Sisters in song

Published 1:00 pm Wednesday, August 9, 2006

Bainbridge Island singer/songwriter Holly Figueroa has toured across the country in her musical career, but lately she’s been sticking a lot closer to home.

What’s she been doing? “Making lunch,” she joked recently.

She’s only half kidding about that. With a husband and two kids, Maddie, 11 and Gabriel, almost 3, she’s found that life on the road has lost its allure.

“I feel like I did it and know what it’s like,” she said in a recent phone interview, while making lunch. “Right now, it’s too much.”

She has been writing songs though, and recently finished recording her fifth album, “Gifts and Burdens,” due out in the fall on Cake Records.

While packing up and heading for gigs in California or the Midwest may be off her “to do” list, she is looking forward to playing a hometown concert at Island Music Guild Hall with two fellow musicians.

Figueroa will perform Aug. 12 at the Guild Hall with Kym Tuvim, of Tacoma, and Datri Bean, of Seattle.

“I’m doing this concert because Kym and Datri are so amazing — I want the community to be exposed to them,” she said.

Tuvim’s guitar playing is said to borrow from folk, pop, jazz and blues, while her lyrics have been called “truthful, smart and emotionally vulnerable.”

“Kym’s a longtime friend. We met when we were both getting our bearings in the Seattle music scene,” Figueroa, who migrated to the West Coast from Ohio, said.

Tuvim is also a Cake Records artist, with a self-titled debut album in 1998, followed by “On the Mend” in 2003. That CD was named a Top Five Pick of 2003 by Acoustic Guitar Magazine.

She originally moved to Seattle in 1987 to study jazz at Cornish College of the Arts, and began playing in Seattle music venues.

Bean is the new kid on the musical block, with impressive talent.

“Datri just exploded onto the scene,” Figueroa said.

She first heard the young pianist at a Rockrgrl music conference.

The Stranger, Seattle’s alternative weekly magazine, said of her talents, “Bean’s unpretentious voice is casually complemented by her laid-back piano style, brushed snare drums and clarinet.”

Bean hails from Cheyenne, Wyo., where her only exposure to live music was during the annual rodeo.

“I saw all the big, sappy stars in all their glitzy glory,” she has said. “I even got Wynona Judd to autograph my cowboy hat when I was 7 years old.”

Bean didn’t go the country route, embracing instead the sultry sounds of Billie Holiday and the “laziness” of Leon Redbone’s voice.

Her debut album, “Slow Down Summertime,” has been called a “deliberate, dreamy journey into bluesy happiness.”

Figueroa said the three performers will share the stage, but not in a trio format. It will be more like old friends backing each other up as they take their turn in the spotlight.

Holly Figueroa, Kym Tuvim and Datri Bean perform 8 p.m. Aug. 12 at Island Music Guild Hall, 10598 Valley Rd., Bainbridge Island.

Tickets are $10 at the door. For advance reservations call the Guild Hall at (206) 780-6911.