The Dutchess & The Duke

Jesse Lortz and Kimberly Morrison had each logged time in various rough Seattle garage punk outfits before the pair earned widespread notice abroad in 2008 with their first album under the name the Dutchess & the Duke. On that release they shifted to acoustic guitars and a restrained yet direct folk-rock approach that evoked the style of Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, and the Rolling Stones. The two had first crossed paths in high school, bonded by a common taste for beer, junk food, and punk rock, and later both emerged as active participants in the Pacific Northwest garage punk community. Lortz played in the Flying Dutchmen, described as a “deconstructionist R&B band,” and brought Morrison aboard on organ in 2002. After the Flying Dutchmen disbanded in 2004, Lortz launched the Fe Fi Fo Fums and founded the independent imprint Boom Boom Castle Records, while Morrison spent time in the Intelligence, the Fallouts, and the Unnatural Helpers.

The two later collaborated briefly in a group called the Sultans, an experience that prompted them to begin composing songs that looked backward at earlier eras of pop. Adopting the name the Dutchess & the Duke—the nickname “the Dutchess” having originated during Morrison’s stint with the Flying Dutchmen—they refined their vocal harmonies and tracked material at Magical Basement Studios, an eight-track room in Seattle operated by Bryan Standridge of the Suspicions. Additional studio support came from Donnie Hilsdat and Karen Mitchell. The duo issued its debut 7-inch on Boom Boom Castle in 2007, coupling “Reservoir Park” with “Mary,” and several months afterward the Sub Pop-affiliated Hardly Art label offered them a recording contract. Their debut full-length, She’s the Dutchess, He’s the Duke, appeared in June 2008 to strong critical response; Lortz and Morrison then toured with help from Ruben Mendez and Oscar Michel. The following year they released Sunset/Sunrise.