![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/seth_and_sara.jpg\")
<\/p>\nSeth and Sara Brand didn\u2019t start out as a musical duo. Before they got together, both lived lives far more conventional than the path upon which they\u2019ve since embarked. But their current approach to life \u2013 perhaps best described as semi-nomadic \u2013 lends itself to the couple\u2019s creative pursuits.<\/p>\n
Seth Brand had been playing music as a solo performer in and around St. Louis, Missouri for several years before he met his future wife and collaborator. He says that he had only begun to take his music truly seriously in the year or so before they got together.<\/p>\n
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Sara was the manager of a coffee shop, and Seth was working as an audio engineer. They met when he stopped in for a cup of coffee. Before long, the couple fell in love, and by the time they married, Sara had long since gone all-in on supporting Seth\u2019s music. \u201cI wanted to book shows for him,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd we made a deal that if I could book him a tour, we would move closer to my family in North Carolina.\u201d But they wouldn\u2019t exactly settle down: their dreams included getting a van and hitting the road.<\/p>\n
The idea of leaving a fairly comfortable life behind was an exciting prospect, but it was risky and more than a little intimidating. \u201cI was living in a really nice loft in downtown St. Louis, right across from the Fox Theatre,\u201d Seth says. He and Sara had accumulated two young lifetimes\u2019 worth of \u201cstuff,\u201d and their plans of traveling light meant shedding most of their possessions. \u201cIt was really scary to watch it go,\u201d Seth admits. \u201cBut when you’re chasing a dream, it’s also kind of exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sara applied her business sense to the task and quickly lined up a packed month-long schedule of performance dates in the Carolinas. \u201cIt only took her two weeks to do it!\u201d marvels Seth. They put in notices at their jobs and left St. Louis in September 2018. And Sara has continued her successful performance booking efforts nonstop ever since.<\/p>\n
But once that first tour began, it was Seth who became the busy half of the couple. \u201cAnd I didn\u2019t want to just sit there,\u201d Sara says with a laugh. \u201cSo I asked Seth to teach me something.\u201d He taught her how to play a drum kit. \u201cIt took a second to figure it out,\u201d Sara admits, laughing again. She confesses that she doesn\u2019t like to practice, but with a fully booked performance calendar, it\u2019s not really necessary; she quickly developed the chops needed to provide that steady percussion to accompany Seth\u2019s guitar.<\/p>\n
The set list changed over time, too. In the beginning, Seth was a solo performer singing and playing the songs he had written. But today he\u2019s one-half of Seth and Sara, a guitar-and-drums singing duo. \u201cNow Sara writes most of the lyrics,\u201d he says, while he focuses more on the music side of composition. \u201cThat transition took about a year and a half,\u201d Seth says.<\/p>\n
Sara\u2019s sweet voice find expression on \u201cCowboy Lullaby,\u201d the opening track on the couple\u2019s self-titled EP. \u201cWhere the Moonshine Lives\u201d is a windswept country rocker featuring Seth\u2019s lead vocal and a tasty full band arrangement. A lovely vocal duet, a cover of the John Prine\/Iris Dement classic \u201cIn Spite of Ourselves\u201d is another standout track on the five-song set released in August.<\/p>\n
When the worst of the pandemic brought with it a near complete total cessation of live music, the couple hit the pause button on their never-ending tour. \u201cWe were down for two or three months,\u201d Sara says. \u201cThat took away a tour we had planned out West. But by July [2020] we were up and running again.\u201d Seth feels that he and Sara got lucky in avoiding the virus in part \u201cbecause we move around so much.\u201d<\/p>\n
These days, Seth and Sara spend half of the year on the road, touring from show to show in their van. The rest of the time they\u2019re based in Asheville, and they\u2019re currently in the process of buying their first home.<\/p>\n
Asked about the secret to their success at living as half-time nomads, Seth Brand provides a simple, practical answer. \u201cWe keep our bills very low,\u201d he says. But going mobile comes with its own set of financial challenges. \u201cWe\u2019ve been through four vans since we started!\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe spend literally 24\/7 together,\u201d Seth says. \u201cAnd half of that time is in a van. So having that perfect match \u2013 and having a lot of patience and understanding \u2013 is critical.\u201d Both agree that \u201cneither one of us would be able to do this with anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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