Sup people! Today we turn your attention to Pebble to Pearl (P2P), a funky fresh, DC-based band. Their music is a blend of rock, blues and funk, all delivered with soulful grooves and flawless vocals. Their inspiration comes from different genres and artists – from Stevie Wonder and Chaka Khan, through Beyonce and Rihanna, to Joss Stone and Lenny Kravitz. This awesome bunch comes from the southwest and Mid-Atlantic and has been touring up and down the East Coast for some time now. Their new album is coming up this year so we talked to guitarist Genevieve Konecnik (Genny Jam) and asked all about it

Hey there Genevieve, please introduce yourself and your band!
Wassup!! I am Genevieve Konecnik which is hard to pronounce so I go by my stage name Genny Jam. I am a professional guitarist and composer and perform with Pebble to Pearl, one of the hottest bands in the DC metro area. Pebble to Pearl is led by amazing vocalist Dari Jay and is a unique blend of funk, rock and powerful blues. The 6pc band includes members, Dece – bass, Panda – drums, Nikki T – bkg vox, Araya – keys and myself on guitar. Our repertoire consists of covers and originals and have a few songs up on iTunes.

Pebble to Pearl Live at Villain & Saint

You’re a multi-talented person, how did you get into music?

Well, it’s crazy because I don’t come from a musical family but always dreamed of being on stage. I somehow convinced my parents to buy me a guitar and after failing at trying to teach myself, I found a great guitar instructor and stuck with her for 6 years. Her teaching style was to show me the songs I wanted to learn and broke them up into different techniques, i.e. strumming, fingerpicking, soloing, barre chords, theory etc. It made me love the instrument even more. After that, I was very blessed and honored to play in a lot of bands and experienced various types of music genres.

Genevieve Konecnik a.ka. Genny Jam doing her thing 🙂

What is music to you?
Music to me is an expression, a creative form, a craft and a gift. It can make you laugh, cry, dance, be angry, haha, so many emotions. Music is part of everyone and everything.

How do you manage your time between projects? Please give a few advices.

You know, I get pretty busy at times but it’s always good to stay focused and disciplined to your craft. I find making to-do lists and planning goals always keeps me on point. I always feel the need to improve and when there is downtime I can’t seem to sit still. There is still so much I want to do and learn so I think that’s what keeps me going. If you have the drive and passion, you will make time.

Have you ever wished to do just one thing or you find different work fields exciting?
Funny you mentioned that. I am also a designer and video editor in my other life. I mentioned earlier that I don’t come from a musical family but they are very artistic. Most of them are very gifted in art. I loved to draw and I was really good at it so I went to school to pursue a career in design. I worked at some of top design agencies in the DC area. After much success with that, I decided to freelance to be able to work on both crafts of art and music. My business is Demadesign, LLC and I focus mainly on video, motion graphics and sound design. My work can be seen here.

How hard is it to be a professional musician nowadays – what is wrong and what is right in the industry?
Actually, if you have the talent and gift, it’s pretty easy nowadays with the use of technology and the internet. Back in the day, we all depended on the music companies and word of mouth to be discovered and it made it harder to be seen. Today we have many different platforms to share our music and show off our abilities. But it still takes dedication and the right marketing to get yourself out there.

Pebble to Pearl performing live

Where do you dream to perform?
Gosh, throughout my musical career I’ve been able to travel the world and experience different music and cultures. I would just love to keep doing that with Pebble to Pearl. They are so energetic and the music is so good. I know we would be a hit nationally and overseas.

Please share a few marketing tricks that you’ve used for promoting your band.
Being a video editor in the industry, I’ve always thought that medium is great to promote a band. Flyers, photos and audio bytes are good but people gravitate more towards video. Seeing is believing! It’s really easy now with the current technology of smartphones.

“Raw and real is very acceptable.“

What do you think of Drooble?
I am new to it but I truly believe it’s another great platform for musicians and bands to network, collaborate and be seen. I am happy to be a part of the community.

What’s next for you – any new music or album?
Yes!! Pebble to Pearl will be in the studio this month to get our long-awaited EP out. It’s gonna rock too!! Trust!! As for me, I will be releasing my own works of music later this year. Still in the planning stages but has been my goal for many years and I think it’s time to do it 🙂

Genny Jam from DC, USA. Follow her at drooble.com/gennyjam