Love is... taking the Scenic Route!

Us in a nutshell...

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We thought it was about time we informally introduced ourselves. To those who know us, dont really know us and maybe want to find out a bit more about us and generally talk a bit more about what we do, who we are and whats been going on...

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A few common questions we often get asked are "how did we meet?", "how long have we been playing for?" and "how did we come up with the band name?"....ohhh also, "are you guys a couple?". I mean sometimes it's obvious as we unintentionally channel that Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks on stage chemistry where we argue and bicker in a way only couples do. All in lighthearted humour of course. Although its mainly when I get in the way during the setting up/packing down process. Steve has a special way of folding his leads that I just cannot master. Also I put my bag in his way (unintentionally of course) which often causes a bit of an issue... but thats a debate I'll revisit another day.

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Today actually marks the fifth anniversary of our very first gig we performed together. If there is an anniversary for such thing which there should be. All occasions and memories that hold value to you definitely deserve to be celebrated and with that in mind, I thought it would be an interesting exercise to look back and recognise those stepping stones that are also helping us to move forward. It all really began with a conversation with a mutual friend and a beautiful soul, lets just call her cupid. I had just left the band I was in at the time and mentioned I wanted to meet a guitar player to jam with. To which she reccomends a certain blues player called Steve "My friend plays guitar", "yeah he's really good!" and thats about as much as i knew about him, and that he was in a band called 'Tunk'. I got in touch and went over to his house about a week later to have a jam and we played some Fleetwood Mac and Steve's guitar playing blew me away I have to say. His artistic flare is so melodic and soulful you can just listen to it for hours. As most musicians do, we began playing gigs and open mics to very few people for no money to slowly build a following and make connections and it really taught us a lot about the industry and ourselves as musicians.

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Our love of music and the Cornish coast has inspired us, healed us and brought us together. Alot of people take interest in our band name 'Scenic Route' and how we came up with it and if it means anything particular and I guess the name in lots of ways is a reflection of us, who we are as a duo and as idividuals. Our music very much has a laid back approach and the kind of music you would imagine listening to on a scenic car journey on a sunny day. Easy listening for use of a better word. This obviously played a big part in the name selection, although we tried and tested a few names before we came to Scenic Route. We even played around with our own names to come up with 'Steenna" trying to come up with 'something cool' which I think you'll agree is definitely not. I think all bands can associate with the struggle of carefully selecting a band name that reflects the music and will stick in peoples minds and sound kind of cool but not too cool and have some kind of meaning but not cheesy... it's a minefield! We had a list of potential names written down that we kept going back to and Scenic Route was on there and it was one of those things where you're ok with it but you think you can still do better so you just don't do anything and no one was coming up with any better ideas. We then played a gig in Penzance and got chatting to a guy at the end of the night. He explained that he really enjoyed our music as it brought back alot of memories for him and it's like that little surprise you find when you go off the beaten track or you take the scenic route to somwhere and find a hidden gem along the way. So thank you Martin, wherever you are for being the biggest inspiration to the Scenic Route brand.   

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We had already started working on new songs and writing new material and thought it would be great to organise weekly or two weekly songwriting sessions down the beach or just take a drive along the coast and let the inspiration flow. Theres only so much inspiration one can find inside four walls. It kept things interesting and we were really good friends at that time (not yet a couple) so at the same time it was nice just to hang out and sing some songs. We released our first EP a couple of years ago which featured songs that I had written previously, before I met Steve and we worked on it collectively so that we could bring it all together as an EP. We wrote our first song together that same summer and it was inspired by our visits around the Cornish coast. It was a particularly challenging couple of years for both of us as we were working three jobs to save for our house and living in a single room for 18 months which we both found extremely hard and suffocating and the beach was our little sanctuary. Writing 'The Beauty' kept us going through that and gave us something to focus on and remind ourselves that there is a goal at the end and the beauty of the journey is that we will have a bigger appreciation for the end goal when it comes. As well as the beautiful countryside of course!

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Our love of music and songwriting brought us together, we share the same passions and now I'm writing this blog it all makes sense but it was a gradual process and not something that happened overnight and not something we recognised instantly. The jouney part is always the best bit and learning new skills all the time and new ways of overcoming hard situations is all part of the process I guess. Right now were all moved in to our house, writing and recording our first album which is exciting and getting married next year. So brides, I feel your pain and frustration in the whole wedding organising thing, I really do!... just play 'The Beauty' a couple of times to ease the stress, it will all be perfect on the day. And just to say to all you lovely people as I bring this to a close that we continue to be overwhelmed by the support of everyone who listens and enjoys our music and comes out to watch us play. It's why we do this <3

x J & Sx