Victor and Penny
7:00PM
Celebrating a time when style mattered and class was king, Victor & Penny feature tight vocal harmonies, dazzling guitar work, and a fiery ukulele. Victor & Penny deliver swing-infused jazz and pop in the band’s signature high-energy style with joy, humor, and soaring musical improvisation. This corset-tight duo crafts clever original tunes and brings a modern Kansas City voice to prohibition era jazz. V&P impress and delight with charm and hot licks. Named, “Best Folk Ensemble 2015” by the PITCH and “Stand-out Concert of The Year” by The Joplin Globe, they are an “absolute rollicking blast.”
Victor & Penny are Jeff Freling (Blue Man Group, Chicago) and Erin McGrane (George Clooney’s, “Up in the Air” and cabaret troupe Alacartoona). Formally trained at Berklee School of Music (Boston) and the Conservatory of Music (Kansas City), Mr. Freling participated in the international program, The Acoustic Guitar Project in 2014 and is an accomplished composer, arranger, an outstanding instrumentalist. Ms. McGrane is an ArtsKC Fund Inspiration Grant recipient and a Mid-America Arts Alliance Professional Development Grant recipient as well as a fellow of the ArtistINC program for which she currently serves as a peer facilitator and a workshop presenter. The group just released their 4th album, ‘Electricity,’ which joyfully captures the energy, humor and soaring musical improvisation of their live show.
Victor & Penny was honored to represent Kansas City at a New York City press event as part the America’s Creative Crossroads campaign, “Paris of the Plains Goes to NY.” The pair has performed at such notable Kansas City events as the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts inaugural New Year’s Event, the Missouri Governor’s 2016 EDC Awards Luncheon and KC Union Station’s Centennial Celebration, and KC Mayor Sly James’ 2015 State of the City Address. Victor & Penny were invited official showcase artists at the prestigious Folk Alliance International Conference (FAI 2014 and 2015), the Southeast Regional Folk Alliance Conference (SERFA 2016), and the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance Conference (NERFA 2014). V&P were 2013 Escape-To-Create artists-in-residence in Seaside, FL. The group regularly tours the USA, having made nearly 1,000 personal appearances and traveled 180,000 miles in the last four years.