Patty Carpenter and Verandah Porche have been creating together in the trenches for over 50 years. In 2005, the year Katrina ravaged the Big Easy, they carved out time to write songs together. They created a waltz for New Orleans and the churning war in Iraq, and dreamt up a title, Alibi Lullaby. The lyrics folded in street names like Piety and Desire as well as Shakespeare, and they floated on the songs grim, lilting music. A few years later, they put out Come Over, an album of a dozen original tunes performed by The Dysfunctional Family Jazz Band. The group consists of Patty, her ex-partner, their daughter, her son, and friends. The songs of love, trouble, sudden death, and seasoned joy begin in water and end in wind, shot through with earth and fire. Since then, they have penned about fifty songs, one for each year of their friendship. They returned briefly to the studio to record Tweeting from the Tower, and Paper or Plastic, a song about money. They have played together for audiences who appreciate the interplay of image and music, and REALLY miss the dynamics of live performance. During the COVID isolation, they began composing over the telephone each day. First, tunes for the grandkids: hand washing, helping, imagining, and rebelling. Then, songs speaking to their condition, COVID Blues, Deep Death, Mercy Place, Miss You So, and more. The irony of aerosol (the song that can kill, and the longing to share) brings them to Patreon.
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