Fifteen year old identical twins Adrian Chirtea and Julian Woodrow, better known as (Blackberry Jam), were introduced here last April. Since then the boys have been exceedingly busy and it was only last week that I finally caught up with them.
The boys spend all their time making music honing their harmonies for their music videos along with taking part in competitions and showcasing their talents at various venues.
They live in Vermont, in an area where there are more cows than people. Rather than getting bored, they pick up a few instruments and start making music.
Their very first audition was X-Factor; Season One, and at age 14 without any experience (outside of singing in school plays) they made it all the way to Hollywood boot camp!
According to Julian, “Getting eliminated made us realize that we really needed to work at singing.†They returned to Vermont started practicing and working on music videos in September of 2011. Within a month their first video attempt, “Best Love Song†was climbing in views. Within 30 days it earned 10,000 views on YouTube, and now just one year later Blackberry Jam’s channel has over 1.3 million views.
What’s the Difference “Interviewâ€
Instruments:
Most days both of the twins play ukulele but you can tell them apart because Julian plays an electric uke and Adrian strums on an acoustic. But don’t be fooled, they trade instruments all the time, especially on stage. In front of a crowd, it’s rare to see them both play their instruments at the same time.
Adrian has been spending time on the piano lately, and it won’t be long before they unveil some piano covers. Blackberry Jam is also putting energy into writing new original songs. They’ve written 2 originals so far, “Fly Away†and “Tomorrow†– and an upbeat style is emerging across their compositions. In the coming months Blackberry Jam will enter a more professional recording studio to lay down demo tracks.
Die in your Arms – Cover Justin Bieber
All the music videos the boys produce demonstrate their amazing, harmonic vocal prowess, while at the same time are exceedingly entertaining and amusing.. I think what makes Blackberry Jam so different is their comedic side that always shines through in their videos. If room permitted, I would feature all their new ones here. That not being possible, I chose one of my favorites. “Die in your Arms” shows a few of their funny out-takes which they occasional include at the end of their music videos.
On Stage
Over the past few months, they’ve played a series of live concerts in New York City, Burlington, Rutland and Killington Vermont. They started working with a choreographer 1-2 times a week, and they now have 50 minutes of live material to perform on stage.  About half of their prepared material is choreographed dance tracks, and the other half is spread between acappella harmonies and ukulele songs.
Blackberry Jam sang live at a rave over Halloween to a deafening chorus of fans. According to Adrian, “We just got hit with this wall of sound on stage. Hundreds of fans were screaming so loud we couldn’t hear ourselves singing at times. It was awesome!â€Â
Julian replied, “It was really weird to go back to high school after that, because nobody really knows what we do when we leave.â€Â It’s actually rare to hear either twin volunteer information about their music.
Blackberry Jam hasn’t been able to talk about their television experiences because of confidentiality agreements, but their closest friends know why they periodically disappear from school.
After X-Factor, they auditioned for The Voice and made it right up to the blind auditions before getting knocked out. They also made it through a few rounds of America’s Got Talent. Blackberry Jam continues to audition for every possible television and music opportunity.
On New Year’s Eve, they’ve been invited as headliners to perform at another rave, at the Chill Out Center in Burlington, Vermont. More information will be posting on their Blackberry Jam Facebook page and Twitter site.
They hope to see you there!
For more on Blackberry Jam visit: