Pink Plumeria flowers dance across her right shoulder and the same bouquet curves down his neck. They got engaged on Maui and while most couples go out to dinner to celebrate the beginning of their life together, matching tattoos of Hawaii's fragrant flower seemed much more appropriate.
"I never in a million years would have expected to marry a musician," says Jennifer Savage, lead singer of Six Foot Savage, a Seattle band worth mentioning.
Then again, Savage, the most petite six-foot woman you have ever seen, never expected to be the lead singer and songwriter for a four-person, rockin' band.
"I took a left-hand turn and changed my direction completely," says Savage, who has her Master's Degree in education and during the day tutors kids at Aki Kurose Middle School, a nonprofit organization that advocates for foster kids in King County.
"I realized that it was now or never," she says, remembering her leap from public schools to smoky bars. "About a year or two into it I started calling myself a singer."
Like many love stories, Savage followed her passion and passion followed her.
She met him through mutual friends and when her bass player unexpectedly quit, Zak Melang, owner of the Matador in Ballad, covered for the following month and then passed the guitar to Jeremiah Crane.
"Within two months I had recorded one song with her and the third month I jumped up and played live," says Crane, the man who learned bass guitar just so that he could play with Savage.
Today, the two write songs together in their Magnolia home, and this month Six Foot Savage put out their first CD.
"Music to me is my most comfortable place in the world," says Savage, who has a voice that is reminiscent of Ann Wilson, the lead singer of the 1980's band Heart - powerful but full of emotion. "There is nothing better than singing songs like 'The Warrior' at the top of my lungs."
There is nothing quite like listening to her sing songs like 'The Warrior' at the top of her lungs.
There comes a time in every life
To decide what is acceptable
And when you find someone's crossed the line
Do you speak up or are you regretful?
I am tired and I am scared
And I am a warrior
This will not defeat me
I am tired but now I am aware
That I am warrior
This is unacceptable
The way that you've treated me
The lyrics, mixed with a voice that sings from experience, send shivers down your spine.
"I feel like there is a lot of crap in the world and in my life," says Savage, who has been performing for more than 10 years. "It is what you do with it that counts, and I definitely feel like my songs are messages to myself."
'The Antidote,' the first song on the new album, addresses society's obsession with the magic pill - medications that are the answer for everything.
While the song 'Utopia' is a message to Savage's unborn child.
"It is a message to everyone," says Savage. "We have a choice - we can self-destruct or choose utopia."
"I think that she is more of a storyteller and I try to rock a little harder," offers Crane, Savage's husband and a lifelong Magnolia resident.
While Crane rocks a little harder, the other two band members - Michael 'Flip' Williams, guitar player, and Wes Peterson, drums - appreciate the musical freedom that they feel within the band.
"There is a lot of room to breathe," says Flip, who got his nickname while in a band with three other Michaels.
"They were calling me Steve, and I didn't like Steve," says Flip, an accomplished guitar player who has played since age 8 and opened for Pat Benatar and Bryan Adams. "I thought of Flipper because no one you see is smarter than he."
Flip and Savage have performed together since 2000 and toured the West Coast 5 times.
"Flip is a character," says Savage. "The very first words he said to me before I even met him were, 'You have a blue aura' - we have been friends ever since."
Peterson, an addition in 2003, met Flip, Savage and Crane and started playing for them a day later. He brings 10 years of drumming experience to the band.
"Wes and Flip make us sound good," says Crane, who recently started Crane Duplication, a CD design company.
Whether it is Savage's blue aura, Flip's guitar or the funky drumbeats of Peterson, it is apparent in the music that these four musicians enjoy playing together.
"Everyone in the band is really inspired," says Savage. "We are going to continue to write new music."
And play everywhere that they can.
"Even if you have 200 people in the room who love your music, if you don't have a CD to sell it is hard for people to remember who you are," concludes Crane.
Clearly, that won't be a problem for long.[[In-content Ad]]
