SOLON — The Music on Main concert series has highlighted local talent since the first show in June, and Wednesday, July 27’s installment was no exception as Solon native Alex Newkirk took to the stage.
“I grew up here, I graduated from Solon High School in 2006, then I went to Decorah for Luther (College) for a couple years and then over to Chicago. And I’ve been there ever since.”
Alex is a musician by trade. “That’s the only thing I do there. I sing and play the piano at a couple of restaurants downtown, and then at a couple of clubs on the North side with my musical duo partner Molly (Callinan), she’s usually there with me, otherwise I’m flying solo. She’s awesome. She’s so great. I really wanted to bring her back (to Solon), she’s a wild one so anytime I can get a chance to show her off to people who might not get a chance to get a dose of Molly, that’s my goal.”
Molly is a singer, actor, yoga instructor, and self-described “kick-ass performer.” Among the many groups she performs with in addition to pairing up with Alex, Molly has been with actor Gary Sinise’s Lt. Dan Band for nearly ten years entertaining our troops and their families around the world.
Music on Main organizer Nancy Upmeyer reached out to Alex last summer about being a part of the concert series, “And I was able to make that work for my schedule,” he said. “This summer I did the same thing and asked Molly if she’d come along. We sort of dabble in a bit of whatever people want to hear. We take a lot of requests at our Chicago shows, we do an event called Broadway Brunch where we do all Broadway tunes, we also do pop, jazz, and rock. Molly has crazy rock vocals and I’m more the pop ballad guy, so we make a good complimentary duo. We do Sonny and Cher, we do Broadway, we do 80s, we try to throw something in there for everybody.”
He credits his love of music to Lori Broghammer, his first piano teacher. “My mom plays piano and ever since I was a kid, I’ve wanted to do that, so I did piano lessons with her, then started music at the school, and found my way into singing on accident and it’s been a whirlwind ever since.”
For Alex and Molly, it was a whirlwind tour before returning to the Windy City. The duo drove in that morning and had a gig back in Chicago the next evening. While the visit was short, many family, friends, and supporters turned out to see him.
Alex has a website, www.alexraynewkirk.com, where he has some original music posted. However, he noted most of his work is live. “So, if anybody is in the Chicago area, I have my schedule on my website.” The pair are also on Instagram (The Molly and Alex Duo) and Facebook (Molly and Alex). Molly has her own website at www.toomuchmolly.com.
“It joys me to have a special reason to come home,” he said.
Alex Newkirk, a Solon native, has realized his dream of being a professional musician in Chicago. Newkirk returned to Solon to perform Wednesday, July 27 as part of the Music on Main concert series.