Have you met Thyme Awaye?

Standing on the stage, guitar at the ready, she surveys her listeners and decides that they are ready. As the song begins, several people recognize it and begin to sing along. By the end of the song, she is elated to find that the entire audience has gotten into the silliness of her song and are right there with her. It’s one of her greatest joys to be able to get people out of themselves enough to join her, moving them from “Is she nuts?” to “No, she’s just silly and we can be too.” Let me introduce you to Gerri Finlayson-Koscelek, aka Thyme Awaye.

Background

Gerri grew up in Stratford, Connecticut, while folk music was in vogue. She told me the music came from her mother’s side of the family. She remembered hearing stories of her Mom’s great-aunts, independent women who were Ziegfeld Folly Girls, and the great-uncle who played piano and sang. She played flute in grammar school and picked up the guitar sometime around her 11th year, playing throughout high school and during the time she spent in college.

Always an athlete, she participated in both karate and archery events, eventually taking a Connecticut Women’s Archery Championship. A love of horses led her to begin formal riding lessons at age fifteen. Gerri bought her first horse at nineteen, and continued training and riding professionally for thirty years. She found great satisfaction during her time as assistant manager on a horse farm, particularly in working with the mares and foals.

Music was on the back shelf during those years as she married, worked, and raised a son who is now grown and a musician also. It wasn’t until her son found her guitar in a closet and was interested that she picked it up again. Though Gerri told him, “It’s been a while,” she was amazed at how easily it all came back. She’s not put music away since. Instead, she has gone whole-heartedly into the life, taking up the flute and guitar again, learning to play mandolin, recorder, bass guitar, and some percussion on the djembe. She has a passion for Native American flutes, which she began playing about six years ago, and through the years has amassed quite a collection, each in a different key.

When she decided to start performing again, Gerri auditioned with a rock band and they hired her as their lead singer and bass guitarist. Though she enjoyed playing with them, she found the drama of a rock band disconcerting and eventually moved on. She laughed as she told me, “I’ve learned to see where drama is likely and avoid it.”

Faire Background

Southern Connecticut Renaissance Festival in 2002 was Gerri’s introduction to Faire and she has gone every year since. The first couple of years, she attended as a patron, wearing street clothes and just enjoying the ambiance. By the third year, she had garb ready and had a great time. She watched the performers enjoying themselves and wondered what it would be like.

Wanting to find out, she and a friend collaborated and formed “Thyme Awaye.” The name was a play on what the band was going to provide them—their time away from bill paying, work, and the daily stresses of life. Going to Faire was like going to Fantasy Island. They soon found, however, that the partner could not consistently arrange her work schedule around rehearsal and performance times and she dropped out. Gerri decided to audition anyway, although she had no background in performing as a solo act other than playing in coffee houses during high school and college. She told me there is a real difference between playing in a band where there is always something going on and going solo where you are the only thing the audience focuses on. “You really have to be on your mark because you can lose your audience in a heartbeat. There’s nobody to step in, no other personality to take over.”

She calls that first year her “deer in the headlights” year. She went to the open auditions, not really knowing what the Entertainment Director would expect of her. She had experience auditioning but never for a Faire. She hadn’t developed a character and didn’t know if she would need to. During the audition, Gerri played a few tunes, sang a couple of songs a cappella, and answered their questions. She told me it amazed her when they hired her on the spot.

As rehearsals and performances took place, she talked to the cast and learned about their “real world” lives. These weren’t just a bunch of raggletaggle people putting on a show; they came from everywhere. There were lawyers and bankers and everything else. These people didn’t have to be there, they were there because they loved the Faire. Moreover, she’s found that it was true for her too. She met so many interesting people, musicians and others. Everyone was so friendly and on the same team. Unlike other things she’d done, where the competition was fierce, the Renaissance community supported her and helped her learn and grow.

Her fondest memory of that first year was having Richie Blackmore come to her stage, specifically to hear her perform. Unfortunately, and fortunately, delays caused him to get there just as she finished her set. He introduced himself and they sat down and talked musician shop for a bit (e.g., what kind of guitar, what songs, etc.). He spotted one of her Native American flutes sticking out of a pouch and, after learning about the instrument, asked her to play for him. The pleasure Gerri found during the exchange was evident in her voice as she told me, “He was such a wonderful, gracious gentleman.”

During that first year, Gerri found that her audience expected her to have a character, even if Faire management didn’t. They wanted more than someone just sitting there, playing period guitar tunes, and singing renaissance period songs; they wanted a more personal connection and some interaction. Therefore, during the off-season between her first and second year, she worked on her set list, developing a bigger and louder sound, and developing a character.

Since female minstrels of the Renaissance period would have fallen into a level of society that Gerri was not interested in portraying, she looked for and found a pirate lurking within. Blackhearted Jenny is getting a lot of great support from the pirate community, both at Pirate Festivals and on the Renaissance circuit. Gerri’s really having a great time bringing Jenny to life. “It’s been a ‘learn as you go’ experience and everyone’s been so supportive,” she told me.

She’s developed a repertoire of over 100 songs that she feels ready to share with the world, including several original pieces. One of them is a song intended to garner audience participation and “is just silly,” she told me. The first time she played it for an audience, people looked at her as if to say, “Is she nuts?” Quickly, they realized that she was just being silly and, by the second year, people who remembered it were joining in with her, singing and clapping. “I love it when people sing along; it makes for a better day for everyone involved.”

With all the things to see, do, and hear at faire, members of the audience come and go. Sometimes they’ll stay for just a couple of songs, other times for the whole set. Gerri told me about one couple who, during her second year, paid her an extraordinary compliment and she expects always to remember them. They sat in the audience throughout the entire set, clapping with her and enjoying themselves. At the end of the show, they came forward to speak with her. “We’ve just come back from a three week trip to Ireland where we went to a lot of pubs. Your renditions of your songs brought back our whole trip. You sound like they do in Ireland, the way they play the songs. You made our day.”

She told me that this one story embodies why she performs. “I love seeing people enjoy a performance. It’s not about me, it’s about giving, I love to see people enjoy themselves and that is why I do it.”

These Days

So far, Thyme Awaye is performing primarily in Connecticut at both Renaissance and Pirate themed events. “Thyme Awaye, A Collection of Live Recordings,” released in 2007, is for sale on CDBaby. Like most musicians, Gerri has piles of lyrics and half-written tunes that she plans to record. She’d love to do some traveling, had contracted to do an event that ended up cancelling, and has contacted a couple of other venues. In the meantime, she’s concentrating on getting her music out to the public. Her songs have been included in several of Marc Gunn’s productions, and she is on the playlist of several internet radio programs including Bilgemunky and Mystic Age.

In addition to performing as Blackhearted Jenny in Thyme Awaye, Gerri was the Singing Director for the Southern Connecticut Renaissance Faire and hosted the Pubsing this past year. She also set up a booth for Minstrel’s Moon, a business she and her husband started to sell musical instruments. He makes Minstrel Moon Flutes, which are similar to the Native American one she collects but tuned differently. Needless to say, she was extremely busy and isn’t sure she’ll do it all again next year. She told me the booth was fun but she’s not the best salesperson. Her heart is really in the music.

Final Thought

Gerri expressed great appreciation for those who’ve shown her so much support. As an independent artist, there’s no one out there paying to produce and market the CDs and it’s very hard to get the music played. The response she receives at Renaissance and Pirate Festivals and on internet radio has been outstanding and she is so thankful. She told me, “I don’t think I’ve ever had a job that is so much fun and so full of life.”