Sibling Harmony
Country Duo Levi Klemm and Jess Rood
Photography contributed
Powell, WY
Above the darkened, century-old dance floor in Cassie’s Steakhouse sings a country duo in pleasing harmony. Several rows of dinner guests eating steak listen in, relishing the atmosphere of history and authenticity Cody, Wyoming provides. Levi Klemm, a mustache under a cowboy hat, plays guitar, sharing baritone notes. Beside him, his big sister, Jess, accompanies with a crystalline voice.
“We’ve been told that we have what’s called a ‘blood harmony.’ Since we grew up singing together, our voices meld together really well.”
Their stage, Cassie’s Steakhouse, carries the original name of the madame who built and owned the night club in the 1930’s. Her former business, featuring “ladies of the night” on a side street near downtown Cody, was shut down by the city. However, her new, legal establishment would host the city’s nightlife with its intimate corners, stepped levels for viewing the stage, and intricate wooden bar. The walls still feature priceless portraits of cattlemen and paintings of ladies, while the dance floor still beckons many dancing boots. The music played by the Klemm siblings’ band, Pretty Punchy, perfectly complements the Old West atmosphere.
Both Levi and Jess played their first gigs in Cassie’s, separately, and are now a regular fixture in the rotation of talented musicians from the area. In 2019, the live music scene blossomed in Cody and surrounding towns. During the summer, one can chance upon live music in any number of both historic and modern bars in town including The Irma, The Colonel, The Silver Dollar, tap houses, and breweries.
“Everything happens for a reason,” Jess (Rood) said.
And indeed, she and her brother debuted at exactly the right time.
Yet, their history with music began decades before when their hands were barely big enough to manage an octave on the piano. Levi, Jess, and their three other siblings were enrolled in piano lessons by their mother, a music aficionado. While the three boys “hated” their piano lessons, the two girls soon discovered their musical talent.
The Klemm children were raised on a bison ranch in Goodland, Kansas, following the family’s move from Powell, Wyoming when Jess was five years old. Jess grew from playing piano to learning the fiddle to eventually studying music. As a young adult, she returned to her roots in Powell to attend Northwest College where she was enrolled in band, jazz band, guitar ensemble, and jazz choir.
Levi, on the other hand, was a reluctant learner. But after dropping out of his childhood voice and piano lessons, he still could not shake the calling of music. He began teaching himself to play guitar his senior year of high school, writing his first song before knowing more than three chords. Levi followed in his sister’s footsteps, joining the jazz choir at Northwest for one year. He disliked that experience but admitted that it instructed him with techniques he would draw upon later in his music career.
In the meantime, Levi has spent the past half decade working various cowboy and ranch jobs around Wyoming and is currently the head pen rider at Washakie Feeders in Worland. His greatest inspiration for songwriting comes when his view is framed by the two ears of his horse, with the lyrics of an Ian Tyson song drifting through his mind. Indeed, Wyoming has a proud history of cowboy songwriters who have been inspired by their ranching backgrounds, including Chris LeDoux, Chancey Williams, and the Munsick Boys.
“Wyoming is the spirit of the West,” Levi said.
Similarly, Jess is inspired any time she can be in the mountains. Currently living in Powell, she has easy access to snowshoe, hike, ride, and run in the Bighorn Mountains, where the music comes to her the most. The siblings have very different writing styles but send one another their latest projects for critique. And despite their differences, when they are on stage together, their ability to blend sound together defies words.
“We’ve been told that we have what’s called a ‘blood harmony.’ Since we grew up singing together, our voices meld together really well,” Levi said.
The bulk of their set lists include the country music they grew up listening to in the 1980’s and 1990’s, with a healthy infusion of cowboy music and a few original songs as well. Their music engagements flow with the seasons of Wyoming. Jess works in crop insurance for Farm Credit Services of America and with Levi working in a feedlot, his busiest time, like his sister’s, is in the fall and winter. It works out well that summer is slower for both as that is when their schedules are filled with gigs – up to four nights per week. The duo’s rehearsals are usually done on the way to their shows as they sing new songs in the car a few hours before stepping on stage. Their sibling harmony makes it easy for them to pick up new elements quickly.
Just as life in agriculture is cyclical, so too has life come full circle for the Klemm family. The Klemm parents, Laurie and Ken, met and married in Powell in 1985. They moved their family to Kansas around two decades ago, but much of the family has slowly moved back to Wyoming and surrounding states.
Looking ahead, Pretty Punchy will continue to accept gigs at larger venues in the area, taking their musical inspiration from the western culture around them. Without their mother’s influence, perhaps there would not have been a band. Years after enrolling her small kids in music lessons, Laurie now watches her grown children perform on stage in the same settings she socialized as a young adult – it is music to her ears.