Jazz Ensemble
Lolly Swicegood
Director
Laurel Patrick Swicegood began her life in Musical Theatre performance in Community Theatre as well as school in the second grade. After graduating high school from Deer Creek in Oklahoma City she was awarded the Norton Scholarship to study at Texas Christian University. She graduated in 2007 with her BFA in musical theater performance. Lolly, as she’s known, has been fortunate to perform many theatre classics: “On The Town”, “Baby”, “Annie”, “Once upon a mattress”, “Annie Get Your Gun”, “Anything Goes” and “Cabaret” just to name a few. She also was able to study costume history, costuming, makeup and set design while at TCU. Lolly is also a Modern Artist specializing in Acrylic and vinyl on canvas. She has been fortunate to work and record in many recording studios including Waterfront Studios and Blackbird. Her true passion is performing blues, jazz and rock and roll with her best friend and husband Chris Swicegood. Together they write and perform globally in duo ‘Chris and Lolly’.
Chris Swicegood
Director
Chris Swicegood is a native of Fort Smith who graduated from Southside high school. He attended UAFS studying jazz improv with Don and Terri Bailey and then found his way to Texas Christian University where he received his Undergraduate and Masters degrees in classical guitar performance (2005,2007).
In Fort Worth, and later Madrid Spain, he was fortunate enough to study with guitarist/composer José Luis Merlin. His passion rock music led him to apprentice with notable sound engineer Henry Hirsch in New York at his analog Waterfront studios from 2008 to 2011. There he worked as both a session guitarist/multi-instrumentalist and as Henry’s assistant. Chris, and his duo with his wife, “Chris & Lolly” have released over a dozen recordings through their own publishing company LilasongsLLC.
