By Stephanie Snyder and Gina Catalano
The Union welcomed the duo Elenowen on the 27th, bringing a crowd of new and old fans together for a night of soulful harmonies and elegantly written lyrics.
Season one of the singing competition “The Voice” became the launching pad for Nicole and Josh Johnson, the married duo behind Elenowen. The name Elenowen originates from their parent’s middle names; Ellen being the middle name of Josh’s mother and Owen being the middle name of Nicole’s father. Since their time on “The Voice”, they’ve been able to pursue their musical career as a full-time gig and have been able make it their only focus and devotion.
However, being an independent artist comes at a price. And by price, that means that Nicole and Josh currently have no funding to make their first full-length record. Thanks to Kickstarter, the world’s largest funding platform for creative projects, Elenowen has started their “40K in 40 Days” campaign, where anybody can donate prices of their choice to back their record. Those who donate also get something in return – whether that be Twitter shout-outs, downloads or physical copies of the record, concert tickets and more. The negative side? If they don’t reach their goal by the end of the 40 days, then they don’t receive any of the funding. This doesn’t stop them from being positive and hopeful, however. “A wise man once said that anytime there’s a backup plan, you can easily fall back on that so we’re just putting all of our eggs in this one basket and hoping it will happen. We have faith,” Josh says.
As for their show at The Union, this husband and wife were able to hypnotize the crowd with their onstage chemistry and harmonies that created goose bumps. Paying attention to the song was near impossible during certain points of the show because the crowd became too engrossed in the connection between Josh and Nicole – the stolen glances at one another, the giggling of inside jokes between songs. Their stage presence is remarkable in how they play in tune with each other, keeping their voices harmonized to the point where it’s almost haunting.
Elenowen will be back in the Chicagoland area on October 18th, and all information on their Kickstarter can be found on elenowen.com.
