Musical duo visits SLO

The musical duo of Steve Harding and Elizabeth Wright will be performing at Borders Books & Music this weekend. In addition, the couple plans to show their new video, which will also be available at the store.

“We’re in the process of doing a Borders tour to promote the album and the video,” Harding said. “We’ll be doing some particular cuts from the album, and we also have the first video, which goes with song one of our ‘Troubadour’ album. The video is available on CD-Rom.”

Additionally, Harding has released a musical radio play called “Cobblestones,” which details many of his real-life experiences in the early to mid 1970s.

“It’s basically about our adventures and misadventures in Europe; living in Spain, Amsterdam and just traveling around Europe,” Harding said. “(The radio play) is with a band of American troubadours, and an Irish banjo player.”

On the couple’s MySpace page, listeners can hear the song “Down n Out In Amsterdam,” a blues-like track which chronicles some of Harding’s experiences in Holland. Although the music incorporates elements of several genres of music, Harding says that his songs are rightly classified as “Americana.”

“I’ve been delving into various styles of American music for years, with some elements of Irish Folk,” he said. “I visited Ireland and played in the pubs over there, so I’ve always had somewhat of an Irish influence.”

Although Harding is from South Dakota and Wright is from the East Bay, the pair has been living in San Luis Obispo County for several years now.

“Elizabeth and I have been performing together for about a year,” Harding said. “We started out working on the video, and figured out we had a lot in common, on screen and off – she’s my girlfriend, and has been for about a year now. So, we’re working together, co-producing the videos. And we’re looking to get the album, with two videos, on worldwide release via the net in July. It’s sold well in limited stores that we’ve test-marketed it in, in Santa Barbara and Goleta, so we’re looking to get international distribution.”

The couple will be filming this weekend’s performance for a documentary that they hope to release in the near future.

“Just come on out, and have fun, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy it,” Wright said.

“All ages are welcome, from 1 to 99,” Harding added. “Students would appreciate our music a lot, I think. It has something to say behind it, and I believe it has a good, positive message. Basically, our motto is that we play the kind of music that makes plants grow, and doesn’t kill them.”

Wright says that their CDs and videos will soon be available on their Web site, www.myspace.com/steveandelizabeth. This weekend’s concert will be on Saturday, at Borders Books & Music at 243 Madonna Road in San Luis Obispo.