Sometimes, if the moment strikes just right and you are in the right place at the right time really wonderful surprises can reveal themselves to you. That happened to us this past weekend up in Burlington at the Light Club Lamp Shop, when we showed up a bit early to catch our pals Wise Old Moon and were greeted with one hell of an earlier act that night.

The Light Club Lamp Shop has this vibe to it. Its one of the more comfortable venues I have been in with scattered vintage couches and different seating pockets scattered about its pretty small footprint. A bar is its central point serving up specialty cocktails and heady IPAs and an uncountable number of lamps of all shapes and sizes hang from the ceiling of the place. It has a character unlike any other room I have been. It is a bar, sure, but in some capacity it has the feeling of a listening room lounge where if you want to have a conversation, you can get out of the line of sight of the stage, but still experience the music.

The lady and I walked in, grabbed a drink and took a seat in a rounded, comfy velvet lined couch as a duo was singing into one Ear Trumpet Lab mic.

We found out that Freddy & Francine were from the outskirts of LA and on tour on the East side of the country for a run, and boy were we lucky to happen upon them. Part Johnny & June and another part soul & fire, the duo blended a fierce mix of harmony that shook and stirred the audience, burning on the way down, but leaving a sweet aftertaste that drew you in for another sip. Bianca Caruso stomped the wooden stage with a passionate thumping, keeping the time as Lee Ferris strummed his acoustic in jubilation. The infectious feeling of the joy of being on stage made its way through the audience and you could feel the energy that these two put into their music light up the room.

The duo took on a song I have heard many take on in the past in John Prine’s “Angel From Montgomery”, but added something a bit more to it. Their own electricity and character as Ferris lent his best John Prine impression to the second verse. A favorite new find for sure…check them out.