GAY PROPI

evening'sout

Duo sings beautiful, bawdy songs on street and stage

by Stephanie Dlugon

One night, Renee Ananda dreamed she was playing the accordion, so she went out and bought one. Her best friend Aim Me Smiley knew two whole guitar chords, so naturally they decided to put their show on the road.

It was Christmastime, so the unconventional duo wrapped themselves in batteryoperated Christmas lights and performed carols on the streets of New Orleans.

That was over four years ago. Ananda and Smiley, now known as the Troubadours of Divine Bliss, have not only learned their craft, they've polished it—and boy does it shine! Imagine the sweetest harmonies you've ever heard dressed in 80-cent thrift store bell

DOUGLAS ZULLO

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Renee Amanda and Aim Mỹ

bottoms. The Troubadours aren't about wowing their fans with high fashion; what they do best is sing.

Ananda provides the accordion and vocal harmony, Smiley sings lead and plays guitar. A typical Troubadour set also includes a little spoken word, sound effects (radio static, windshield wipers), and a healthy dose of audience participation. Their lyrics are half beautiful, half bawdy, often featuring clever puns, alliteration, and bizarre but true stories from their countless adventures.

The Troubadours met 15 years ago in their hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. The products of very charismatic Pentecostal upbringings, the couple was baptized, sanctified and deodorized, respectively.

They learned to sing in the church, and formed an instant camaraderie thanks to their musical bond. Over the years the bond grew more intimate and the Troubadours not only

made a commitment to music, but to each other as well.

Together, along with Blossom, their sevenyear-old Lhasa Apso, Ananda and Smiley spend well over 200 days a year driving all over the county in their 1988 Mazda 626 looking for musical venues and populated street corners to share their unique and infectious music.

In addition to the standard bar and coffee shop gigs, the duo has played at gay pride festivals, corporate breakrooms, air shows, laundromats, yoga classes and organic farm conventions. In 1998, the couple, armed with only their instruments and a total of $100, hit the streets of Europe for six months. They earned enough spare change by busking to visit six countries, purchase their return plane

tickets and buy a new sound system.

When touring, Ananda and Smiley estimate they have to sleep in their car about 25% of the time. Both insist that the constant travel and continuous companionship has served to only strengthen their love for one another.

Oddly enough, they prefer what most would consider a grueling schedule and difficult lifestyle. They prepare their meals on a propane camping stove, make most car repairs using duct tape, and earn well below the poverty level for one person, let alone two.

They flat out rejected a major recording contract.

"There would be no spirit of connection with people," Ananda explained.

"They'd want us to wear more make-up" Smiley added.

The products of very

charismatic Pentecostal upbringings, the couple was baptized, sanctified and deodorized, respectively.

"Because of our relationship, they'd eat us alive. They'd tell us where to play. It would become a job."

They put it another way in "Same Name Fame Game":

Don't want a top ten countdown unless I'm on my way to the moon...

Just give me a little boy dancing to a tune Two lovers kissing in the spotlight of the fullest moon

Tell me your dreams let me make music on the streets

Listen to song for awhile.

The Troubadours of Divine Bliss will play at five locations in the Cincinnati and Louisville areas in the upcoming week: Friday, October 22 at Picasso's in Elizabethtown, Ky.; Saturday, October 23 at CoCo's in Covington, Ky.; Sunday, October 24 at Leo Coffeehouse in Cincinnati; Friday, October 29 at Clifton's in Louisville; and Saturday, October 30 at Clifton's in Louisville.

They just finished playing at five stops throughout Cleveland and Kent, Ohio, but will return to the Cleveland area in the spring.

Stephanie Dlugon is a Chronicle contributioning writer in Cleveland.

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New CD shows the Troubadours' range nicely

Dressing Room for Eternity is the latest release by the Troubadours of Divine Bliss (Aim Me Smiley and Renee Ananda), It features a dozen original songs that nicely cover the broad range of this less-than-traditional folk duo. The CD starts with the bawdy ballad "Scarlet Carnival," which depicts the seedy side of the carly New Orleans music scene Beware: Pickpockets and Loose Women!

The cops and politicians are drinking upstairs so you better beware.

You can still get a drink and a dame for a dime

Have a real good time

Welcome to storyville

Where you always leave with a whopper of a tale

Skip a few tracks and you'll run into a short poem called "Freedom," written by Peyman Jafari, a young man who escaped political persecution by fleeing Iran through the mountains of Turkey and settling in Amsterdam. Smiley and Ananda supply a catchy, simple, driving melody to Jafari's poem, and alternate between singing it in English and French

Smiley and Ananda harmonize beautfully. Their voices are seductively low and seasoned with a slight but noticeable Kentucky drawl. They're flowery storytellers with the savvy and know-how to ma nipulate the language in order to extract every drop of attar. The problem is this: the Troubadours are best appreciated as a package deal. Honed street performers, Smiley and Ananda have stage presence that puts most folks to shame, so popping in their disc is a little like watching The Wizard of Oz blindfolded

Dressing Room for Eternity (much like their first

release, No Place Like Om) is a low-budget produć-

tion. But don't let its simple maybe even crude-packaging fool you. The quality is good and the selection of songs is outstanding. It'll do quite nicely inevitably appear on a stage or street corner near you.

Both CDs released by the Troubadours of Divine Bliss are available at the nces, or to download off of their web site, http://troubadors.tripod.com. They also be ordered by e-mail from bliss@over-the-rainbow.com. Stephanie Dhegon