Husband and wife, business partners, parents, grandparents and now band mates; Paula and Kevin Tolly have spent the last 33 years of their marriage building a life that reflects their love for each other and for music.
With their youngest of four now 17 years old, Paula and Kevin have jumped back into the music world and are taking their Americana-blend sound throughout the state. The duo, named ‘33 Years,’ is set to perform originals and covers at venues big and small in the upcoming months.
“When we started to get back into recording in 2009, I was like ‘what are we going to call ourselves?’ and we were thinking about ‘well how long as we been writing?” Paula said. After a quick Google search to ensure the name was not yet someone else's, the duo claimed “33 Years” as their name.
“The big joke is that we have to change the name of the band every year,” Paula said.
Paula and Kevin met when Paula was 18 in 1979. Kevin was her guitar teacher and they were in music school together.
“I studied classical guitar and was getting my masters degree in music at Manhattan School of Music,” Kevin said. “She was very talented and had been playing acoustic guitar previously and was studying classical guitar. My teacher was Mr Manuel Barrueco who is a well-known Cuban-American classical guitarist and he recommended that she study with me. Obviously, we had a love of music in common and that has brought us back to music these many years later.”
The two became a duo for life when they married in 1983. Four children, two original singles and many local gigs later, the couple's sound continues to evolve and their life together does.
“When we finally got back together, I think it was really a blend of classic rock and acoustic,” Paula said. “I finally convinced him to do more singing so then we kind of came in with more vocals and doing more swirling harmonies.”
Much like their hectic, constantly moving lives, the two have yet to pin down a single, identifiable style.
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“We do so many styles that some people have us figured out as a country band, while others figure we’re just a folk duo,” Paula said. “We’ve kind of come up with this alternative country rock thing for the band that’s worked pretty well because we can kind of incorporate anything. It;s almost Americana, if you will.”
For Kevin, who has also been more rock-based, the sound can be described a little differently.
“(It’s) roots-based rock with influences from classic rock and folk music,” Kevin said.
Mary, 24, Paula and Kevin’s third child, is a musician like her parents. She too performs duo-style folk music like her parents, but with her boyfriend in North Carolina.
“I think (their sound) started out as country-rock. Now, I feel it’s progressed to more of a true Americana, still with a bunch of folk influence,” Mary said. “I think they kind of found their niche in that.”
Now, the South Florida band is working on an album to accompany their two published singles: “A Case of Whiskey” and “Love Don’t Live Here.” Both singles are available on iTunes, Spotify and on the band’s website.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3bbBXFSQQE
“The album has been a little slow going because honestly we’ve been playing so much that we haven’t really had any time off,” Paula said.
The couple, just like every other aspect of their life, has a system that incorporates both of their talents into a working project.
“I usually come up with a musical idea and flesh it out on my acoustic then Kevin comes up with a few riffs to compliment the song structure,” Paula said. “Sometimes I get a few lines for the lyrics and the rest follows and sometimes, we start with the musical idea and the lyrics follow.”
“A Case of Whiskey” is the duo’s more popular of their two originals.
“I was listening to some folk songs at the time and there’s a band called ‘Shovels & Rope’ out of Charleston, North Carolina. I was listening to that kind of stuff and it sort of came out of that time frame,” Paula said.
The song, a story of two lovers, is more folk than their other work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0616pc6awA
“‘A Case of Whiskey,’ I think that’s a really cool song. You can’t really tell if it’s just a song they’re covering or what,” Mary said. “It’s something that she wrote. I would say it’s true Americana.”
The other single, “Love Don’t Live Here,” is more blues geared with a more rock and roll twist.
“It was actually gonna be acoustic,” Paula said. “But then when the producer heard it, he figured it should be a little more rocking out with a more active bassline. So we kind of took that in a different direction.”
Both Paula and Kevin were classically trained but Kevin has always been more into the rock and roll.
“Way back when we were both involved with classical music, he was playing in high school in a rock cover band,” Paula said. “At 14-years-old he was playing at like frat parties. He was always the youngest in the band, which was pretty funny. He has always played rock stuff.”
The couple passed their musical passions and talents to their kids, whether on purpose or not.
The Tolly kids, ranging from 30 years old to 17 years old, sing and playing a variety of instruments.
Margaret, 30, played sax growing up. John, 28, plays bass guitar. Mary plays drums and guitar and also sings. Kevin Jr., 17, plays drums and percussion.
The couple put their music on hold when they first had kids, realizing hey needed other means to support their family, but it was only a matter of time until it found it’s way back into their lives.
When she was 13, Mary began playing drums and she specifically accounts that as the turning point for her parents.
“My dad used to say when I got into drums they were like ’ok’ and they picked up the guitar and my dad got into a band and my mom followed later,” Mary said.
Years later and the family is still connected through music. The Tollys, once two people who shared the love for music, is now nine strong. Paula and Kevin, parents to four has two grand children and one on the way.
“It’s a crazy time always but it’s really wonderful,” Mary said. “I wouldn't have it any other way.”
When the family gets together, they connect over music and will play together.
“My brother sometimes will play bass when he’s visiting and I’ll sing with them,” Mary said. “There’s a lot of music equipment all over our house. It’s like everywhere. There’s no controlled ares for it. It’s a very big part of our life.”
Now that the couple’s youngest is 17-years-old, the life-ling duo has traded their tag-team parents skills in for a tag-team business venture. The Tollys began their own technology company about three years ago, and it functions just as everything else does in their life: with love.
“My mom’s more on the operations side of it, my dad’s more of the testing,” Mary said. “I think it makes sense that my dad is super technical because he’s so good with guitar. It all kind of meshes together. As well as the music equipment in our house, there’s always serves because they’re always testing stuff.”
In the last 33 years, Paula and Kevin have been through alot together, but music has also been a comfortable home for the couple. For their children the couple has set an example that, their daughter says, is something that she carries with her.
“They are, in all sense of the word, they are best friends, there’s no question about it,” Mary said. “I feel like my person relationships makes sense because I’ve grown up seeing their example of a relationship. They’re truly in love and they built an awesome family to prove it. It’s the real deal.”
It began with music and will always be about the music for the Tollys.
“At the root of it, they met through music. It’s a really simple but awesome story,” Mary said. “They really just care about playing music, they just love it. They don’t do it for any other reason. They just do it because it’s part of who they are.”
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