JACKSON, Wyo. — When the regional lockdown was in place, many local musicians used the extra downtime to woodshed on a new instrument or begin a recording project. In the case of Kia Mosenthal and Jack Tolan, the opportunity to be hunkered down together opened the door to a new level of collaboration. The folksy-Americana duo is inspired by the closely blended vocal harmonies of Mandolin Orange, Elephant Revival, and I’m with Her. They’ll play a two-night run this weekend for the Silver Dollar Showroom’s Sit Down Get Down series.
Many will recognize Tolan as vocalist-guitarist-songwriter in groove-funk band Sneaky Pete & the Secret Weapons, though he also plays mandolin and sings with Colorado-based stringband trio Birds of Play. He’ll be bringing both guitar and mandolin for the weekend sets.
Mosenthal grew up in New Hampshire surrounded by music and dabbled in high school musical theater. She began playing guitar about two and a half years ago and recently stepped-up her game.
“I feel like I crossed the threshold into intermediate guitar this spring and that’s been fun to dig into with Jack,” Mosenthal said. “I’ve always loved to sing but pairing that with guitar has been a whole new adventure, especially figuring out the harmonies and how we can amplify each other’s voices.”
The new duo’s repertoire will be cover-heavy alongside some of Tolan’s older original material and a dash of newer material that the duo has been working on lately. Approaching lush, ensemble folk music like Gregory Alan Isakov has forced them to simplify the arrangements to suit two instruments and two voices.
“A lot of the songs [we’ve been learning], you listen to them and think they are pretty simplistic and then you start digging into those harmonies and subtle things, stylistically, and then realize how much complexity there is,” explained Mosenthal. “That’s been challenging us as a duo and pushing me personally, but I love it.”
“I’ve been wanting to sing this style of music for a long time because I’ve been listening to it for so long, but I’ve never had a partner and musical compadre and take these on to do them justice,” Tolan said. “That feeling of linking up with someone in a harmony, building a vocal chord with someone else is something else. I’m drawn to that because it’s so hard to do and there’s so much to it that’s not a technical aspect of music. These dude bands, it doesn’t have the same presentation and sensitivity. In some ways it’s new territory for both of us.”
“It’s all a relatively new experience for me, including performing and I think this is the most official gig we’ve had together,” Mosenthal added. “It’s a little nerve-racking but I also feel like if there’s ever a time that people are forgiving and just wanting to hear live music, it’s now.”
“Kia’s naturally a really good singer, which didn’t come naturally for me and is something I’ve worked hard at,” Tolan shared. “She can hear out the harmony and remember it—things that are hard, musically, that she has the feel for.”
Jack Tolan and Kia Mosenthal, 7 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Silver Dollar Showroom. Free.
