Chris Donlon - Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Clarinet, Organ, Irish Flute, Kazoo, __________ Desk, Computer
Mollie Hagar - Vocals, Drums, Talking, Noises
Kate McLean - Vocals
Chris and Mollie met in Santa Cruz, CA while attending UCSC and bonded over a love of the Blue Album, lo-fi pop, and the mutual desire to form a band. At first Mollie was to play the keyboard, but this quickly gave way to the realization that "the beat" would serve the band better, and on borrowed drums the first true practices were held. They rocked many house shows in Santa Cruz and recorded the self released CD-R (take to the skies) with one mic and usually only a couple of takes and vocal overdubs. It's a primitive and pure pop record, with all the blemishes and awkward beauty of teenagers on a first date. The possibilities were wide open.
However, after the release of (take to the skies) Chris and Mollie moved to different cities, the borrowed drums were given back, and it seemed the dream of playing music together had died a premature death. Fortunately, Chris continued to write songs and the seeds of what would become The Palm Tree were planted. Chris called Mollie and Mollie called her friend and another drum set was found. On free weekends they would travel many miles just to practice and record together, wherever they could: a spacious bathroom in Orange County, an abandoned office in Los Angeles, or simply Mollie's living room in San Francisco. They recruited their friend Kate to sing back-up vocals on many of the songs and a new, more expansive sound was formed while retaining the core of acoustic guitar and drums that was at the heart of the first album.
From here one can only guess what will happen, but Chris and Mollie will continue playing and recording as long as the magic of music and friendship is there. Thank you for listening.