When singer-songwriters Velvy Appleton and Anita Sandwina perform as Spark & Whisper, people often ask them, ‘Which one of you is Spark, and which one is Whisper?’ ”
“Our standard answer is ‘Yes,’ meaning we both are both,” Appleton said.
Spark stands for the band’s rocking, high-energy side, and Whisper stands for its quieter, reflective, folky side, he explained.
You’ll witness both sides of Spark & Whisper’s musical personality when the band does its first live shows in support of its third CD, “Monument,” released last September with live shows Saturday at the Throckmorton Theatre in Mill Valley and Feb. 18 at the HopMonk Tavern in Sebastopol.
“This album covers a lot of territory,” Appleton said. “There is a philosophical bent. Anita writes about nature and the universe. On this album, we also decided to go for a little more rock ‘n’ roll. We’re just doing what we want to do.”
The feedback from radio contacts, Appleton said, is that they appreciate the band’s polished production values as well as the music. “Monument” was engineered by BZ Lewis, who works with the popular San Francisco band Blame Sally.
“We get quite a bit of radio play with folk deejays and National Public Radio people,” Appleton said.
Spark & Whisper’s previous album, “Ghost Towns,” in 2013, made 13 different deejays’ top 10 lists around the country.
“That gave us street cred,” Appleton said. “Then we started playing bigger festivals. We played the Kate Wolf Music Festival twice. We played the American River Festival.”
Among the things that folks might appreciate knowing about Appleton and Sandwina are the fact that they’re a musical duo, but not a couple, they look and sound youthful in their early 50s, and their “day jobs” are full-fledged careers.
Appleton (the first name Velvy is short for a Yiddish family name Velvel,) 54, who lives in Fairfax, is originally from New Jersey and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1990. He works in film production, and has produced visual effects for “Hellboy,” “Sin City” and the “Spy Kids” 3D movie.
Sandwina, 51, grew up in Iowa and settled in Sonoma County 25 years ago. She teaches ceramics at Analy High School and lives in Windsor with her husband, a Windsor High School teacher.
“People come up to us at shows all the time and tell Anita, ‘You were my favorite teacher,’ ” Appleton said.
“We have been playing 30, 40, 50 shows a year for the past nine years,” first in a group called Three at Last, and then as Spark & Whisper, he said.
Because they each have their careers, and live separate private lives, Appleton and Sandwina actually find their musical collaboration easier and more comfortable.
“I think the advantage is we have space and perspective,” Sandwina said. “We each can have our own opinions about stuff, and bring that to each other in a really neutral way. There’s a little distance. We don’t have to worry about hurting each other’s feelings that much.”
Appleton believes their special brand of musical partnership makes for stronger songwriting.
“I think that having really separate experiences makes the grander body of work broader. There’s more diversity, because we don’t go on the same vacations or hang out with the same people,” he said. “We each write our own songs, and we kind of alternate songs.”
IN CONCERT
What: Spark & Whisper, ‘Monument’ CD release party
When: 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11
Where: Throckmorton Theatre, 142 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley
Admission: $20-$35
Information: 415-383-9600, throckmortontheatre.org
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What: Spark & Whisper, with Miss Moonshine opening
When: 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18
Where: HopMonk Tavern, 230 Petaluma Ave., Sebastopol.
Admission: $18
Information: 707-829-7300, hopmonk.com.
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