Our Story...
Long, long ago, in the year 2000 AD, a down and out, near to starving, singer/songwriter, you guessed it, Art Perry, experienced the utter joy of a bonafide country-song-come-to-life-day...
His wife left, his car broke down, his tropical fish died, and he was plumb out of cash. That night, in a dusty corner of his dark, dismal kitchen, he stumbled across a battered, mail-ordered, acoustic guitar that his now former mother-in-law had purchased for his stepson. The "E" string was missing, but he just couldn't resist it. He picked it up, tuned it as best he could without an "E" string, strummed a few chords. Poor Art, realized quickly that he was doomed to return to his pre-marital bliss days as a "sing-for-your-supper" musician.
In due time he met someone special, who helped him get out of his old country song funk. Enter, Nancy. He loved her voice, and she had some great musical ideas, but most importantly, she tolerated him. They fell in love, and, as Nancy tells it, they started making beautiful music together. They've worked together as "The Katz Pajamas", "At Perry At Large", "The Essentials", "The Dubya Tees", and "The Bare Essentials". (They eventually got married and adopted three personality-disordered cats, but that's another story.)
Meanwhile, Kevin joined the group by way of professional referral: Art was looking for a place to do some recording, when a friend recommended this guy in Philly named Kevin Joella. Kevin had a really cool track record, and didn’t seem to mind Art's smoking in the studio, as long as he kept it out of the control room, so they got along just fine. As Art and Nancy later learned, Kevin played a mean guitar, and dug their style of music. Thus, "The Essentials" went from a duo to a band, then became a trio, and now work both ways.
The Essentials/Bare Essentials boast three full CDs of original music, and a big hit single, titled "A Jerry Springer Christmas", which was picked up by Rumblefish, Inc. You can check it out on youtube, along with several other Essential's singles. Essential CDs are available at cdbaby and itunes on the CDs page.
BTW: Kevin still records at Fresh Tracks Studio, in Phila., Pa. 215-635-5500, if you've a need for services.
