Boulevard Place Café, 4155 Boulevard Place
Friday, Oct. 17, 7 p.m., $5, all ages

Barley Island Brewery, 639 Conner Street, Noblesville
Saturday, October 18, 9 pm, all ages

The story of the Troubadours of Divine Bliss begins where you might expect, given the spirit-filled name. Aim Me Smiley and Renee Amanda met 26 years ago in a charismatic Shelbyville, Kentucky church where Smiley’s dad was the pastor and Amanda’s dad a deacon.

The two met up 13 years later, determined to become travelling street performers. One accordion and two guitar chords later, the women wrapped themselves in Christmas lights and debuted on a New Orleans street corner. The Troubadours were born, and they set out on a tour that has barely relented for 14 years. “We tour out about four days a week and play the U.S., Canada and Europe,” says Smiley.

The duo, now Louisville-based, is celebrating the release of their latest record Scared Letters of Surrender with shows in Indianapolis and Noblesville this weekend. “This album is for us a journey inward and we are hearing from many folks that is true for them as well,” says Smiley. “It is inspired by our own process of surrender and by stories others shared with us. It has the intimacy of a diary entry or an unsent letter.”

Asked what to expect at their show, Smiley refers to a Louisville Journal and Courier Journal concert review, which reads, in part, “Explanation is futile, only seeing is believing.” Their high-energy acoustic music features wonderful harmonies with a front porch feel, mixed in with a humor and a little vaudeville.