By Ann Driscoll
Associate Editor

Ashley Root and Evelyn Brown are best friends, musical soul mates, and self-described “sisters.” It’s not hard to hear why these two young musicians and Berklee alums (both ’09 grads) have clicked so well. Both play acoustic guitar, have an angelic twang-inflected timbre to their voices, and are influenced by a wide range of musical genres yet naturally write country songs.

Ms. Brown and Ms. Root have been writing and performing together as a duo called Merry-Go-Round since October 2008. It took them only three months to write an entire album together. According to Root, “I really love being a duo with her because it’s like sharing the work and sharing all of the same experiences. More importantly, the experiences.”

Despite their similarities, Root and Brown have had very different backgrounds. Root grew up in a middle-class Boston suburb, while  Brown hails from Austin, TX, immersed in the rock biz from an early age through her father, Eugene Brown, a musician and producer.

Root and Brown perform as a duo at Cafe 939.

Brown has built an impressive resumé working with some of Texas’ most renowned country and rock artists, including Shiva’s Headband, Beth Black, Jack Ingram, and Bill Hamm. Despite the glamour of the rock world, money was often scarce in the Brown household, and Evelyn has seen first-hand how being a professional musician is a blue-collar job for many.

“Literally, I remember being a little girl and my dad would work all day long as a carpenter and then come home at six o’clock, rehearse, shower, and not come home until 3 o’clock in the morning because he was gigging. And then he’d repeat the process. There’s that balance of real life–having a family and kids, and putting food on the table. But there’s also that goal of doing what you love,” said Ms. Brown.

Merry-Go-Round is signed to Mr. Brown’s record label, Tono Music Group. Mr. Brown engineered and produced their debut record in March 2009. “We did all of the vocals and acoustic guitars during spring break,” said Root. “The other instruments were tracked after that. The session musicians did it for free. Our drummer recorded all drums and bass parts at his home studios, sent them over to Gene. Her dad did guitar, piano, mandolin, organ.” Berklee alumnus Jason Haag helped mix the record.

Leaked cuts off the record reflect Merry-Go-Round’s blend of genres. “Our music can go into a lot of different styles. Country, pop, folk. We have so many influences,” said Root, who cites 90s alternative pop/rock band Toad the Wet Sprocket as a prime influence. The band’s love of that decade’s music was apparent in their YouTube series of 90’s covers, which included a haunting and unique version of “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”

“When I went and picked up a guitar for the first time, I wasn’t trying to write country music,” explained Brown, whose favorite band of all time is Nirvana. “At the time I was into crazy pop and punk music. But there was something about striking a G chord and then you go to a C chord and it comes out sounding like country music. It just falls out of your fingers. Plus I naturally have a folky voice.”

Said Root, “I love folk music, telling stories, it’s using lyrics. It’s the storytelling. That’s what attracts me to country music.”

While anchored in formal signatures of country, Merry-Go-Round has serious cross-over appeal. The leaked tracks consist of tuneful, hummable pop songs with clever lyrics, like Shania Twain and The Dixie Chicks’ radio hits from the 90s.

Tono Music Group has secured a distribution deal with Federal, a division of Universal Music Group. Brown and  Root are hoping that Universal will be interested in marketing and promoting their record. According to Root, Federal will be putting 30,000 copies of the finished product into Walmart and Target stores at a date that is still to be announced.

This January, Brown and Root are moving to Austin, where their record label and Brown’s family are located. Said Root, “We’re going to start in Texas and branch out from there. Texas is kind of like its own country. You can make a living just touring Texas. Our vision is to tour there and gather the crowds that can fall in love with our music.”

According to Root, who was born and bred in Massachusetts, the move won’t be much of a cultural adjustment. “A lot of people mistake me for a southerner, and I think it comes from my family. Most people have an impression of the northeast as being cold and I think it’s an impression from the cities, and most people from New England are not from the city.”

When Merry-Go-Round played in Texas last spring, the rural audiences warmly received them. “They were so nice. It’s different–they’re very open, when they like something, they cheer in the middle of your song.”

Before they leave for Texas, the duo will play at a songwriting festival for a drastically different audience in Cairo, Egypt. Brown’s freshman year dorm roommate is co-organizing the festival with her father, an Egyptian entrepreneur and the ladies will be overseas from October 15 to 19. “It’s a dream come true,” said Root, who has wanted to travel to Egypt since a young age.

Regardless of what happens during the pivotal next year in their careers, Root and Brown will experience the same successes and setbacks together. Said Brown, “The biggest part of this whole thing is relying, trusting, and having faith in other people. It takes more than one person to move a mountain.”

“Merry-Go-Round is like a family network- I have a business relationship and a father-daughter relationship with my dad, and Ashley is like my sister now.”