Walking for Pennies in LIC

Walking for Pennies are LIC- based duo, Neeley Bridges and Andy Jobe. They released their first album “Forget About Wonderland” in October last year after years of making their way as actors and musicians. Their name refers to the times when they have been literally walking for pennies as dog walkers, earning  money  to pay rent; a story recorded in Bridges’ song, “Who am I Supposed to Be”.

In December 2012 Walking for Pennies played at LIC Bar, in a benefit performance for victims of Hurricane Sandy debuting their single “Hurricane”; the proceeds of which go to Sandy relief.

On Sunday Feb 17th the duo expanded to a full band, with Neil Nunziato on drums, Pauline Pisano on piano and harmonies,  Craig Akin on bass and Guy  Cowan on guitar, appearing in their first ever show at the prestigious Rockwood Music Hall in Allen Street, Lower East Side. The band showed huge professionalism to an enthusiastic crowd who filled the venue, not an easy thing to do on a Sunday afternoon.

Bridges, like her partner, studied music at NYU and has been on the local music scene since; with involvement in musical theatre, writing and performing solo and with bands. She is a talented multi-instrumentalist, guitar, mandolin, flute, oboe, piano and clarinet. These days she most often sticks to guitar and mandolin. She has a clear and accurate voice, singing solo and offering strong interweaving harmonies to Jobe’s higher-register vocal offerings. In 2008 she released a solo album “Devil on my Shoulder” and has written four of the songs on the Wonderland album.

Jobe wrote the title track to their album. His background in the theatre has given him a gift for presentation, which, in combination with Bridges, makes for polished and well prepared shows. A guitarist and a singer, he shows the influence of James Taylor, but his musical theatre background gives him a variety of timbre that suits the range of music the duo perform.

“Forget about Wonderland” is an album that demonstrates the talent and real attention to detail of these two musicians. It is a carefully crafted selection of music of different genres, with a country/folk/pop thread; the addition of guest musicians make for a satisfying mix that sustains repeated listening, both as an album and selecting tracks to match a mood. Check out their website www.walkingforpennies.com for downloads.

Eric Hathaway

sometimeinlongislandcity.com