hometown of Seattle: bourbon for smoothness and strength, Angostura bitters, black tea for mellow complexity, apricot liqueur for brightness and depth, orange peel, and nutmeg. We’d call it "Embers," after the first song we wrote together.


March to May: Darren Guyaz and Beth Wesche
More on March to May:

When is the right time to take a chance? Who are the right people? What are the right conditions? March to May was born under unusual circumstances. Neither Darren nor Beth realized the musical potential they shared when they first met in December 2012. It took several chance encounters -- passing vocal harmonies on a trip to the coast with friends, tentative instrumental work one cold winter evening, comments here and there on lyrics and melody -- before the spark hit. But when it did, it didn't take long for them to catch fire. By March 2013 they had co-written their first two songs, by April they had a paid gig under their belts, and by May they had a name and shows booked out into the months ahead. Both halves of the duo are passionate about the music they write and play, and view March to May as a constant evolution; from pursuing collaborations with other artists (with styles ranging from classical to hip hop and electronica) and keeping an ear attuned to the myriad ways they can expand the range and expression of their own music, their primary interest is to keep the music fresh and personal. And, above all, to keep love - love for the music, love for each other, love for the world they live in - at their core.


Darren Guyaz
More on Darren Guyaz:

Darren roamed the northern Appalachians through his childhood, plinking & plunking the classical keys until he ventured West to his birth-state of Montana, settling in Missoula to finish a degree in Geography. One evening on an old, historic homestead in the hills north of town, he picked up a friend’s guitar and began strumming, teaching himself how to play a few chords, finger-picking his way through the frets, and forever changing his musical expression.

Soon after, he headed south on an open-ended ticket to South America, criss-crossing the Andes until finally resting for a month on a small goat farm in Patagonia. Here, on long rainy nights straight out of Márquez’s 100 Years of Solitude, he borrowed an old guitar from Matias, the owner of the little farm, and began writing songs in a small, dilapidated cabin over many glasses of cheap, Chilean red wine.

His vagabond days came to a close after falling in love with Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, where he now spends his days wandering the mountains, and his nights playing music with the newfound collaboration March to May.


Beth Wesche
More on Beth Wesche:

Beth spent her formative years wandering through the Andes and across a smattering of U.S. states. The daughter of a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, she stayed in each place just long enough to fall in love with it before moving on to the next adventure. Music wove its way through her life from an early age - she sang in choirs from elementary school to college, beginning classical voice training and starting to sing a cappella as she grew older. While living in Ashland, Oregon, she picked up the Celtic folk harp and found herself captivated by the sound. However, a few short years after beginning to play, she moved to the East Coast, leaving her harp silent in her family’s living room for five years and largely convincing herself that music would have to take a back seat in her life.

In December 2012, though, things changed: she moved back to the West Coast, settling a few short blocks from the little acoustic instrument store in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood where her harp was created many years before. Perhaps she should have taken it as a sign. Within a few short weeks, music surged back into the forefront of her life when she found another musician with whom she shared an unmistakable musical chemistry, and she began to question how she had ever left it behind to begin with. And thus, March to May was born. - Call Me Adam

Seattle based duo March To May has just released their first EP The Water’s Edge, a continental-sounding folk project that blends the sounds of Celtic harp, Spanish guitar, soft percussion, and haunting strings with the lilting harmonies of the voices of Darren Guyaz and Beth Wesche. The result is an understated but passionate journey through the halls of musical awakening, essence, and love. There is fresh storytelling to be found in the opening track “The Monk and the Lover,” a romantic, moody piece ripe with world music sounds. “Count the Days” is a cheerful duet where lovers think of each other in the course of a day. “Embers” is an aching ballad of lost love set to the drone of a moody cello and the soft, dripping tears characterized by Wesche’s harp.

The combination of Guyaz and Wesche collaborating not only musically, but as partners in life, can certainly be likened to kismet. Guyaz has lived in places such as the Appalachian mountains, Montana, the Andes Mountains, and Pacific Northwest, all places that surely influenced his musical styles. Meanwhile, Wesche, the daughter of a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, also had her fair share of travel and influence from other places, also including the Andes mountains. She studied the Celtic harp, which is prominent in their album. Their meeting and resulting musical collaboration has blossomed into a joint creative effort that elevates their blended talents to something new and fresh. So what makes this duo tick? It was my privilege to interview them recently for Folk Renaissance.

Q: What is the significance behind your duo’s name March to May?

A: Our name is significant to us for a lot of reasons. In addition, to loving the alliteration and the sense of forward motion, the months of March to May were also our formative period – we wrote our first song in March 2013, and committed to moving forward as a band in May 2013. They’re also our birthday months (Darren was born in March and Beth was born in May).

Q: Where/how did you meet, and what led to your decision to form a duo?

A: That’s a funny story, actually. We met here in Seattle, but not, at first, as musicians. We actually started out as Craigslist housemates! But after a chance moment on a trip with friends – Darren was playing his guitar and singing, and Beth started harmonizing – we realized we had something special. We started playing around with writing music shortly after, and decided to move forward as a duo not long after we wrote our first few songs. It was clear to both of us that we wanted to move in the same direction, and that we had something worth building upon.

Q: Do you co-write your songs, or do you write individually and then bring them together to rehearse? Do you rely more on one instrument over the other for the purpose of songwriting, or does the process vary?

A: We write all of our music together – it’s a very collaborative process. Occasionally one of us will bring a more fleshed-out song to the table for the other to refine, but usually it’s the two of us working through the entire process together. We tend to rely a little more heavily on the guitar when we’re writing together, but that’s not a strict rule. And then, often, it’s the harp that helps tie everything together.

Q: It seems like the underlying theme in most of your songs is love, whether romantic love, yearning for a lost love or separated by distance, or love for the world (Crazy Universe). What inspires this theme in your songs?

A: You got it right. Love is definitely an underlying theme in our songs. We have this idea that for anything real – anything worth holding onto – if you strip a feeling or an experience down to its bare bones, what you’re left with is love. That can have so many different characters and flavors, but ultimately, it’s the driving force that keeps us going. We can all relate to it, and it’s what we remember when our lives come to a close.

Q: It’s sometimes hard to classify music within genres. Based on the sound of your music and vocal style, I wouldmarch to may 2resized choose Folk as the best description, though lyric-wise, the songs do not fall into the category of traditional folk lyrics. Have you considered covering traditional folk tunes or writing music of a more traditional nature? Do you intend to continue in the folk genre or are you planning to branch out into other genres in future recording projects?

A: We’re pretty open-minded. We’ve definitely thought about covering some traditional songs. Beth’s definitely got a strong grounding in them, both vocally and on the harp, but we don’t expect very traditional music to become the core of our sound. We’re also excited about branching out and trying new things with our sound, whether that’s through collaborations with other artists, adding in different instrumentation, or simply exploring new styles. Both of us have actually expressed interest in bringing in some elements of down-tempo electronica at some point down the line. But we’re in no rush. The music will come when it comes, and we’re not inclined to force certain styles over others.

You can check out the video “Embers” by March To May. More info, including show dates, and be found at their website www.marchtomay.com. - Folk Renaissance

The powerful and emotional debut release, The Water’s Edge, by Seattle based duo March to May is an album that will resonate across a broad audience. Infusing the folk & singer-songwriter tradition with more traditional and classical elements, Darren Guyaz (guitar, vocals, keyboard) and Beth Wesche (Celtic harp, vocals) have created a musical chemistry that is undeniable!
I think there’s a certain sadness and sense of loneliness that’s invoked with the phrase “the water’s edge”, but it’s a lonely place no more. Together, Guyaz and Wesche have created an album where each song flows freely and wonderfully into the next. There is a strong sense of continuity, fluidity, and partnership through this album which makes it all fit together beautifully and showcases multiple facets that “The Water’s Edge” might represent. Even with its laid-back, smooth tempos and delicate melodies and harmonies, the emotion in every song is deep and creates tremendous dynamics between the pieces.

If the vocals of the intro track, “The Monk and the Lover,” don’t give you chills, the dark minors of the guitar and harp should create enough tension and release to convince you to keep listening! From the heavier, darker tones at the beginning of the album to the uplifting sounds of “Crazy Universe” to finish it out, The Water’s Edge is fantastic, and we can’t wait to hear more from March to May! In the meantime, check out the video below and grab your copy of this album today! - Music Connection Dayton