BIG JOE & JEN: A LIVELY SAGA! When you hear Big Joe and Jen's songs, you may not think, "Wow! That's the best stuff written since Shakespeare!" But the Bard is what brought these two together back in 2002, when they were both cast in a local production of "Hamlet" complete with Hank Williams' songs (no, really!). When they weren't dodging swordplay or drinking poisoned wine, they were strumming the guitar and talking about music and quickly realized they loved many of the same artists and styles. They formed "Sweet William" the following year with another local theatre artist/musician, Brian R. Lynner, and proceeded to perform locally. Life circumstances took the member sin different directions in 2005; Jen took a hiatus from performing while Big Joe honed his singer/songwriter chops and continued playing the local scene. In 2009, when Jen was back in Iowa on a visit, Big Joe told her he wanted to start another band. Jen (now the mother of a baby girl) half-jokingly asked him if he needed a bass player. Well, as old Bill would say, "What Fates impose, that men must needs abide!" You now hold the material result of that living-room conversation - the first of what Big Joe and Jen hope will be many artistic collaborations. Joel "Big Joe" Kinser and Jennifer Hughes are both rural Iowa kids who cut their teeth on church music and were soaked in the country music that permeated the airwaves of their childhoods, and they enjoy infusing tongue-in-cheek humor into the songs they write and cover. Their music has been called "rural sophisticate," "black-dirt roots" and "drunken caterwauling." But you be the judge! Get yourself a piece of pie, kick off your shoes, and have a listen. The live tracks were recorded at Anchor Coffee House, Des Moines, Iowa, on October 23, 2010.