Arts & Entertainment

Musical Duo Entertains Plymouth-Canton Crowds

Jim Coury and Suzanne MacDermid met singing in the choir at Northridge Church and formed an act called Balancing Earth, which performs at private parties around the area.

When Jim Coury of Plymouth and Suzanne MacDermid of Canton met in Northridge Church's 168-member choir, they were drawn together by the sound of their harmonies. Two years later, the duo continues to sing together, playing private parties and themed shows around the Plymouth-Canton area. Last year, they performed 117 shows.

MacDermid described their meeting at Northridge like this: “We were contained in the building all day in between services, and we were all in a room when Jim and another guy brought out their guitars.  They were just sitting around playing music and songs, so a lot of us went over to them and started singing along.  Once we got going, Jim and I decided that our voices sounded good together and that we harmonized well.”

“When we met, it was just like magic, and everything started from there,” Coury said.

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Willing to perform at any kind of venue, Coury and MacDermid have gotten the opportunity to hold shows at senior homes, child centers, restaurants, festivals, birthday parties, funerals, and prisons.  In 2012, they had 117 performances, and at many of these places, they were asked to put on themed shows.

“What makes us different from other groups is that when you call us, if you have a theme, we have probably already done the theme that you are looking for.  To name just a few, we do Hawaiian, 50s, country, mardi gras, and holiday themes, and we have even done a solid gold hits show where we wore all gold,” Coury said.

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“Our audiences are thrilled when we wear costumes, so we make our own costumes for each job. We do it all to enhance the music.  We talk to our audience, and we get them involved by asking them questions and telling them facts and jokes.  I even have props that I incorporate into the shows as well, along with my imitations,” said MacDermid.

Children's shows educate with music

Balancing Earth also takes part in many programs for children, giving Coury and MacDermid the opportunity to focus on their priority of stimulating and educating kids by singings and counting in Spanish and French.  They also often incorporate sign language into the shows.

“When we leave, they know something.  They know several things more than before we started the show,” MacDermid said.

While Coury enjoys the traveling to different towns to perform most, MacDermid’s favorite part about their shows is being able to perform in front of live audiences.

“I wear a headset so I can come up to people and get them involved.  I surprise myself with these impromptu things that I do,” said MacDermid.

Although they don’t plan on expanding their group in the future, Coury and MacDermid have many goals for Balancing Earth.

“Our music is efficient with just the two of us.  He plays the guitar, and I sing and sometimes play the guitar or another instrument,” MacDermid said.

Coury said, “Our goal right now is to get radio stations to play our music.  We also want to continue writing more music and keep moving forward.  When we first started, we just had a few gigs in Plymouth, and now we have all of these gigs because we go out and do all of our own marketing.”

Coury and MacDermid have recently written their first album and are considering writing a children’s album next.  They currently have 25 videos posted on YouTube and 11 performances booked for July.

MacDermid said, “At many of the places we perform, these people get very few visitors and not enough attention.  It is the highlight of their day when we show up to sing and talk to them, and that is what makes it great.”

Interested in booking a show?  Contact Balancing Earth for a free demo at 734-459-1088 or jimcoury@hotmail.com.


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