Me & the Mrs. goes on tour

Laureen F. Guenther
Times Contributor

 

Paul and Heather Zacharias of Rosebud, who perform as the folk music duo Me & the Mrs., are touring southern Alberta and Saskatchewan this winter. They’ll play a concert in Rosebud’s Harvest Room on March 8.
In recognition of their seven years of marriage, they call this The 7 Year Itch Tour.
“I just figure it (the name) would help with ticket sales, right?” Paul Zacharias says with a laugh. “People would be worried that we’re not doing so well and they’ll come out (to the concerts).
“This is a season of life where we’re kind of stepping out and trying different things, and we’re letting go of different areas of security … my understanding of the seven year itch is that it has to do with a sense of restlessness and a need, and often that is a very destructive thing in marriages.”
He and Heather have an entirely different focus.
“We just go deeper into what our passions are, and (ask) how we’re able to pursue that together as a husband and wife team,” he said.
“Instead of it being something that drives us apart,” Heather Zacharias adds, “we say okay, how can we use this to draw us closer together?”
Many of the stops on this tour are in small venues, including some house concerts. They talk about the unpredictable joys of performing for small, intimate audiences.
“They always end up being a wonderful experience for us, and I think for the audience members too, because we’re all just there and we don’t know what’s going to happen,” Heather says. “We just want to have a shared experience and be reminded that, you know, there are good people in the world, and we actually are surrounded by them.”
That openness to adventure is reflected in the title of their newly-released second album, the Frogs Sang Symphonies, “because of the idea that something beautiful could come from something or someone unexpected,” Paul says. “It’s good and rich to look for the beauty and listen for the beauty in this life and in this world, and yeah, that’s part of what we’re hoping to offer folks.”
Three musical Rosebud friends – Inga (Natalie Gauthier), Cassia Schramm and Travis Friesen – will join Me and the Mrs. for the March 8 concert in Rosebud.
“They are going to be doing a few songs each and they’re going to join us for a few,” Paul says. “And we’re going to have something of a band for that show … so it will be something of a bigger sound. It’ll be just a really big celebration.”
The concert is at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, March 8, in the Harvest Room of the Rosebud Mercantile Building. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door. For more information or to reserve tickets, e-mail meandthemrsmusic@gmail.com or see their Me & the Mrs. Facebook page.