COYLE — Maria Francis and Jeff Overbo offer modern Americana with Silver Lake 66. Together, they’ll perform duets at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Coyle as part of the Concerts in the Woods series.
Their concert will take place at the Laurel B. Johnson Community Center, 923 Hazel Point Road.
Admission will be by donation for the Silver Lake 66 concert.
Complimentary cookies and coffee are served at intermission to guests.
“If you like the sound of classic country, this band is the real thing,” said Norm Johnson, organizer of the series. “Jeff’s twangy guitar and Maria’s pleading vocals bring the imagery in their lyrics to life.”
The couple began playing music together in the Midwest. Francis and Overbo met in Minneapolis and lingered there for a while.
Following several years of recording and performing locally, the duo decided that it was time for a change and they hit the road for southern California with their Ford van, their guitars and their dog, Bernie.
Through the 1990s, Francis and Overbo called Los Angeles their home. During that time, they fronted a band called The Ruby Trees.
Following some health issues, the pair moved to Portland, Ore. They found themselves adopted by a like-minded tribe of Portland musicians who helped them get back into the art of music-making all over again. It was then that Silver Lake 66 was born.
Together with those collaborators, they contributed to jam sessions and other performances at a honky-tonk at the edge of the city called The Barn. It was then that the duo really found their sound with their new-found duet project.
In August 2016, the duo released a new LP, “Let Go Or Be Dragged.” It features a collection of songs drawn from personal experiences of travel, love, loss and adversity. A group of local veteran musicians from the Portland Americana community round out the vocally driven, tremolo-laden sound.
The album has received airplay from over 55 stations throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe. The album hit No. 19 on the Roots Music Report’s album chart, and the song “San Francisco Angel” reached No. 18 on its singles chart.
The Laurel B. Johnson Community Center is a wood and glass structure with wonderful acoustics, Johnson said.
The center hosts two concerts per month all year round, featuring folk, Americana, singer/songwriter, Appalachian, bluegrass, Celtic, blues, country and other styles. The room has seating for more than 65 people.
For information, go to www.coyleconcerts.com.
