The Fretboard Journal is located in the heart of Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood, surrounded by some great music venues. We invited touring musicians Blake Mills and Jesca Hoop to stop by for a short set before they performed at the nearby Tractor Tavern. Here, they perform Hoop’s tune “Murder of Birds.”

Hoop originally hails from California but now lives in the UK. She’s lived an interesting life, including doing a stint as a nanny for Tom Waits’ children. Mills is an exceptional guitarist and songwriter. Though you can’t tell from this clip, he studied extensively under Bob Brozman. Here, he plays a newer Gibson L-00 while Hoop plays a Martin 000-28 given to her by Mark Knopfler (she recently toured with him).