PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Singer-songwriters and lifelong friends Robert Haslett, 24, and Joanna Smalls, 23, have promised to start a band together if they are still solo acts when they reach their 30th birthdays, according to sources close to the musicians.
The two veterans of the local coffee shop circuit entered the pact during a late-night drinking session after discussing their failed musical projects.
“We just decided that… hey, it’s so tough to meet other musicians you click with,” said Smalls. “And while Robert and I never played together in college, I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it. It took me a while to notice, but he actually has some pretty good songs.”
“Joanna is awesome, and I think we’d make a great band,” Haslett said. “For such a long time, I was afraid that if we collaborated, it might ruin the friendship. But at a certain point you just get so tired of only playing with yourself.”
Privately, friends claim Smalls and Haslett are destined to co-write an album with one another. One friend, who requested anonymity, noted the agreement “really brought them closer together. [Joanna] was so excited to tell me about their first jam session — she said she never imagined harmonizing could feel so right.”
While prospects for a musical union appear strong, the return of Jim McNamara, with whom Haslett once played in pop-punk band The Tragic Markers — a group Haslett “still thinks about almost every day” — has complicated the potential partnership. McNamara, currently lead singer of commercially successful alt-rock band Clingwrap, allegedly texted Haslett last week, inviting him to play bass on an upcoming world tour.
A recent survey showed fans familiar with Haslett’s dilemma are almost unanimously rooting for him to reject McNamara and form an unlikely-yet-lovable combo with Smalls. “Sure, Robert could have money and fame if he toured with Jim,” said one friend, “but let’s face it — his and Joanna’s sounds complement each other perfectly. We all knew it when we saw that montage of them shopping for antique guitars and playing Motown songs together.”