We’re Mustache and Cleavage—Alexander Lewis and Amy Kelly—two longtime friends who share a love for writing American folk-pop songs that are heartfelt, a little dramatic, sometimes funny, and always relatable. Our music is built on ringing harmonies, memorable melodies, and lyrics that cut to the bone but still leave you smiling. On stage, it’s just the two of us, an acoustic guitar, and stories that pull you in.

We first crossed paths way back in 1996, when we both auditioned for Brown Bag, the scrappy black box theater troupe at San Francisco State University. We became fast friends, trading creative ideas and making each other laugh. While each of us was dabbling in music back then, neither of us had fully thrown ourselves into it yet. Life took us on different paths—Amy to Sacramento, where she joined the B Street Theater, and Alexander back to the Bay Area, where he wrote and recorded an album of original music under the name January Son.

In 2014, Alexander moved to Sacramento and decided to start performing out again. Remembering his old friend (and remembering she was a musician), he called Amy. The first time we sang together, the harmonies clicked—rich, warm, and just a little bit magic. That spark lit a fire, and before long we were writing songs side by side, turning out a whole bevy of new material and taking the stage together by 2017.

Since then, we’ve released two EPs: Can of Tears in 2019 and Sheltering Songs in 2020, the latter recorded right at the height of the pandemic. Our track “Unicorn” even made its way into the award-winning film What’s the Matter with Gerald? which won the 2016 Cinema Diverse award.

Along the way, we’ve been inspired by a wide range of artists—from Tom Petty to Joni Mitchell—and we’ve built a sound that’s all our own.