Imagine a world where Norah Jones and Aimee Mann are hanging around the piano with the Beatles on a sunny day. Now mix in some unforgettable classic pop hooks to get your toes tapping and your head bobbing. Add a dash of optimism and catchy lyrics to make you feel like you can take on the world. Introducing. . .the gilded lilies Singer songwriters Joanna de Seyne and Jennifer Paskow met in 2006 while standing in line at a music conference. After a lengthy conversation which included birthing children and Buddhism, they exchanged numbers and agreed they would get together for a writing session. After writing their first song together they both knew that it would be a fruitful partnership. Months went by before they were finally able to find a time to collaborate but when they did, the session produced magic. “I’ve been co-writing for years. I love the collaborative process,” explains Joanna. “But the outcome of our first session was truly magical, and that doesn’t happen very often. I knew we had something special to offer each other.” An uncanny coincidence brought Jennifer and Joanna even closer together: Both of their fathers suffered from the same incurable disease and both patriarchs were being treated in N.Y. by the same doctor in the same hospital. The whole process was in the back of our minds as we wrote,” says Jennifer. “The process of watching someone you love suffer, and the feelings of loss and grief that follow you wherever you go when you are simply trying to get up in the morning and face the day can be an enormous challenge. But it can also be a source of great inspiration. It has been quite a journey, these past two years, but it is one we have been able to travel together through music.” The gilded lilies volume one is the fruit of the past two years of creative collaboration. Joanna spent the nineties honing her craft as a singer-songwriter in London and Los Angeles with stellar talents such as Martin Terefe (Jason M'raz, KT Tunstall), Andy Richards (Annie Lennox), and Kristen Hall (Sugarland). Subsequently she took a few years off from music to raise a family. The death of her father, who was an orchestra conductor, opened a new world of inspiration to draw from. “I felt I had been on hold creatively as I tried to get through his illness and death. But when he passed away, I was suddenly open again. I had so much to say and so many musical stories to tell. And it wasn’t coming from a place of sadness or loss. It was coming from a place of strength and overcoming adversity." Jennifer is the mellifluous voice of the gilded lilies. Her voice has been compared to Norah Jones, Ricky Lee Jones, Natalie Merchant, and Dido. Jennifer relocated from New York to Los Angeles in 2005 to further her career as a singer songwriter. “Our inspiration comes from looking at everyday experiences, no matter what they are, from a positive perspective," Jennifer explains. “We wrote “You Bring Me Alive” when we tried to write a song in homage to our fathers. What came out was completely different from the sad, heavy eulogy we set out to write. We both felt our dads would have thought it was funny we were singing a happy-go-lucky song about their deaths. In the end, the song celebrates their lives and the inspiration they gave in life as well as in their passing. Their debut EP, the gilded lilies volume one, found its way into the hands of Ironman and Transformers music supervisor Dave Jordan. The Lilies are working closely with his company, Format Entertainment, on several upcoming projects for film and television. They are currently collaborating with London-based music producer and songwriter, Jesper Mattsson on World Health Alliance’s first music album aimed at raising the profile of hepatitis. Their song, This Day, selected to represent the United States for this international project. The song has been selected as the title song for the upcoming project. Consistent with their mission to use the music they create to bring a message of empowerment and hope, the duo are currently working with the global ambassador for the Dove Self Esteem Fund, Jess Weiner, whose ground breaking workshops bolster self-esteem in girls and young women across the country. Their song, “On the Inside”, has been adopted as the opening anthem for these events. Their song, "So Long Farewell" won best-in-singer-songwriter category in the 2009 West Coast Songwriter’s Song Contest while "Never Gonna Stop" won honorable mention. It would seem that destiny does indeed play a hand in the gilded lilies. Their music is designed to inspire. Their mission is to brighten the world with a little bit of light, and a little bit of love.