The Music of Sari & Kay
Sari & Kay are the Chicago musical duo of Sari Greenberg and Mike Konopka who have been creating music tracks together since the summer of 2018. They are adept songwriters and producers in the realms of Rock, Country, R&B, Blues, Ambient, and Dance music styles.
Sari & Kay first worked together on Arik Luck’s successful project Moishe Oysher- The Master Singer Of His People back in 2010. Arik later worked at Mike’s Pie In The Sky studio on several additional audio projects and Sari played a big part in these productions.
It quickly became apparent to Mike that Sari, (rhymes with merry ) was not only an outstanding singer and performer, but also brought an amazing level of creative positivity to the audio work at hand. She could easily step out front and carry songs herself, yet effortlessly provide support in a cool and fun backing role too. And when Arik’s professional calling had him moving away to northern California, Sari & Kay decided to keep creating music tracks back in the Chicago area.
More About Sari Greenberg
Sari Greenberg is well known as a singer, songwriter, voice-over artist and actor. She recently joined the 
cast of the world-renowned Celtic Angels and toured in the U.S and Mexico. Sari’s past roles include Young Frankenstein (Elizabeth), Ring Of Fire (June Carter), and the national tour of the hit musical Bad Romance, where she played Lady Gaga. Sari received a BFA in musical theater from CCPA’s theater conservatory at Roosevelt University, and then she moved to New York City where she performed in numerous cabaret shows and national tours including Uptown Girls. Sari can also be seen and heard in numerous voice-over and television commercials.
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More About Mike Kay
Mike Kay (aka Konopka) is a longtime Chicago musician, audio expert, and music producer. Mike’s Thundertone Audio provides services in the areas of music mixing and production, consulting, and design. Mike worked for R&R Hall of Fame Kinks artist Ray Davies as both live sound and studio engineer throughout the US, Canada, the UK, and Europe. Mike also served as Sound Designer at Second City for over 30 revues at the famous Chicago comedy theater. He earlier had founded Seagrape Recording where Chicago’s House Music scene was established. He also toured and recorded in the bands Pentwater and Wilderness Road as a multi-instrumentalist.
Sari & Kay Get Ready
In 2018, Bill Bartolotta commissioned Sari & Kay for their first production: 
Curtis Mayfield’s People Get Ready. Bartolotta used the production audio for his incredible Grace event at Cinespace in Chicago. Bill requested an instrumental version, yet Sari’s unique vocalese approach added just the right touch for the event’s audioscape. Additional vocals and guidance were provided by Bartolotta for this track. Listen for yourself:
The Top Of Rock Bottom
Soon after People get Ready was completed, Mike came up with a new blues-based song “The Top Of Rock Bottom.” He was working at Chicago’s House Of Blues for WXRT in the Metro Mobile audio recording truck, which was tucked deep in the dark caverns below the famous club, hence the title. Mike’s wife, Trish Ramsey, handled the percussion details, and Bill Bartolotta layered in the Hammond organ. Sari brought the “down on our luck but still optimistic” lyric message to life with her strong vocals:
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Night Driving to Wyoming?
Night Driving to Wyoming?Then in 2019, the songwriting and production team Sari & Kay worked up two new songs. The first was “Night Driving,” an ambient, smokey R&B throwback which Mike crunched together in Apple’s Garage Band app. With only the title to go by, Sari then penned the lyrics. The she provided the heartfelt vocal delivery which deals with uncertainties along the road to love. Trish Ramsey again provided percussion while Mike broke out his vintage National lap steel guitar. Music tracks were also upgraded to Pro Tools and then a combination of vintage and modern production techniques were combined to yield this result:
Also produced at the same Pie recording sessions, was Sari’s adventurous country original “Lunch In Wyoming.” Sari played acoustic guitar and keyboards while Mike dropped in pedal steel, fiddle, and mandolin amidst the song’s fun arrangement. Trish added her fine percussion elements too. Sari’s powerful vocal delivery here shows that indeed love knows no geographical limits! Listen below:
Six Ends Against The Middle
And then the most recent Sari & Kay production “Six Ends Against The Middle” was completed in early 2020. Kay sings with Sari backing. Mike didn’t specifically pen this song about the current worldwide lock-down crisis. Yet this work deals with unwanted news on the phone, and how many things can go wrong all at the same time. Trish not only added claps and percussion, but also highly recommended that the maracas track be boosted on the outro jam.
Do you happen to need custom music for your event or creative purposes? Interested in licensing these songs? If you like what the Sari & Kay songwriting and production approach can bring to your project contact them here.
W.E. Bartolotta’s SoundCloud Page
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