The starkly beautiful music of Chicago alt-country duo The Spares is a moving tribute to the power of storytelling. Jodee Lewis and Steve Hendershot complement their original songs with soaring vocals, sweet harmonies, and percussive, emotive playing that is both stunning and restrained.

The pair met in Chicago in 2002, and started making music together a year later. Since 2004, they've delighted audiences around the Midwest -- focusing on Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, and Michigan -- where their debut CD, Hand Me Down, is an instant hit. The Spares have sold nearly 1,000 copies of Hand Me Down since its December 2004 release, and are drawing crowds of 100 or more to most performances.

The Spares: bio

Chicago duo The Spares make original acoustic music. It’s bluesy, twangy roots music—call it alt-country or Americana. Jodee Lewis and Steve Hendershot are songwriters who sing about characters in hard places—a nine-to-five company man who quits his job in search of meaning (“Mexico”); a family at the edge of divorce (“I Don’t Love You Anymore”); an aging couple struggling to connect with each other (“Silence”)—whose stories hint at love and truth in ways that the characters themselves don’t always recognize. Their songs are thoughtful and honest in dealing with the joys and pains of life.

They are also incredible musicians. You listen, mesmerized, to Jodee’s soaring voice, to Steve’s rich, syncopated guitar playing, to the addictive harmonies, and suddenly an hour has passed and you’re standing and cheering with the rest of the crowd, humming along and tapping your foot.

For Jodee and Steve, 2005 is passing in a blur. Since the group’s debut CD, Hand Me Down, was released in January, the duo has performed dozens of packed shows around the Midwest (seven states in all), sold nearly a thousand copies of the record, and received a warm critical welcome. Roots Music Report calls the CD, “Hands down one of the finest Roots Rock/Americana albums to be released in 2005,” Americana Roots Review says The Spares are “Amazing—innovative and soulful, funky and complex,” and Christianity Today named The Spares one of Ten Independent Artists You Should Know, writing that “This talented pair draws from a broad songwriting palette that sketches the human condition in the places where faith is needed most.” Additionally, The Spares’ single “Mexico” reached #31 on GarageBand.com’s Americana charts out of nearly 2,200 entries.