Jill & Micah: Poptek Records duo talks tiny house, new CD


WANT TO GO?

Who: Jill & Micah with Jetty Bones and Michael Tomlinson

Where: South Park Tavern, 1301 Wayne Ave., Dayton

When: 8:30 p.m. Saturday, July 2

Cost: Free

More info: 937-586-9526 or www.southparktavern.com

Artist info: www.jillandmicah.com

“Slowly But Surely” has become the mantra for husband and wife duo, Jill & Micah. It’s the title of their enchanting new modern folk album on Poptek Records, getting released at South Park Tavern in Dayton on Saturday, July 2. It’s also the slogan for their other big project: building a tiny house.

Jill Potter-Bonsell and husband Micah Bonsell recently discussed their new abode, their debut album and Poptek label head Andy Ingram, who produced the new album and also plays drums in the couple’s new backing band.

CONSTRUCTING A HOME

Potter-Bonsell: "We're in the process of building a tiny house for ourselves. We're kind of on the last leg of it but we've been working on it for nine or 10 months so we've been pretty transient."

Bonsell: "We're kind of staying wherever somebody will let us stay."

Potter-Bonsell: "We're in Springfield this very moment but we're building our tiny house out in South Charleston, which is between Springfield and Columbus. We should be done building it in the next month or two. That's the goal."

MAKING A RECORD

Bonsell: "We were living in Columbus when we made the album and we recorded in Yellow Springs. We had to travel to make it all work out so it took a while."

Potter-Bonsell: "This was the first time Andy had recorded anyone. He was kind of figuring it out along the way like we were and that's another reason the process took so long. He totally did it for free which was a huge perk of doing it that way for us. We've probably known Andy for about nine years. He and Poptek Records have been so helpful to us in this whole thing."

Bonsell: "We had done mostly demos until now so this is the first professional recording we've done. It was fun to work with Andy and other friends that had an idea where our songs were going. We kind of let them do their thing and add instrumentation we hadn't necessarily heard and then the whole vision came together."

FORMING A BAND

Potter-Bonsell: "We played our first show with the band at South Park Tavern in Dayton in February. It's all Poptek people that we asked to play on the album and then it sounded so good we asked if they'd play live with us too."

Bonsell: "It's really nice playing with more people because it kind of covers up the mistakes you make. The pressure was off at that point."

Potter-Bonsell: "It's a different dynamic, too. It's so much fun."

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