By Mark:

In the fall of 2006 Colette Eckert and I started playing together after a little of her nudzhing. I had recently quit a year-long stint with the classic rock outfit Kodiak; it had become a grind and I had no native desire to get back into performing yet. Colette had always sung and played guitar privately, and was looking for a lever into taking her ability public.

We more or less clicked, that is our musical loves overlapped enough to make things exciting. My thing has always been rock: The adroit song structure, the long-form instrumental solo, the larger-than-life sound of sonic doors opening. Colette can speak for herself, but I'd say she's all about vocal communication, empathy and directness. We fill in each other's gaps. 

And both of us came into it with full-time careers which we love -- she's a tennis trainer and school teacher, I'm an illustrator and painter. Neither of us is looking to do music full-time. Still, with time and drive divided, we've lived some interesting songs.

Playing coffee shops...

parties...

music festivals...

charities...

bars...

and the privacy of our own recording sessions, both professional and homespun.

Within the year 2010 we were privileged and Chesire-cat pleased to increase in number. We added the multi-talented Maria Wilson as our percussionist, playing a unique melange of instruments including Djembe, conga, baby snare, and a Porchboard bass. Maria fit right in with out sound, urging it forward and pumping it with impact, but not essentially changing the volume at which we play, which occupies that happy medium between "acoustic" and "rock band."

In late 2010, our first gig as a trio, we were rewarded by a venue-packing turnout and wonderful enthusiasm. We were also pleased and amazed to feature as guest vocalist our long-time friend Kristin Kest, re-discovering her native musicality. We unanimously decided to add Kristin as regular vocalist and keyboardist, bringing our harmonies up to three-part, with shiny soprano chrome on top.

So long, Maria...

For most of 2011 we were a quartet, but in early 2012 Maria's other responsibilities grew too numerous for her to continue with us. Determined to go forward as a veratile trio using the odd hand drum and tamborine, we were lucky enough in April to be contacted by Mike McAndrews, a drummer friend of mine with whom I had spent about a year in the band Kodiak. He was fortuitously looking to get back into a band situation, and so we all gave each other a try -- and boy are we glad we did! Mike is a drum teacher and professional veteran of the kit, and his chemistry with us has been a pleasant shock to all who've heard it. So now we are four, hopefully for a good long while.