Official Website of JillandKate

On late Sunday night we were able to fly into Los Angeles to spend a few days with friends. A lot of you have been following our dear friend Will Gray’s battle with cancer. If you haven’t read his ongoing story, it is one of unparalleled bravery, strength and courage. You can read his story at www.GoTeamGray.com

We flew out because he was given some news about the progression of the cancer and we wanted to be near him and his wife Angie. A few friends have also flown in and yesterday we were outside for most of the day…some friends that we haven’t seen in a while and some that we see often. We laughed. We shared stories. We ate yummy burritos. We opened a couple of bottles of wine (at the appropriate time of course…) and enjoyed the simplicity of friendship, fresh air and the glorious California sunshine.

Will & Angie came and sat with us for a bit and it was wonderful. Will continues to be a bright light in every second of life. He cracked jokes, spoke words of wisdom and was brainstorming the next big thing. Totally Will. Totally amazing.

Life will always bring us different situations and we have the opportunity to learn something. This situation has just further instilled in us the beauty of living every moment. To let the people in your life know they are loved. To not stress out about silly, insignificant things. To breathe. To love. To be.

We are overwhelmed with love for our friends. We are overwhelmed with thankfulness that they are in our lives.

We are two hopeful and grateful hearts in California.

j&k

So if you made it here, you probably follow us on Twitter or subscribe to our blog or something! But we have other stuff going on in the wonderful land of the world wide web too, so if you don’t follow us in these places, come on and let’s be friends!

JillandKate Pinterest

Jill Pinterest

Kate Pinterest

Twitter

Facebook

YouTube (we are in the process of re-uploading lost videos so subscribe to our channel for new and old material on its way!)

Also follow us on your Instagram app @ jillandkate

So many places to be friends!

Have a great day

-j&k-

Hey hey hey!

It’s been fun seeing a lot of you lately at shows and what not. Hope you are having a fabulous summer!

We want to connect with you more and document all of our good times together, so we are asking for your help!

If you have any photos or videos of you and us…at a show, after a show, at a Kelly show, at a random Karaoke party or wherever it may be, and you want to share the love…please send them to our team at JKFANPHOTOS@gmail.com so we can post all of our good times together! They can be old or new or whatEVER!

DO IT TO IT!!

much love…and more to come soon….

-j&k-

If it isn’t Monday again. The weeks go by rather fast these days don’t they? For me they have been flying. I can’t believe it’s already March. Want to know what’s weird? As I was typing that, the Ellen show was on in the background and she said “I can’t believe it’s March…” It’s so crazy when stuff like that happens. I love it.

So I have these incredible friends back in Nashville who gave me the most awesome Christmas present ever. It’s a day planner with little notes/cards for every week that I am out on the road so that whenever I need a little pick-me-up from back home, I can open it up and read one of their cards. Seriously, best friends ever award. I’m so lucky.

Anyway, today’s card had a quote in it and you know how much I love quotes. So here it is:

“Rudeness is the weak person’s imitation of strength.”

I’ve never heard that one before, but it hit me pretty hard just now. It is pretty easy to get annoyed with little things and be rude especially out here on the road. It’s easy to lose perspective and for everything to become a much bigger deal than it actually is. It’s easy to become completely self-focused. Sometimes I just want to be complain and be rude and act like a two year old who needs a nap. But I have to remember to suck it up, be strong and act appropriately.

So there ya go. Jill’s thoughts for the day. Keep on truckin.

-j-

“F-R-I-E-N-D-S.” It’s now on Nick@Nite…what’s not to love about that?

Flip-Flops. We have been in Florida for the past week and I’ve been able to wear flip-flops daily. It’s like a dream. If I could wear flip-flops every day for the rest of my life, I would. They are far superior to shoes…in my opinion.

The show “An Idiot Abroad.” It’s our favorite show to watch on the bus on this tour. It is AWESOME. If you need a new show to watch, check it out. I think you’ll be glad you did.

Pinterest. Why was I so late to the party on this? It’s brilliant and addicting and inspiring. What’s not to like?

This hilarious skit from SNL last week: 

http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/widget/widget.html?vid=1386283

Those are the things I like this week.

Peace!

-j-

February 18th, 2007

February 18th, 2012

You know how sometimes on a certain day you wonder…what am I going to be doing 5 years from now? Well…we had that moment last week. We realized that on February 18th, 2007 we played our very first show with Kelly. We were in Florida at the Daytona 500…no big deal….just 250,000 thousand people were there. Flash forward 5 years and we were in Orlando, FL performing with Kelly at Universal Studios–one of the stops on the Stronger Tour.

It’s crazy that we have been working together for 5 years!!!! Wowza! Even more rewarding than just working together has been the friendship that we’ve made with Kelly and the other band/crew members. Serisously. We have all laughed together, cried together, learned songs together…we are family. And for that we are so blessed & thankful.

We cannot say enough good things about what an amazing experience this has been. All of the people that we’ve met, the friends we’ve made, the insane memories we’ve captured in our hearts…it truly has been amazing  We have learned SO much & are still learning.

Fun to look back over the past 5 years.

Yay.

Happy Work-a-Versary Kelly!

-j&k-

You Oughta Know….our friend TaRee!!

So y’all know how much we love music. Obviously. So, this will come as no surprise that we are recommending some new music for ya. Do yourself a favor & check out our friend TaRee. She is a super soulful Gospel singer and released an awesome EP titled “Crazy Love” earlier this year. You will love her voice and her catchy songs. For real.

Plus, she is a super sweet, bubbly person in real life. It’s always nice to see people who enjoy what they do and you can definitely see that she loves to sing. You can check out her YouTube Channel with all sorts of amazing covers of popular songs. Our favorites from the EP are: “All We Are” & “Did You Know.”

So, go check out her FB page, “Like” her, watch a few of her YouTube videos, follow her on twitter @tareemusic

Get to know her! TaRee…can’t wait to see what you do next!

-j&k-

Click here for past entries in the You Oughta Know Series.

I’ve been sick. Well, since you asked….I have had this nasty little thing representing flu-like symptoms the last couple of days and it is no fun at all. Okay, well a little fun cause I’ve laid in bed or on the couch for 48 hours doing nothing but watching movies & TV & eating frozen yogurt…and besides feeling the knives in my throat and not being able to talk, it’s been a real hoot. But during this sickness I realized again my deep love affair with Ricola’s. They are herbal cough suppressant throat drops…aka…heaven to your throat when it’s hurting. With the seasons changing, these little drops are always good to have around

I had this dream last night that I was dating David Schwimmer. Now, what was my subconscious trying to tell me? Too many cold pills, too many romantic comedies leaving me lonely, too many FRIENDS episodes?? I don’t know…it’s weird…we were out on a lake with lots of people…then we were eating dinner…hmmm…I don’t think I’ve ever had a “thing” for David (yes, we are on a first name basis now)…but I distinctly remember waking up knowing that moments ago in dreamland David and I were happily dating…aren’t dreams SO WEIRD? Weird, weird, weird. Ey yi yi.

And finally I wanted to share that hipstamatic is still the coolest iPhone photo application in my book…check out this rad pic of Jill I took the other day:

You can thank me later for all of these gems.

Haha.

-k

Well, we wanted to wish our dear friend Kelly a HAPPY BIRTHDAY on our blog. Not only is she super-duper talented, but she is also a ridiculously awesome friend. She is trustworthy, listens and always takes the high road…quality people…straight up quality.

Our friendship has seen lots of things:

Gondoloa Rides in Italy

Cold weather on the streets of NYC waiting to see Patty Griffin

Warm sun of the beaches of St. Tropez

Hotel room somewhere in the world

In our Christmas PJ’s on the bus:

And if all of that doesn’t speak for itself, we have stood together on the FRIENDS stage and that will make us FRIENDS for life.

Love you lots.

-j&k-

So, I (kate) made some killer guacamole tonight. It was delicious. I love Mexican food. Yes. Yes. Haha. So, now we are answering more questions. The questions we are getting into are just getting funnier and funnier–you come up with some weird questions We’ve gotten so many I think we are going to be answering questions until Christmas. One more thing before we start answering questions… I recently read Selena Gomez’s twitter and it said this: “2010, the year of no fear.” I like that. No fear people. No fear. Walk on the wild side of no fear. You’ll be amazed at what you stumble upon. Ok, enough rambling…the questions:

I believe that the “spork” is one of the best inventions ever.  What are your thoughts? How many different instruments do you play?  List. What is the best part of your job?  My daughter, Keragan (6 years old), wanted to know if you like Spongebob? -Rhonda

Rhonda. Thank you for asking the important questions here The spork. For those of you who don’t know what a spork is, here is a visual aid.

Now, Rhonda, contrary to what you might think of us…we don’t really have super strong feelings about the spork, BUT we are happy that it makes you so happy. It does solve the spoon/fork dilemma that we all face from time to time so that’s pretty awesome. Good question. Jill plays the guitar, piano and killer Rockband drums. Kate plays a little piano, guitar and a wicked triangle. The best part of our job is that we get to play & write music, travel and get to meet crazy people all the time. And last but not least Keragan, you’ll be happy to know that we are both very fond of Spongebob…and Patrick too.

What’s your favorite food? What’s your favorite color? What’s your favorite song you’ve ever written? What did ya’ll major in? What did you do before you were KC’s backup singers? What’s your favorite actress? -Erin

Kate’s favorite food is chips and salsa–and guacamole as mentioned above  Jill’s favorite food is Spaghetti or Thai…haha…she loves noodles…oh and chocolate of course. Jill’s favorite color is orange, Kate’s is pink. Kate’s favorite song she’s ever written is a new one called “Don’t Feel A Thing.” Jill’s favorite song she’s ever written is “Finding My Own Way.” We both majored in Communications. That’s right. We can communicate like no one’s business. (haha) Before we sang with Kelly we were still “jillandkate”—we played shows & wrote music and worked a plethora of awesome odd jobs. Kate’s favorite actress is Julia Roberts or Sandra Bullock. Jill’s favorite actress is Sandra Bullock.

Who was your favorite artist/band in 2009? Who’s music could you absolutely not live without?  Has anybody’s music, whether it is a solo artist, band, song, etc. completely changed your life or made you have a different outlook on something? Are you going to watch the LOST season finale? Favorite movie of all time? -Christina

Kate’s answers: favorite band of 2009 would probably have to be Kings of Leon. I could not live without Patty Griffin’s music. She is a genius. Her song “Top of the World” definitely changed me. I love that song. I’m probably not going to watch the LOST finale–maybe someday but I’ve only watched Season 1 and part of Season 2 so I need to catch up before I watch the series finale Favorite movie of all time??? I hate this question. I never know what to say and I always feel that people judge me based off of my movie choices. So don’t judge me please. These movies don’t say anything about me or maybe they do…who knows. So here we go… “First Wives Club” or “The Rock.”

Jill’s answers: My favorite artist of 2009 is probably Miranda Lambert. She’s really just all around a great artist. I’m gonna agree with Kate and say that I could not live without Patty Griffin’s music. Her new album comes out this month and I’m overly excited about it. Her music has definitely changed my life…it’s so incredibly amazing. I am not caught up on LOST either…oops…guess I need to get on that! Favorite movie of all time is The Sound of Music. I have watched it hundreds…maybe even thousands of times.

Not really a question for your blog but I wanted to know what are the chances of you guys doing a show when you’re in Melbourne next year? -Alison

Alison, we are trying to work out a show in the land down under. It’s definitely on our goal list. We are thankful that if we do play there we can count on you coming. So if we do come–you are in charge of marketing. Deal? Deal. Okay awesome. Sweet.

I was wondering what you both love about the UK and is there anything you’re looking forward to seeing/doing/eating when you get here? How did you girls celebrate New Year? -Dani

I  (Kate) love the architecture in the UK and love taking walks and exploring the cities we end up in. Taking pictures of the random places we are in overseas is always a hobby too.

I (Jill) love the taxis, the hats that the doormen wear, and the breakast. The UK has amazing breakfast!

We were in Nashville for New Year’s Eve. We were crazy, wild people. HA. Just kidding. In some people’s eyes we were lame–call us lame if you want–we don’t care–we were at home–which we are NEVER at home so that was AWESOME!

What was yall’s best moment ever? How excited are yall to be getting ready to record?!?!? -Mary

Best moment ever??? That’s a pretty monumental question Mary. Hmmm… This picture describes one of the best moments ever…seeing Amy Grant and Vince Gill at the Ryman. The picture is blurry but you get the idea. Thanks to Jason Halbert for snapping a pic on his phone of our faces when they walked out on stage.

We are VERY excited about recording. Like, ridiculously excited. It’s hard work and can take hours upon hours of tedious work, but it’s so worth it. Love the studio.

Where can I get an I pick jk tshirt? -Noreen

Noreen. Cool name, btw. We are going to start selling them online soon…sooooooon. So when we do, we’ll let you know. For sure. Promise. Cross our hearts.

Kate, when you come home to Chicago, where are your favorite places to go? Jill, how long have you been playing the guitar and the piano?  Was it something your parents suggested you learn or was that all you? Where do you get your inspiration for writing? -Ashley C.

One of my favorite places to go in Chicago is a place called Graham’s. They have THE BEST root beer floats. I didn’t really even like root beer floats until I started having them there…they are delicious. My dad and I go there everytime I come home for the holidays. It’s special.

I (Jill) have been playing the piano since I was 8 and the guitar since I was 11. I think my mom and my great-grandmother suggested I take piano lessons and after that I decided to pick up the guitar. I took the Suzuki method of piano which is learning how to play by ear so I don’t read music hardly at all. Haha…lame, I know! But I love both instruments.

Look no further than yourself and the people around you for inspiration in songwriting. People are definitely the biggest inspiration for us when it comes to writing songs. People who you love, people who hurt you, people you want to hurt (haha), people that you see making mistakes or when you make a mistake, when you grieve, when you lose, when you love…all of those things can inspire songs.

Is there any date yet that we can expect a new EP or album? -Amanda

We are just beginning the recording process right now so we have no solid idea when we will be releasing anything. But, don’t make a frownie face just yet Amanda. We will keep you in the loop and completely involved in the process. When we know something, you’ll know something.

What is your favorite song by another artist ever? -JenMichelle

Kate’s favorite song is “Top of the World” by Patty Griffin. Jill’s is “Stay” by Lisa Loeb.

Favorite character on Friends? which Girl-? Guy-? The one question we’ve all wanted to know…..Is that golf picture really of Kate? -Pam

Kate’s are Phoebe & Ross…Jill’s are Phoebe & Chandler. HAHA. For those of you who are new to the blog–we believe this is the picture in reference:

Yes that is me in the golf picture. That’s right people…I’ve got some muscle somewhere. Haha. Happy now? Alrighty, that’s all for now peeps. Keep checking in. Lots of fun to be had.

-j&k-