Jeff & Maya Bohnhoff
by Michelle Dockrey
Alright. I’ll be honest. Jeff Bohnhoff scares me.
Well, he used to. I mean, come on. He never smiles! He hardly ever speaks, and if you’ve been to their concerts, you know he almost never sings. And he’s a writer and performer of extreme competence, which, let’s face it, can be pretty intimidating.
Except once you get to know him a little, you find that only one of these things is true.
Jeff is an amazingly talented songwriter, a professional producer and engineer of both his own music and that of many others, an absolutely smashing guitarist, and an all-around nice guy to boot. He’ll improv an accompaniment for you in a circle if you happen to have misplaced your
guitarist, and whip up a smoking guitar solo for your concert on a few hours’ notice. And he’s funny! As such a brilliant parodist would be. And—though it’s a well-kept secret—once in a while, with a little persuasion, he’s a charmer of a singer, too.
And then there’s Maya. Who sings, plays, composes, writes novels, and designs cover art for other author’s books.
I met Maya at one of my very first filk circles. Knowing no filk myself and playing no instrument, I asked the circle at large if anyone with a guitar knew “By My Side” from Godspell—a favorite among harmony sluts like me. By a lovely stroke of luck, Maya was there, pulled out her guitar, and proceeded to make my day. I’ve been an adoring fan ever since.
Fortunately for the rest of us singers, Maya loves to harmonize, and in addition to singing lead on the Bohnhoff repertoire, she adds her harmonies to many of the album projects that Jeff records at his Mystic Fig Studio. She also ends her fantastic voice to many a fellow performer in circles and concerts, adding rich, wonderful harmonies that I don’t get nearly enough opportunities to take advantage of.
Jeff and Maya first met in 1979, when Jeff joined Maya’s rock band. Somewhere among gigs in upscale yuppie bars and smoky biker bars (oh, right, those were the same bar) they got married, and eventually began performing as a duo. Nowadays, Jeff & Maya perform both classic rock parodies and original works, collected on their original CDs Manhattan Sleeps, Mobius Street, I Remember the Rain, labyrinth and parody CDs Retro Rocket Science, Aliens Ate My Homework, Grated Hits, and Schroedinger’s Hairball. They’ll make you swoon with songs of hauntingly beautiful imagery, and moments later that same haunting voice will sing lyrics that make you fall out of your chair. (It’s happened. I’ve got witnesses.)
I’ve come to know this delightful couple and their musical family through mutual friends, con
appearances, and musical work together. Beyond being wonderful to listen to and fabulously
entertaining to watch, the Bohnhoffs are just great people whom it’s an absolute joy to know.
Once in a while, Jeff still scares me a little.
But don’t tell him, okay?