Kingston-based singer/songwriters Kris and Dee will perform in Toronto at Hugh’s Room on Oct 11.

Kris Abbott and Dee McNeil, who are both band mates and a couple, promise an intimate show amongst a diverse crowd.

“You can definitely expect to feel good,” Abbott says. “We really like to connect with our audience.”

This is the duo’s first gig in Toronto since 2010. “We miss Toronto,” McNeil says.

Kris and Dee are an acoustic act; McNeil sings and Abbott provides harmony vocals. They describe their sound as folk pop rock.

“The musicians we are is the kind of couple we are,” McNeil says. “We’re complementary in a really cool way.”

The women met in 2002 at one of McNeil’s gigs and connected again a while later. “We found out we were interested in the same music and we hit it off,” Abbott says. “And then we hit it off as a couple.”

They married in 2005, the same year they decided to team up as a band.

McNeil used to play bass and sing vocals for alternative band The Strap-Ons. Abbott is a former guitarist and vocalist for indie hall-of-famers The Pursuit of Happiness.

“I really wasn’t interested in playing music anymore. I was disillusioned with the business,” Abbott says. “Then I met Dee, and she convinced me to take the guitar out of the case again.”

Kris and Dee released their debut album, Still Here Inside, in 2011. Starbucks recently selected the album for its worldwide playlist.

The two are currently touring across Ontario. They’re also working on their second full-length album, due out in early 2013.

Andrea Wappel shares the bill with Kris and Dee at Hugh’s Room
Thurs, Oct 11, 8:30pm
2261 Dundas St W
hughsroom.com