About Us
Meeting through a mutual friend sometime in 2022 was the start of a beautiful friendship!
With so much in common, and having had so many similar experiences while walking our own musical pathways, there has been lots to talk about since day dot.
This also evolved into embracing the opportunity to perform together — first with Jodie being a backing vocalist for Jess’s EP launch in mid-2023, and then with Jess joining Jodie’s band The Stowaways playing keys and singing BVs while opening for Tami Neilson in late 2023 — among other performances along the way.
We also started dreaming about how we might teach others what we know, and what information we thought would be useful to pass on. And here we are — doing the do.
Jodie Gummer
Jodie grew up in England, and tells fun stories of a childhood immersed in music — with her dad being a professional muso, and owning a CD store (remember those?!). She picked up the guitar at age seven and has never stopped.
After moving to New Zealand she started performing in public, went to music school and managed to find the perfect balance of student life and study: playing the pub scene and getting paid three nights a week!
Fast forward a few years, Jodie is now a mum of two beautiful girls and perfectly balances her music with family life. She regularly plays solo and with her band Jodie and The Stowaways.
Jodie’s a diamond when it comes to stage presence, bringing the energy, taking no sh*t, and leaning into rock/pop and country/folk genres.
Jess Deacon
Jess comes from a family of musicians and creatives which goes some way to explaining why she’s ended up as a career creative. She studied composition when she left school and fronted a jazz band in Auckland before becoming a mum and then getting a degree in Communications and Linguistics.
Returning to uni to study Jazz Performance in 2018 was, as Jess puts it, ‘the best decision I ever made’ because it opened the door to pursuing a musical pathway.
Since then Jess has fronted a number of bands, been commissioned as a composer, recorded on several projects, released her own EP with a celebrated performance at St Peters Hall in Paekākāriki, and has performed at a few pretty awesome events including Wellington Jazz Festival, Bay of Islands Jazz Festival, Harvest Festival, and Gladstonebury (not to be confused with Glastonbury!)
In 2024 Jess will headline her own show at Meow for the Wellington Jazz Club. Her forté as a vocalist is leaning into jazz, soul and folk genres.