Josy & Marco Music

Josy & Marco Music is a duo formed by singers and songwriters Josephine Schaffert and Marco Costa. They play weddings, private parties, bars and art openings, reducing soul, funk, rock, country and pop to two voices with piano and guitar. Their German-language website is short, but it is clear about the two things a wedding couple needs to know: they sing at ceremonies, and they bring their own equipment.

The idea behind the duo

The home page opens with a question and its answer: "Soul, Funk, Rock, Country, Pop und dann reduziert auf ein Minimum? Eine unmögliche Kombination? Dieses Duo beweist das Gegenteil." (Soul, funk, rock, country and pop reduced to a minimum? An impossible combination? This duo proves the opposite.) Whether with covers or their own songs, they write, listeners can groove along, get lost in a story or simply go with the music, and in Josy and Marco two musical worlds meet. They sum up their approach in one line: "Einfach gemeinsam Musik machen - reduziert - und mit viel Seele!" (simply making music together, stripped down and with a lot of soul).

How they came together

The history on the site starts with a wedding. In 2015 the two played together at a wedding for the first time, and a few smaller performances followed. In the meantime each worked on their own projects, in bands and during stays abroad. In 2018 they came back together with a small performance at an art opening and decided it should become more than the odd concert, because, as they put it, it is not every day that two people find each other who pursue something with the same passion and a shared goal.

Since 2019 they have run the "Around The Corner Session", a search for unusual places for unusual songs, with the videos published on their YouTube channel. The site also notes that further concerts are being planned, though the calendar section lists no upcoming events.

For weddings and ceremonies

The wedding section is brief and specific. "Gerne umrahmen wir Ihr Hochzeitsfest musikalisch," they write: they are happy to provide the music for a wedding celebration. For the ceremony they sing the couple's favorite songs in two voices, with piano and/or guitar, and the page links to a separate repertoire list for ceremonies. A couple can therefore pick songs from that list or ask for their own favorites.

For the party side, the section on private and public events describes the rest of the repertoire: covers from funk and soul, and also rock, country and pop, with a few of their own songs woven in if wanted. They play in smaller venues, bars, art openings or at home for a private party, and they write simply "Equipment bringen wir mit" (we bring the equipment). For a small wedding in a restaurant, a garden or a private house, that means no separate sound hire for the duo.

Two songwriters

Both write their own songs. Josy, the site says, feels most at home in funk and soul, while Marco moves more in typical singer-songwriter territory. The page links to a video of Marco's song "Damn Right" and to each musician's own website, which is a quick way for a couple to hear both voices before getting in touch. The links section also names Ralph Zünd of 2inch Records and the photographer Laura Vercellone.

For a ceremony, their songwriting opens one extra possibility: a couple who want something personal can ask whether one of the duo's originals would suit the moment, or whether they would perform a song that means something to the couple in their own arrangement.

What the site does not settle

The website is small and leaves most practical questions open. It gives no town or region, so couples cannot tell from the site where the duo is based or how far it travels, and the page gives no postal address. It publishes no prices, no packages, no length of a ceremony or party set, and no booking or cancellation terms. It does not say whether the duo also plays the aperitif or dinner at a wedding, though the private-events section covers similar small settings. The site is entirely in German and does not say which languages they work or sing in; couples who need English for planning or English songs at the ceremony should ask.

The only contact given is the email address josymarcomusic@gmail.com, and the page shows no phone number. For couples planning from abroad, email suits that well enough, but expect to settle the date, place, program and fee by correspondence.

Questions worth asking in the first email

Because the site is so short, the first message does most of the work. Useful points to raise are the date and place, and whether the duo can travel there; which songs from the ceremony list they would suggest for the entrance, the signing and the exit; whether the venue needs to provide a piano or whether their own equipment covers a keyboard; how much space and power they need; how long they play and whether they can move from the ceremony to the aperitif at a second location; and what the fee includes. Couples marrying in a church or registry office should also check with the venue what live music it allows.

Who it suits

Josy & Marco Music suits couples planning a small or intimate wedding who want live voices rather than a band or DJ: two singers with piano or guitar for the ceremony, and a relaxed set of soul, funk and pop covers for the aperitif or a small party. The fact that they bring their own equipment makes them easy to fit into a restaurant, a garden or a private home. They are less suited to a large reception that needs a full dance floor until late, since nothing on the site describes that kind of booking. The main caveats are how little the site says about location, price and availability, which all have to be asked by email.