On January 18, 2011, songwriting musical theatre duo Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk released their premier CD, entitled “Our First Mistake.” The album features various songs from the pair’s collection of original musicals, all sung by recognizable Broadway veterans, including Kelli O’Hara (Light in the Piazza, South Pacific), Matt Doyle (Spring Awakening, Bye Bye Birdie), Meghann Fahy (Next to Normal), and Michael Arden (Bare, Aspects of Love).
Though listed on iTunes under ‘pop’ music, “Our First Mistake” transcends all genre labels. The nine tracks vary immensely in style – from everything to ‘classically’ musical theatre to what one song, itself, calls “a German techno beat.” The combination of Kerrigan and Lowdermilk’s melodic and lyrical prowess and every singer’s refined, individual talents build to an incredibly diverse and musically comprehensive album.
Prior to the release of “Our First Mistake,” Kerrigan and Lowdermilk – who call themselves Kerrigan-Lowdermilk, for short – had already made quite a name for themselves in the musical theatre scene. The pair has so far premiered three original works together in off-Broadway productions, the most well known of which is The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown.
Individually, each half of the duo holds considerably admirable resumes. Kerrigan graduated from Barnard College in 2003 with a degree in English literature, and in 2009, she won the Edward Kleban Award, naming her the most promising book writer in America. Brian Lowdermilk studied at NYU and Harvard, and won the Richard Rodgers, along with then-collaborator Marcus Stevens, for their musical RED. Together, Kerrigan-Lowdermilk have been recognized time and time again as impressive artists; two of their musicals were featured in the New York Musical Theatre Festival, and they were recipients of a Jonathan Larson Award in 2006.
While none of their collaborative musicals have yet made it to the Great White Way, Kerrigan-Lowdermilk are fantastic at utilizing social media to expand their fan-base. Recognizable Broadway names clearly enjoy singing various K-L songs at cabarets, and Kerrigan-Lowdermilk are constantly updating recordings of performances on their YouTube channel. Years before the release of “Our First Mistake,” Kerrigan-Lowdermilk began producing demos of some of their work, all of which are completely free to download off of their website. Live and old recordings are available to listen to on their site, as well.
As the K-L support grew, so did the clamor for the duo to release a professionally recorded album, and so, on September 18, 2010, the pair sat down in front of a video camera and talked to their fan-base. If people really wanted such a CD to exist, they said, they’d be more than happy to make that happen, but they didn’t have nearly enough money to adequately fund such a daunting project, since they were still unsigned with any producing company. Their YouTube subscribers listened, and, within a short amount of time “Our First Mistake” was on its way to becoming a reality.
Within a week of its release, “Our First Mistake” had made it to number 64 on the iTunes pop chart – a remarkable feat for such a lesser-known CD. I’d highly recommend spending the ten dollars on this unique collection; since downloading it, I’ve listened to it over sixty times! In fact, one reviewer has described the pair as “perhaps the most important young writers in musical theatre today.” And that’s the reason I adore Kerrigan-Lowdermilk’s work so much; they’re extremely contemporary composers. Take, for example, my favorite song on the album, “Last Week’s Alcohol.” Matt Doyle sings this heartbroken, angry, and slightly pathetic serenade to the memory of an ex-girlfriend: “Screw the phone, screw you and all your stupid rules. Are you alone? Are you dancing by yourself? ‘Cause I’m out here, alive here. I’m dancing here… chugging from the bottom shelf.”
Kerrigan-Lowdermilk’s work can be surprisingly humorous, as well, though their funnier work is not showcased on “Our First Mistake.” However, their YouTube channel is rife with hilarious performances of their songs. A fantastic example would be “The Bad Years,” the title song of another one of Kerrigan-Lowdermilk’s musicals. The Bad Years is a show about twenty-somethings, who claim that the years after college are not, in fact, the best years of your life. The song begins unassumingly comically: “And I would hope that I’ll stop being poor someday, ‘cause I really want a flat screen TV, like my friends all have flat screen TVs, and I want one, and an iPhone. And an IRA. What’s an IRA?” Gradually, though, the singer’s hurt is revealed through the bridge: “They say these are the best years of your life. I don’t know about that; second grade was pretty good – we went to Wildwood. Middle school was cool; I kissed girls – they were sober. I don’t think these are the best years of your life. These are the bad years.”
Kerrigan-Lowdermilk are the true epitome of contemporary musical theatre, and it is simply a matter of time until they take Broadway – and the world – by storm.