This past 4th of July, was our 3-year anniversary of our very first show. I’ve been musing over all that we’ve accomplished and experienced in this time, and decided to share this with all of you amazing supporters.
In The Beginning
For those who don’t know, let me tell you the story of how Jimmy Minute and I met.
Back in May of 2021, I went to an open mic night at Thames Waterside Bar & Grill hoping to meet a guitarist to start up an acoustic duo.
I had no idea what I was doing.
My musical background was as a classically-trained violist and pianist. Other than karaoke and a couple of musicals, I wasn’t a singer. However, in my musical travels, I had known vocalists and picked up a few tips and tricks along the way.
I had never been to an open mic before. This was a very different part of the music world compared to what I was familiar with. I was a fish out of water trying to pretend I belonged in that world. I was insecure, but determined.
A dear friend of mine, Todd Casilli, and my biggest supporter, played guitar while I sang. I think we played Come to My Window, Landslide, and What’s Up. Right after Landslide, Todd announced that I was looking for a guitarist.
How Did It Go?
It went really well. People loved it and were clapping. Whew!
Afterwards, I sat at our table trying to look calm with a big, awkward smile plastered on my face. (It took until I drove home that night for my cheeks to stop hurting from that smile.) This guy walked over and asked us, “Were you serious about her looking for a guitarist?” He introduced himself as Jimmy Minute.
It was a bit surreal. Todd was kindly acting like my manager. He just naturally has a way with people like that. Jimmy was chatting him up for who knows how long, and I was sitting there with that goofy smile on my face, overwhelmed and struggling to hear the conversation over the music.
There were a lot of cool and talented people there that night. But, before we left, Todd said, “Jimmy Minute. That’s your guy.”
Two weeks later, we had our first rehearsal.
Three weeks after that, we had our first show. That’s worth a write up all of its own, so I’ll save that story for later.
![](https://catnjimmy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/May-2023-Canned-Heat-goofy.jpg)
Goofing around post-show at Canned Heat Craft Beer in Fall River, MA.
Three Years Later
Since that first show, we’ve played almost every weekend since. Our only weekends off have either been for illness or planned vacations. Most weekends have been fully booked for 2 or more shows each. It’s been a great mix of local hotspots, private venues and private parties.
I decided to do a bit of digging, and came up with these stats.
- Total Shows: 241 (about 80 shows per year)
- Total Venues: 32
- Total Cities/Towns: 17
- Total States: 3 (MA, RI, CT)
- Song Catalogue: 150 songs (3x what we started with)
- Original Songs (8 completed, 2 in progress, new releases to come)
Not too shabby for three years time.
Our Cover Songs
Cover songs are like the music version of comfort food. Over these years, we’ve tripled our cover song catalog. We’ve got music from the 1960s through today’s hits in multiple genres. Mostly rock, some pop, some ballads, and a bit of country.
There’s a little something for everyone. One of the things we hear consistently after shows are compliments about our music selection. It’s so cool to look out into the audience and see the recognition of an old favorite on their faces.
Here’s one of our favorite cover songs to play. The Cranberry’s, Zombie.
Our Originals
We also have written a bunch of original songs. We only play a few at any given show. Again, people love hearing their favorite songs. But, our originals have been really well-received, starting off with our first release, Loved You a Little More.
To date, we’ve performed Loved You a Little More, Take a Chance, Last Night, Back to Better, and Special live at shows, with several more ready to go. We’ve recorded and released Loved You a Little More, with Take a Chance, Special, and a few covers in the editing phase.
Here are a couple of videos of our originals songs from our YouTube channel. If you would, please show them some love by giving them a like and a comment. It helps our videos show up in YouTube’s suggested videos, and helps get our music heard by more people.
Our Gratitude
Being able is play out nearly every weekend is a two way street. Maybe a three-way intersection? Who knows. But, what we do know is that we couldn’t do this without the support of both fans and venues.
We are extremely fortunate to have been welcomed and rebooked by many of the best live music venues in our local area. We see how hard you all work to build a reputation of having great live music, and we’re grateful to be a part of that.
Of course, we wouldn’t get those bookings if we didn’t have the support of our fans coming out for us. We work hard and do our best to bring it each and every show because of you all. There’s a special relationship between performers and an audience. This is even more true when we’re playing in your favorite hometown hotspots where we get to interact directly. We appreciate you all more than you know.
How You Can Help Support Our Music
And here we are, three years later, expanding our cover song catalog, looking forward to getting back into the studio, recording more originals, and looking into the future.
If you’d like to support us and our music, please consider:
- Following/Subscribing to our social media and streaming accounts
- Liking, commenting, and sharing our social media posts
- Signing up for our newsletter
- Coming to our shows (listed on our Events page)
- Bringing some friends to our shows
- Buying some of our merch (available at shows)
- Donating on our Support Our Music page
We could not have accomplished what we have already accomplished without all of you. You who come to our shows, share our social media, and encourage us every day. Your support means more to us than you know.