Acoustic Joint is definitely giving Burlington something to talk about.
Fronted by a husband-wife duo, singer Carmen and her husband Steve Juraic on bass guitar, the band has created a large following and hopes to grow even bigger going forward.
And it all started with Something To Talk About. Six years ago, the pair, who’d never met, were at the Dickens in downtown Burlington; Carmen was singing Bonnie Raitt’s 1991 hit song.
Steve was impressed by her vocals, so much so, that he thought karaoke was over, and regular music was back on. He turned and saw Carmen singing and thought, “I gotta meet her. And my pick up line was, ‘You gotta be in my band.'”
Carmen had heard that before and rolled her eyes. But this time, things were different. The musicians were instantly compatible and people who met them the same evening thought they’d been together for ages.
“It definitely seemed like we gave people something to talk about,” Steve, 47, said. “That’s kind of cool.”
Cool indeed. It’s come full circle as they rounded out their band in 2019, and people are talking. They’ve got childhood friends Eddie Devcic on lead guitar and John Bukovcan on drums. All good friends and all with families of their own, they enjoy each other’s company, and their music has taken off as a result.
And on Thursday (April 13), the now married parents who have a 20-month-old daughter, hope there will be even more chatter. That’s the first time they’ll hear themselves on the FM airwaves. Canadian station CJAI, 101.3 FM (located in Eastern Ontario) will play Fire of Embers at 5 p.m.
But not to worry. Local fans who want to listen to the band can do so online, or later this year when, fingers-crossed, their first album will be ready to go.
That new single, Fire of Embers, came out a few weeks ago. Carmen, 37, writes the band’s lyrics. She said the song is about going through life on your own terms and how, when you’re dealing with someone who puts you down all the time or offers you sweet nothings, you’ve got to figure out yourself to get through your demons.
The band has many Canadian music industry connections: the Grammy award-winning song Something To Talk About was written by (now-deceased, 2022) Canadian singer-songwriter Shirley Eikhard; the band’s producer Dani Rosenoer was a former member of Three Days Grace, the record-breaking Ontario rock band.
“He loves to work with us and loves our history; he’s a great person to have on our side,” Carmen said.
When Carmen and Steve first got together, they’d spend evenings talking about music. One night, he was strumming his acoustic guitar and asked her if she had any lyrics.
A diary keeper, Carmen went and grabbed a poem she had written when she was 14, and that’s how A Whisper Away became a song. The chorus and the poem went hand-in-hand – exactly how the couple did.
“It was a beautiful thing, and this song just kick-started the whole thing for us,” Steve said. “She read it to me and she had the line. I thought, ‘Wow, there’s a lot going on up there.' It was pretty deep. I couldn’t believe how she could formulate it melodically to what I was playing on guitar. Everyone and everything just fit and it just snowballed from there.”
Six months ago, they released Downtown, a homage to home and where they met.
Both enjoy a variety of different types of music: Carmen is a big Shania Twain fan, while Steve grew up in the old school, heavy metal rock era, (favourite bands are Def Leppard and Kiss) but don’t cross anything off ― they enjoy many different genres. “As long as you can relate to it, that’s a good thing,” said Carmen.
Both agree that they hope their music can be a legacy for their daughter when she’s older.
“What I hope comes out of (our music) is that we have a legacy to leave behind for our little one, so she can see that you can make something out of dreams. Start it and finish it.”
And, “hopefully we’re looking for anyone who would like to sign us,” added Steve.
With all the band members having families, it’s not easy to find time to practise, but they manage to do so once a week.
“Our main goal is to get our original stuff out there,” said Steve, who works as an operations manager for a local hospitality company. “We’ve done covers before and we’re getting a set list together to get our name out there. At the end of day, we got together, started hanging out and we created these 10 songs out of the blue: we might as well do something with them.”
Titled A Whisper Away, the album is long overdue, they say.
A piano ballad named Freeze is next to be released. Carmen, who is a full-time dental hygienist, explains it’s about childhood trauma and taking back the reins so you can become the spokesperson of your life.
“Don’t look back at the past in a bad light; it’s a stepping stone to the health of the future,” she said.
Steve added “Freeze is a super cool ballad where Carmen's vocals blow this song out of the park. We are super excited to see everyone's reaction to this song. Make sure to follow us on our social media pages so you don’t miss this release.”
They’re also excited about their new video that came out recently (see below), and fans can check them out at:
More local news
Browse local flyers
Weather forecast
Find local deals
Browse obituaries
View local webcams
