Friday, Sept. 22 Love, Claire will perform in the Underground Coffeehouse at 9 p.m. Calling themselves an “indie-acoustic-pop-rock-at-times duo,” Anneliese DeDiemar and Luke Brown are certainly an ambitious pair.
Though ambitious, Love, Claire had humble beginnings on the steps of Plantz Hall back in 1998. Brown and DeDiemar, class of 2003, met their freshman year during orientation.
Brown was a guy with a guitar, and DeDiemar a girl with an ear for music. The two have been jamming together off and on ever since, officially forming as band last fall.
“We each worked on our solo projects until it was clear we had to complete our sound and style together,” says DeDiemar. “We craved an audience.”
Currently, DeDiemar works at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center and a local dinner theatre, Curtain Up! Productions. Brown is completing his masters in finance in the area.
While juggling full-time jobs and schooling, they have still managed to rehearse about once a week and book gigs in the Appleton/Oshkosh area.
Their sound consists of DeDiemar’s lyrics, vocals and rhythm guitar and Brown’s lead guitar. The songs are autobiographical in nature, with the exception of a few covers and personal favorites.
It’s passionate, eclectic music “with a few surprises along the way,” says DeDiemar. “We try to tell a story at each show.”
And indeed, using their unique sound and casual banter between songs, the story they tell breathes of an old friendship of coffee shop and front porch chats. As for Claire?
“We’ll never tell,” says DeDiemar with a wink. “It’s all in the subtext.”Upcoming gigs: Copper Rock, Oct. 5, 8 p.m.; UW-Oshkosh, Nov. 8, 7-10 p.m.; Harmony Caf, Dec. 15, 8 p.m.
Love, Claire
