Mariam Dahbi
She flew away from her hometown of Rabat, Morocco to pursue graduate studies in Education, and carried along her lifelong dream of being a professional singer and songwriter.
Since 2015 she’s spent her Harvard years juggling between academia and the singer songwriter scene of Boston.
She finally decided to join forces with incredibly talented musicians at Harvard and beyond to form her dream band: Bob Abruzese, Grant Smith, Jack Lewis, and Jacob Sunshine are the elevating force to Mariam’s songs.
Bob Abruzese
Boston-based upright and electric bassist, Bob Abruzese, has been a fixture on the Boston music circuit since the 90's. He enjoys playing all types of music and brings a tasteful mix of rock, jazz, blues, folk, soul and funk to his playing. An alumnus of Berklee College of Music, Bob has studied privately with Bruce Gertz, Ed Friedland and others. He has had the opportunity to perform with countless talents, including Shirley Lewis, Boston Baked Blues, Amyl Justin, Jason Ricci, Jerry Portnoy, Kenwood Dennard, Herman Johnson, Portrait in Jazz, and many more. Bob has toured throughout the country and Europe playing in clubs and festivals
Grant Smith
Grant Smith studied drumset with Alan Dawson, Arabic drums with Jamie Haddad, tabla with Shashi Nayak, and Afro-Cuban percussion with Enrique Pla. The Boston Globe calls him a "brilliant improviser." The Boston Phoenix has noted his topflight "cross-genre " abilities. Ilene notes his sunny disposition. Grant has toured extensively, including Thailand, Australia, and both Europes. A member of the Klezmer Conservatory Band, he is also a part of many world music, jazz, classical, orthodox, deconstructed, and both free projects. Theatre and dance credits include the American Repertory Theater's production of "The King Stag," featuring a solo multi-percussion score (with staging and costumes by Julie Taymore) and movement works with Shakti Smith, Jane Wang, and Anika Tromboldt Kristensen as well as his own choreography known as hogginsho.
Despite such high profile gigs as tympani with Itzhak Perlman, borscht drums with Joel Grey, and tabla with the Violent Femmes, Grant still insists that his biggest gig was the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with Kermit the Frog and Big Bird.
Jack Lewis
Jack is a multi-instrumentalist who has been writing and performing in Boston for the past 4 years.
He has toured numerous times across the Northeast and Midwest, playing in cities such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Asheville, Washington DC, and many others.
He enjoys playing a variety of genres, from jazz to folk to indie rock, and has a deep passion for all things music.
Jack received a Bachelors of Arts in Music and Physics from Wesleyan University, and is currently looking to pursue a Masters in Music Education.
Jacob Sunshine
Jacob Sunshine is the band's electric guitarist, and he loves adding vibe, texture, and melodic embellishment to Mariam's beautiful songs. Though influenced early on by blues, rock, and jazz virtuosos like John Frusciante, Jimi Hendrix, and Grant Green, at a certain point, Jacob became a devotee and student of the sonic, percussive, and expressive possibilities of the electric guitar. These days you're more likely to hear Jacob contributing ragged raw glory and throbbing baritone bombs to a track, creating airy loops and tremolo-drenched chords, or playing singing contrapuntal lines. In past years, Jacob's played in experimental indie rock, Neo-Soul, Americana, Ghanaian Highlife, and Metal bands at venues and festivals like the Winter Jazzfest, Montreal Jazz Festival, The Blue Note, National Sawdust, and NPR's The Greene Space.