BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Ahead of their show at the Mount Baker Theatre as part of Bellingham Exit, staff writer Emma Toscani got a chance to ask show opener Becca Mancari and folk band JOSEPH about their current tour schedule and ties to the Pacific Northwest.

Becca Mancari—an up-and-coming folk musician, regular opener on JOSEPH’s tours and friend of the band—opened for the sisters and shared their experience as an East Coast musician experiencing the Pacific Northwest with Oregon natives.

 

ET: I am here with the band JOSEPH and Becca Mancari. We are talking before their show at the Mount Baker Theatre in Bellingham. I just wanted to start with: has this been a busy tour for you? As you said, it’s the 10-year anniversary of your first album and Allie’s last tour.

AC: It’s been a really big tour for us, and it’s been really special to connect with our audience. You never know what it will feel like to announce such a big transition, but we have an amazing audience who’s really showed up for us, and can we get to do her with one of our best buds, Becca, and it’s just making the whole thing feel extra special.

ET: So, can you talk a little bit about your music? You guys are pop folk. You do tend to go into the like, quieter side of that genre, but you also do get bigger with sound. I wanted to hear some things about what inspiration you’re drawing from.

NC: Yeah, we are, what are we drawing from? We are, you know, we did start out with just an acoustic guitar and vocals, and so that really drove the core of it. And then when we started playing live shows and realized how much fun it is to have a rowdy crowd screaming at the top of their lungs. We were like, we’d love to make the songs a lot bigger and louder. And so it’s been a journey just trying to meet the people who come out to the shows and create something together.

ET: And what’s your favorite kind of place to play? Do you like those? The more like theater things like Mount Baker or do you like more intimate settings?

AC: I love a rowdy club.

BM: Yeah. We like club shows probably best but shows like this are amazing. It’s a beautiful space.

ET: As far as with a rowdy club, there’s definitely a lot of that kind of space in Bellingham. So, have you been to Bellingham before?

BM: Yeah, I just remembered that I played the first time I opened up for Joseph was like, what, 2017 or 2018, I think 2018 and we played at the Wild Buffalo?

ET: Yes, the Wild Buff, that’s right. So, you guys are all sisters. What’s it like being in a band with your sisters? Like, I have a sister, but we’re not exactly in a band together.

NC: It’s amazing. We get to have these memories for life, and it’s just we, you know, share clothes, and we get to laugh and have fun together. Just the most articulate, gorgeous way of putting it… Sarcasm.

ET: So, I guess is there anything that you feel like listeners that are new to your music need to know before listening?

NC: Okay, you should answer this too for yourself (pointing to Becca). So, for JOSEPH, I would say it’s really… We are a live band. I’ll say that like the show is really good. So, if you can ever come out to a show, do that, and also, please enjoy the lyrics. That’s what I will say. What would you say, Bex?

BM: I think I’m similar. I feel like I really enjoy the live performance, and I like to tell a lot of stories and make a lot of jokes. Yes, that’s very, I don’t know, I feel really connected to the crowd.

ET: I wanted to ask a little bit about growing up in Oregon and, like, having, like, a national touring schedule. What’s it like to perform in the Pacific Northwest?

NC: Oh, so good. Just feels like, you know, I mean, it’s literally coming home, so, you know, it’s like, when you’re from here, and we were just talking about this, because Becca from the East Coast, because wherever you’re from, it’s like, that’s the thing that you long for, you know? And so coming back into the trees, and it’s been gorgeously sunny these days, which has been incredible, just feels like alignment. That’s what I would say,

AC: Yeah. And then, like every show feels like a hometown show, which is special.

ET: (To Becca) How do you find the Pacific Northwest?

BM: I love that question because I was literally talking to a tree, and it was an unfamiliar sound. And I feel like it’s so magical here. I think if you’re not from this area, you just can’t even like, I feel like I have to ask for an invitation a little bit, it’s so beautiful, and it’s, it is so unfamiliar to me. So I love being up here. I feel like, also the fans are amazing. And like, I think they feel really, there are big cities, so people always come through. But I do feel like a city like this is like, always thankful when, like, you know, touring artists come and I think it’s great. I love being in places like this.