Biography

The Better Halves are a husband-wife musical duo specializing in making listeners smile. With training at Berklee College of Music and GIT in Hollywood, Jimmy Joe is a skilled guitarist. Country, bluegrass, folk, jazz, Latin and classical styles create a widely appealing repertoire. He has a talent for crafting story songs, and one of his car songs was featured on NPR's “Car Talk” and Kerrville Folk Festival’s Newfolk Contest Regional Performance. Chrissie joins him with sweet vocal harmonies and rhythm guitar. Her whimsical, melodic songwriting earned her the chance to perform on Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion". Their first CD, Tête-à-Tête, released in early 2011, placed on the folk music charts all over the world. Their sophomore CD, All Over the Map, was just released in early 2015. Together they write funny, touching duets with clever lyrics and real boy-girl banter. They also play rousing Chet Atkins influenced instrumentals, including a piece played 4 hands on 1 guitar, which always bring down showers of applause! Their songs uplift and entertain all ages, and they perform in settings from weddings to schools to festivals. They have been a staple at one of Austin’s largest farmers markets for over a decade, where they touch hearts and get toes tapping with their upbeat, fun and inspiring music!