Kathryn Koch and David Nanni say that other musicians treat them like a Red-Headed Stepchild. So they adapted the adage as their moniker. “I knew that whatever we did musically wasn’t going to fit in anybody’s mold,” says Koch. “I give audiences credit, because they don’t care what box you fit in.”

Originally from Buffalo and now based in Nashville, the duo plays a pair of free area shows this weekend, focusing on tunes from its latest CD, Some Sunny Day. One of the album’s highlights, “Owed to Johnny Cash,” was written by Nanni the day the country-music legend died in September 2003. “We feel like we owe a lot of our musical heritage to him,” says Koch. “He would play with anyone — Beck, Soundgarden, and Tom Petty. It shows the man kept evolving musically. How can you not be inspired by that?”
Fri., Nov. 24, 10 p.m.

This article appears in Nov 22-28, 2006.