“If somebody is objecting to something, there’s a reason behind it, and sometimes you can see it and sometimes you can’t and sometimes it works the other way around, where whoever is not hearing it will say, ‘You know you’re right, that does make sense.’ ” “We just kind of work it out or find that happy medium, or that place where it belongs,” says Lee. What happens when there are differences of opinion when writing or creating a song? She’ll send me her stuff and I’ll put down a bass line or keys and my vocal and send it back to her and then into the magical machine it goes, and out pops a song ( laughs).” Lee continued: “I’ll write a song and lay down a demo and send it to Karen, she works out a guitar part and her vocal and sends it back to me and then I’ll add it to mine, or vice versa. That’s our thing: We sing together like bookends, and we both write.” I love the jangly sound of a Rickenbacker, it’s very ’60s, and I started buying one after another.

“I always wanted the John Lennon Rickenbacker, the 325. This can make for an interesting dynamic given the distance currently separating the two. Lynn is the guitarist in the duo and she, like Lee, brings her own influences and viewpoints from songwriting to equipment choices. The cover of The Bookends’ album, “Calliope.” … Karen and I were always listening to old ’60s music or new stuff that reminded us of that, so it was just a natural progression for us to want to do that, and as teens we started kind of goofing around with different ideas and bands. Music was always on more than television or anything else in our homes. Both of our parents, on both sides, were huge music lovers. Lee said that when they grew up, “We were always surrounded by music. So what was it that set these two off on their musical path? Growing up in such a tight-knit environment can have its advantages or its disadvantages, depending on how one looks at it. We are so glad that we did because the music is a labor of love for us and it’s a long-standing musical relationship, so it just flows.” We just decided we’re doing it, and we’ll fit it in. There is no way I could let more time go by. “I’m also in a couple of other bands, so I’ve been super-busy musically, but … it’s something that is near and dear to me, to do this project with Karen. So, that’s how The Bookends started just a few years ago, once we finally both had the time to work on it. I’m lucky enough that I have a studio in my home so it’s super-easy for Karen and I to hash out our songs, how we want them to sound, because we don’t have that ‘time is money’ thing going on. We had little bands or sang backups when we were growing up, but nothing too crazy … so, one day we just decided to do it, and now we do everything long distance. “Then I got married and moved out here to Arizona, and we always said we would circle back. We always did something musical together. Growing up, we always had some kind of music going on, whether it was singing songs and making our parents sit through our little performances, or whatever it was. “We are super-related: Our moms are related and our dads are related, so we’ve been together just about every day of our lives. “We have been called The Bookends pretty much since we’ve been born,” said Lee.

Instal the new Bookends