The Breakups (Cara Jean Wahlers, Gary Wasson)
Boulevard Place Café, 4155 Boulevard Place
Friday, May 30, 7 p.m., $5, all-ages

For The Breakups, making music as intimate as a conversation is important. Cara Jean Wahlers and Gary Wasson have spent the last few years in 19Clark25 and the Spud Puppies, respectfully. Both bands have larger lineups — 19Clark25’s lineup includes four guitarists, a drummer and bassist. Spud Puppies has a lineup of “27 people,” Wahlers joked.

So for The Breakups, Wahlers and Wasson — who have been friends for several years — wanted to recapture the back-and-forth of country duet singers.
“Our friendship translated really well into duet form,” Wahlers said. “I like the duet form because it’s like a conversation you have with a friend. We want to isolate the air around our voices.”

“We’re really interested in the country tradition of duets,” she continued. “At the same time we’re trying to find our own identity and finding our own voices.”
Wahlers got her start in the music industry at an early age. By 6 she was classically training as a concert bassist, a skill that took her to performing arts school in Michigan. But by college, the singer had developed carpal tunnel syndrome, which forced her into early retirement as a concert bassist.

“It never occurred to me that I could be in a rock band, or a folk duo — whatever you want to call it,” Wahlers said. But within the last few years, Wahlers began gigging around as a member of 19Clark25 and playing her own solo material.

The Breakups mix original material and cover songs — as is common in folk and country music, and is widely prevalent in singer/songwriter circuits.

“We’re both interested in writing both individually and together,” Wahlers said. “We don’t want to be a cover band, but there are songs we love.”