SEQUIM — The lead singer of Abby Mae & the Homeschool Boys has an unmistakable confidence.
She’s coming back to the stage with the band that traveled around the Pacific Northwest to festivals and gigs, released three records and then, nine years ago, broke up.
Vocalist Abby Sill, guitarist-banjo player David Rivers, bassist Hayden Pomeroy and fiddler Joey Gish all had other projects to pursue, but they never forgot the songs that had their audiences cheering: “I’ll Fly Away,” “Cluck Old Hen,” “Caleb Meyer,” “Sweetest Boy,” “Little White Church,” “Shady Grove,” “Come on in My Kitchen.”
This Friday at 6:30 p.m., Abby Mae & the Homeschool Boys will give a concert outdoors at the Jardin du Soleil Lavender Farm, 3932 Sequim-Dungeness Way, with admission by donation.
Part of the farm’s Jungible Presents series — jungible is a 17th century word for the ability to join together — the show is open to all ages.
Camp chairs and picnic blankets, complete with picnic dinners, are strongly encouraged. The farm will have beer, wine and cider available for purchase.
“This has been a long time coming,” Sill said.
She’d wanted to put together a reunion concert back before the onset of the pandemic. It had to wait for the availability of vaccines and the right outdoor venue, she said, adding Jardin du Soleil’s stage setup suits the band fine.
“We’re still the same people, but we’re all better musicians now,” said Sill, who was just 23 when the group had its final Port Angeles show at Olympic Cellars in July 2012.
“We’re a folk band that leans into bluegrass,” the singer said.
“We’re committed to telling the story of the songs; we’ll take you on a journey.”
The band will bring some CDs to Friday’s concert, and it has its music on Spotify, Rivers added.
He foresees playing more gigs now and again — locally.
“I feel like we’re a small-town band,” Rivers said. “We got so much support from our local community. We could never have been who we were without that.”
After the long period without live music, Abby Mae & the Homeschool Boys have an intensified gratitude for it, Sill added.
“We were kids,” back when the band got together, she said, and there were some learning experiences.
“I have a voice, which is a melody instrument, and [Gish’s] fiddle is a melody instrument, so that could get kind of annoying,” until you develop the skill of sharing.
Today, with marriages and professions in addition to their music, “we know who we are,” Sill said.
“We’re better friends now than we had been,” she added, “because we appreciate each other.”
The question Sill asked herself before booking this gig: “What can I do to bring some joy?”
She’s noticed people are more receptive to live music than they were pre-pandemic shutdown.
So “this is what we came up with,” a concert of the old songs they love.
The singer said she feels no stage fright, not at all.
“I’m just excited to come back,” she said. “I’m glad to bring it.”
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Jefferson County senior reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3509 or durbanidelapaz@peninsuladailynews.com.
