We are Piano Pop for the Lyrically Inclined.

We are a broadway musical starring Ben Folds Five, Tori Amos, Elton John, Ella Fitzgerald, Jamie Cullum and Regina Spektor. We are Fleetwood Mac with a Jazzy Piano. We also play cover tunes for various events.

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Grace here- I went to the Blake’s Open Mic last night on Telegraph. Many don’t realize that the open mic as we know it will be gone forever in a matter of weeks. Our multi-instrumentalist Joe now hosts the open mic, co-managed by our dear friend Jacob Wolkenhauer. It is one of the few East Bay open mics that fosters gutsy, original songwriting. It has the all-important rule of no disclaimers. It’s 18 and up, which is impressive for an open mic with a PA. Steve Laciak jumped on stage to accompany a newcomer last night. He does that all the time- he will accompany us at Anna’s on August 1st along with Winston Moody, Ian Hisert and Vanessa Van Spall. Anyway, FM Recorders helped to keep the Blake’s open mic alive and now management see other things happening. The open mic will be moved to upstairs, which will be very different. I have yet to really feel out what that will be like. It makes me greatful that WCS has the Freight and Salvage, a commanding space that demands one’s attention. Blake’s however, shines in that one must earn the audience’s attention. One will certainly be loud enough, but one has to catch people’s eyes over the bar crowd and the pinball machines. I will miss the way it was. And I thank Joe and Jacob for keeping it going in whatever form it takes. It reminds me of when I had to let go the open mic I started at Coffee to the People in SF. I remember that I couldn’t keep from crying. Many had never performed in their lives until they played there. Anyway, see you in Orinda on Friday!

Special thanks to Mark, Vincent and Jim for bringing friends to our Sacramento show at the Sacramento Town and Country Brewery on Saturday. Thanks to Vince for the Delta Kings suggestion and Mark for the Old Sacto suggestions. An Jim, good luck at your next gig- I’ll see you at the Freight! Margie and Devon had a good time and I will post pictures of the event shortly. I think the highlight was Whitney teaching the young Devon how to play drums and Joe and I jamming with him for a while. There are few things more attractive than men being good with kids. Joe and I played up on the stage and actually looked down at Whit playing in front of us- no wonder we had such good timing! I had a small birthday gathering with my family and the band last night and I am very grateful. I also feel lucky for our mentions in the Lamorinda Sun and the Orinda News. We appreciate the local support. We are excited to play the Orinda Fourth of July Parade. Go Stingrays!!!!!

Last night I was lucky enough to hang out at the Jupiter Brewery and introduce some old friends to some new friends. My spunky UCLA mates drove down from Davis and my Berkeley and high school friends got a chance to really meet each other. Earlier in the week, Kristin Bender of the Oakland Tribune and Brian Ball of womensradio.com judged the song competition and gave some great feedback to all involved. I’ve spent most of the week strategizing how to construct a giant teacup for a music video we’ve got brewing, and I must say many of you have come up with some great ideas involving foam, papisan chairs, papier mache and even plywood. I’ve focused on it so much that it must be done. I should also mention that Whit took me out to Venezia for dinner on Thursday and I think long slow dinners are one of the benefits of getting older. I find myself asking every day, why am I walking so fast? I’m not ready to slow my pace, but at least I see that I’m running. Thanks so much to to my friends who left voicemails, e-mails and facebook messages. It really gave me no excuse to pout. Unlike some of my contemporaries, I love that I am older; I m proud to be 26 and I like the creases in my forehead. I think the stories on our faces are sexy and I can’t wait to hear yours. Tonight the band drives to Sacto to for a long overdue show. Hope to see you soon. Thanks for reading this. I’ll post some b-day pics and Sacto pics soon.

There’s nothing like the Vacaville Wine Stroll this past weekend to get a person ready for summer festivals. There were wine booths and friendly people who listened and read the lyrics as they tapped their feet (we still hand out lyrics for people to sing along to). We also had a recording session for 3 new songs that few have heard. And we will play them at Ranchella! We express our deepest thanks to the Last Ambassadors for inviting us and our friends to this fantastic event. They are a great group of guys and they put on a fantastic show. See our gigs page for more info!

Grace writing this one- thanks for reading these posts. I’m happy to share my life experiences with you! I just cut my hair because I’ve been wearing a ponytail for the last 10 years and it’s about time I had some fun (that didn’t necesitate an hour of blowdrying or frying my scalp). Joe got a haircut too, right next to me, which was fun, so let him know how rad he looks next time you see him.

My birthday is June 26th and I will be at Jupiter Brewery on Friday the 27th for anyone who would like to stop by and say hi. It’s a no-cover night to come hang out with me when there’s no show and I can just relax and talk to you. I can’t imagine a better birthday and I hope I can make you a B-Day card to make your B-Day more fun when it comes around. Whitney is eagerly awaiting the gift he ordered for me in the mail.

Last night I had my orientation at Berkeley Comunity Media where I learned that Berkeley originated the “Kill Your Television” bumperstickers. BCM’s motto is “Don’t Kill TV, BE TV”. I have to agree with them. If you want to deny corporate oligopoly, grow and buy locally. So we have to grow our own cultural communication here in Berkeley and then support it. This is why I want to make cable access shows and music videos there. Can you believe they have tons of music shows pumped in from LA local access because they don’t have enough local content? Let me know if you would like to help me change that.

This weekend the band plays the Vacaville Wine Stroll and we’ll take pics so you can see my short hair (so you can recognize me next time I message you on facebook). I’m checking out my friend Brian Enright’s furniture show Saturday. We also record 3 new songs in the studio on Sunday. And yes, we are using the student-run, local Ex’Pressions Center for this album as well and we are happy to pay their graduates to mix the results! I am very grateful to those who have supported us and I can’t wait to show you something new and exciting. Please let me know if there is any way I can come support you this summer!

Good morning friends, Grace is writing this one. Last night we played the Bistro and I was touched to meet people who had read our e-mails and decided to come. Many of you brought friends and family and I am truly grateful to have played for such an enthusiastic group. Special thanks to Claire and family (Kiery right?), Greg, Peter, Fawad, Leena, Ed, Bobby, Vic, Dave, Tom, Anna behind the bar, Dolly and the other Tom! I think there’s a lot of love in the band right now. After finding out everyone’s pet peeves we have settled in to happy adjustments, some of which are the following: let Whit watch sports and let Joe write the set list! I am very lucky to work so hard with my best friends. There are pics from the show in the Photos section, and I saw some flashes out there, so please e-mail me so I can add them to the album.

On the way to the show the band had a a deep discussion about the comparison between foot-binding and boob jobs in which I told them not to read the wiki article because it would just make you want to cry. Whit more accurately commented that boob jobs are more like corsets, which makes sense since the participants are seemingly old enough to want to alter their bodies. That was random, but the fine line between beauty and invasive society-pressured change has been on my mind because I just wrote a song about it and can’t wait to show you.

I also finished the latest video on the making of our next album, so check it out in the Video section. I also just found out that it is nearly impossible to rent a tiger in California, which derails one of my music video plans. This gets more fun and eccentric every day. Thanks for joining us! This weekend Whit and I will stay in Occidental and I may go bridal-dress shopping with cousins (we are going to sneak in cameras so that Whit’s mom can make a dress in the design that suits me best). I’m also cutting my hair really short tomorrow. And oh! I got into business school which I plan to take for one year to educate me before the band launches a grand-scale tour! And yes, I called this post “The Believer” because it is song we debuted with the full band last night, and of course it has a tiger in it, and I can’t wait to tighten it up. Thanks very much for reading this. How’s your weekend looking? -Grace

Grace writing this one: I managed the WCS competition last night with Abram of indigtalkids.org and Randy and Seb of Musync Music Licensing. These guys knew what they were doing. It’s always nice to not have to explain how to judge “Best Performance”. It was fun meeting Jillian Grandfield, Rick and Valerie and Jason Gouveia. I played the new song “The Believer” for the first time ever and got great feedback. I competely disagree with one thing someone said and completely agree with something someone else said. It feels good to have confidence and humility in the right balance (remind me of that later when I do something totally arrogant). I have completed Episode 2 of Making the 3rd CD for the song “Go Where You Were Meant To” and can’t wait for Jacob to teach me how to do some cross-fades for finishing touches. I drove the kegs for the Cold War Olympics Team at Bay to Breakers on Sunday. It was way more fun than I thought it would be. The keg exchanges went smoothly and 9 kegs later, Whit and I were able to walk to the finish line and dance next to the smoking rocket our team had so expertly crafted and brought along with them on the race. People were really appreciative and I can’t believe it was so successful. Jules and Kristin found us somehow and we went back to North Beach for pizza. Meanwhile we await a Mackie speaker in the mail for upcoming performaces and Joe and I are chillin Thursday night to work out even more new songs. Thanks for reading and touching base with us! -Grace By the way, here’s a link to a photo of the B2B Missile.

The good doctor, Joseph P. Funkmore, writing this one… before everything else, Happy Birthday, Mom!!

Onward… when turning your passion into a means of sustaining yourself – whether that passion is chemistry, music or both of them simultaneously – it’s easy to get completely lost in the details and the endless to-do list and forget why you’re actually doing it (Grace, back me up on this). Last weekend, I got two really good reminders…

On Thursday, I went to Yoshi’s in Oakland for the second time (first time was courtesy of this band’s lovely namesake) and saw Poncho Sanchez with my labmates. I was moved by music I had no familiarity with, wondering what might be coming around the next musical bend, getting lost in the latin rhythms and letting an outstanding flautist (Roger Glenn) get me honestly excited about the instrument for the first time in awhile. When I got home, despite the late hour (12:30am), my level of inebriation (sake good!), I put on “Stand Up” by Jethro Tull and played flute for at least an hour. Luckily, my upstairs neighbors must have been having an end-of-semester party and not cared… or at least were sound enough sleepers not to wake up, come downstairs, and rap on my door.

On Saturday, it was a trip to the Hemlock Tavern to see Cryptacize, featuring my favorite local songwriter, Nedelle Torrisi. I found Nedelle on Pandora.com over two years ago, have been addicted to her music ever since, got to meet her and her band a few months back, and I’m even covering one of her songs now (she’s given me her personal blessing, so it’s cool). I delighted in sitting in the club, hearing a few of my personal favorite songs, singing along, in some cases with non-existent harmonies that have arisen in my head after repeated listenings. Despite the ordeal that was the trip home from SF, I got home again inspired, this time pulling out the guitar at 2am and playing and singing in falsetto as quietly as I could, making up new stuff on the spot. Two hours later, I was in bed with sore fingers and knees, but with “Dig That Treasure” rocking me to sleep in my headphones and an irremovable smile on my face.

After the weekend, it dawned on me that I experienced the gamut of things that seeing the Trio can produce… the new people in the crowd – sometimes randomly in the joint, sometimes brought by friends, sometimes there to see one of the other bands – that hear us for the first time and latch onto something they had no idea they’d find that night… and our good friends, singing along to every song and waiting impatiently for us to play the one that’s been in their heads for the last week… and everything in between! I do this, among many other reasons, because I get to generate the kinds of feelings I had this weekend in other people. If feeling it is great, then knowing I had a hand in making someone else feel that is even better for me. Can’t wait to do it again…

Special thanks to Etai, my brother Jim, Laila, Dennis, Chelsea, Dave, Wes, JP, Sean, Alex, Jake, Karina, Kristen, Jimmy, Gwen, Megan, Ellen, Sierra, Elizabeth, Amelia, Tim, Kevin, Toby, Hazel, Lauren, Jacob, Robyn Harris and Chris Trapper for making the night successful. I know I forgot some people, so if I did, please know that we play so much better when you come out and we really appreciate the time you shared with us. I will post pictures from last night in our Photos section when I get home from work (I have the camera here, but left the card reader at home). It was a night of solid song writers. Robyn was self-deprecating about her hand in the night, when really, she had put together a great bill and all the seats were filled. Granted the door man, Rob, was totally drunk from 6:30pm on, but thanks to my brother Jim for picking up the slack at the door. There was also one fellow who had to be removed from the club to keep him from yelling at the stage, but perhaps this is the price of an intimate bar. The performers talked with the audience, who easily spoke back. So intimate it was that Chris Trapper, the touring headliner, left the stage to sit next to Dave in the audience and sing him a birthday song. We played one of our newer tunes “Slow Down” and I was happy Ellen and Megan recognized it. Robyn had some new tunes as well, accompanied by the pitch perfect starlets Elizabeth and Amelia. It was our first time playing there and I must say that until 9pm, I was very doubtful about the space, but then it filled and we got all the benefits of an intimate cafe, except add in alcohol and a sound guy other than myself. I am lucky for the new friends I met. Each person who came was extremely supportive of the artists, regardless of who they came for and I suspect that it is these people who hold up the SF music scene and keep it alive. The people I met last night are those who realize all the acts are striving together toward the same awareness and the same good feeling. For their vibrance and understanding our band is truly grateful. Please let us know how we can come support you in the future. -Grace