Despite a recent temporary return to the San Francisco bay area (newborn babies and family visits!), these days Cortese is based in Gent, Belgium. As it happened, a chance encounter with a group of Belgian musicians in Eugene, Oregon kicked off a series of events that led to musical connections, love, a relocation to the other side of the world, and most recently, a growing family.
Splitting time between Europe and the United States has brought some new opportunities to play with both her 'American Dancecards' as well as her newfound bandmates in Belgium.
Cortese talked about growing up playing violin, and how her sound has been expanding and moving in a pop direction despite the traditional string instrument composition of the band. She also shared a few very cool solo versions of tunes from Bitter Better.
