CURRENT MISSION: Travel throughout the United States playing music and making art!

ABOUT US: Rory and Allyson are kind, engaged, smart, creative and fun folks! We currently live together in Santa Cruz, California in a tiny house by the ocean. We work by day and make art and music by night; outside of these core passions, we take time to see and play shows, go for jogs, and spend time with friends and loved ones. We are actively pursuing our passion for playing music and touring through our indie/modern folk band Echoes and Artifacts (www.echoesandartifacts.com)

After a life of farming (vegetables, meat, dairy) on the east coast of the US, Allyson stepped off the farm to start her Ph.D. at UC Santa Cruz. Despite the coursework and research Allyson still makes time to pursue her passions: oil painting (allysonmakuchart.com) and songwriting.

Southern California-raised, Rory is a life-long guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. His musical drive brought him to play for a multitude of bands across multiple genres: folk, hip-hop, funk, rock-and-roll, and jazz. Most notably, the last music project he co-founded, Quiles and Cloud (www.quilesandcloud.com), was a nationally touring modern-folk outfit, playing festivals and shows throughout the United States.

We're excited to meet kind folks!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

We are on Couchsurfing because we love connecting with other people and building a network of friends and loved ones wherever we go. Rory had years of great experiences through Couchsurfing, making lasting and dear connections throughout the US.

Interests

• coffee
• music
• folk music
• jazz
• guitar
• agriculture
• art history
• travel
• art
• nature
• exploring
• learning
• meeting new people
• oil painting
• connecting
• traditional music

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: Ryan Adams, Big Thief, Gillian Welch, Dave Rawlings, John Scofield, Aoife O'Donovan, Anthony da Costa, Wilco, Phoebe Bridgers, Jose Gonsalez, Bruce Molsky, The Black Keys, Sylvan Esso, The Shins, Lord Huron, The Head and The Heart

Movies: We are into timey-wimey cerebral sci-fi thrillers of many kinds. Like a lot of others in our generation, we enjoy the long-form, series based stories like Dark, Westworld, Black Mirror, and Sense 8.

Books: Allyson grew up a voracious reader of classical fiction authors like Thomas Hardy and Charles Dickens. These days she has to read a LOT of non-fiction centered around her research and critiques of capitalism more generally. Rory is in the process of writing a music theory book!

Teach, Learn, Share

We can always share music and gather together in the kitchen to cook a meal!

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland

Countries I’ve Lived In

New Zealand, United States