Joy Ike & Laura Tsaggaris

The final concert of 2009 was a warm, intimate gathering in the home of Bonnie Branch friends Shelley and Jeff, who generously offered their living room for this show. (Thanks you two!) We had a nice crowd, good food and of course, great music.

Hosts Jeff & Shelley, Joy Ike, Ryan & Carolyn, and Laura Tsaggaris

There was a definite Pennsylvania theme to this show, although not by design. Joy Ike lives in Pittsburgh, Laura Tsaggaris (suh-GAIR-is) grew up there, Shelley grew up there as well and is friends with one of Laura's sports coaches when she was a kid, and Shelley's sister, niece & niece's boyfriend were visiting from the Pittsburgh area. Add to that the fact that Carolyn grew up on the other side of Pennsylvania near Scranton, and the Keystone state was overly represented.

The music was excellent. Both Joy and Laura have wonderful voices and are great songwriters. The evening was on the mellow side, which suited folks quite nicely. Both Joy and Laura have big, full-band sounds on their records, but were able to translate that down to their solo sets with ease.

Thanks everyone for coming out to the show. And thanks again Shelley and Jeff for being the best co-hosts! —Ryan

Laura