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Arts & Music

Gimme Five! Mark Weems and Julee Glaub of Little Windows

Mark Weems and Julee Glaub pair their instrumental knack and vocal harmony with the traditions that own their hearts to create the sound of Little Windows.

Mark Weems and Julee Glaub pair their instrumental knack and vocal harmony with the traditions that own their hearts to create the sound of Little Windows.  With compositions that range from Appalachian to Celtic to Gospel to Country to Folk, this duet translates traditional fare for a modern audience.

Whatever the tune, the couple performs with passion and it’s that ardor that’s garnered them attention from listeners and media (namely, the NPR circuit’s Thistle & Shamrock and The State of Things) alike.  Their zeal for the music has also inspired them to start the brand new North Carolina School of Traditional Music.  There they share their knowledge of things like instrumental techniques, singing methods and songwriting to spur a new generation of love for the old music that so infects their lives.  And you can catch Little Windows, along with a few of the school’s brightest stars at The ArtsCenter in Carrboro this Saturday, June 26th.

And now just five big questions for the Little Windows:

1 .If your band were a gadget, what would it be?

Mark – My grandfather’s pocket watch. You know… the one he kept because his father had passed it on to him. He just liked the old thing, the way it looked, and the way it felt in his pocket, despite the fact that he could have worn a more modern wrist watch.
Julee – My mom’s music box that I play now for our baby. It plays a song she used to sing to me and now I get to play it for my child, thus carrying on its tradition.

2. What made the two of your decide to join forces and meld your two backgrounds?

Mark – For me it was the intimate, spiritual beauty of how our voices melted together, a unique sound blending, like nothing else out there. My pioneer nature forced its exploration. Also my Appalachian and Country and her Irish came together as naturally as two lost peas separated from the same musical pod. Why fight the harmony of the universe?

Julee – It was an unstoppable force and a perfect fit. There was no denying the beauty that came about with the mingling of our voices. We met at a time in my life when I had begun to connect my Irish songs with the Appalachian roots of North Carolina where I grew up. It was a perfect time to meet someone who was as steeped in the Appalachia and Country traditions as I was in the Irish and Gospel.

3. Describe the hope you have for the North Carolina School of Traditional Music.

We want to create a truly local, grassrootsy kind of school that would foster the growth of the Celtic, Appalachian, and Country musical traditions of our state. Our hope is that through our offerings of lessons, teaching weeks, camps, workshops, house concerts, song circles, school programs etc. many people will take notice of and interest in North Carolina’s musical traditions and also have an opportunity to participate in them. Everyone should play and sing regardless of skill level – it’s deeply humanizing, cathartic, and spiritual.

4. Who/what might be a few inspirations or influences that might really surprise people?

Mark – Marcus Aurelius, Basho, Dostoevsky, Matisse, Tarkovsky, Arvo Part, John Cohen, Pete Sutherland, John Hartford
Julee – Katharine Hepburn, Roscoe Holcombe, WB Yeats, the Psalms, Dolores Keene, Tommy Peoples

5. What did you dream of being when you were a kid? (how’d that turn out?)

Mark – A comic book artist or a monk. Or maybe a monk comic book artist. Quit art school and later got married!
Julee – Actually I dreamed of being a singer, practicing singing into a hairbrush at age seven!

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Join Little Windows for a NC School of Traditional Music Night at The ArtsCenter in Carrboro this Saturday. And by all means, give Mark and Julee a high five when you see them!