The Monarques
Woodbury, New York, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2011
Music
Press
The audience at the Monarques’ concert that night could have closed their eyes and, instead, imagined they were listening to the light melodic “pop” folk hits of the 1960s. Their bright, clapalong melodies and lush harmonies recall classic folk tunes by Bob Dylan, the Seekers and Crosby Stills & Nash. A few of their rockabilly songs reach even further back to the 1950s to the styles of the Everly Brothers and Ricky Nelson.
"The Monarques’s sound is easily recognizable. It's comfortable folk. The melodies are wonderfully accessible. The music draws us to
the love of Jesus Christ,” the Rev. Hal Thornton, pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Elmwood Park, and a friend of Monarque’s, told the audience. He added, “The lyrics were sensitively written and are an honest sharing of a man’s discovery of God’s love. They speak of our sense of God’s presence in our lives.”
Monarque’s songwriting started, when hewrote the script and the songs for a musical,“That’s Life,” which premiered in Hollywood in
2002. In the production, he played a down-and-out musician, who meets God in a karaoke machine and begins to turn around his life — a
sort of “born again” experience, he said. Monarque started picking up his guitar to write more personal songs that told the story of his own faith experience.
The Monarques' music has also moved record-industry watchers, such as Bob Everhart of Tradition folk music magazine. He declares that the Monarques “have progressed through a series of adventures in their lives that has brought them to a remarkable conjunction of voices,
inspiring lyrics and beautiful music.” - The Beacon
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
The Monarques are a spiritual folk group with a unique sound inspired by folk gospel, early rock n' roll and traditional praise music. Laura and Steve Monarque met onstage, performing in the rock musical Destinations at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City, where they found a shared passion for music and storytelling. Between them they have many years’ experience in music, theater, television and film. Laura has performed across the country in professional regional theaters, including the original tour of Broadway musical A Night with Janis Joplin at Arena Stage and Cleveland Play House, and alongside indie folk band Blitzen Trapper in their original musical at Portland Center Stage. Over the years, Steve has acted in many well-known films including Sixteen Candles and No Small Affair, and numerous TV appearances including a special MTV video for the popular song "25 or 6 to 4", by rock band Chicago. In recent years Steve and Laura have focused on creating and producing high-end, family-friendly content for both live performance and film through their company MonaVision Films. Recent projects include the award-winning made-for-TV film “Simpler Times”, written and directed by Steve, in which they performed alongside Jerry Stiller and the late Anne Meara. Laura co-wrote the theme song with Jerry, and the film is distributed and programmed by ShortsTV. Steve’s play “That’s Life”, a story of spiritual redemption in which a suicidal rock n’ roller meets his guardian angel through a Karaoke machine, is currently in development in New York City. The 13-song score is written by Steve and performed by The Monarques.
Band Members
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