Alice Howe & Freebo with special guest Johnny Angel

Jergel’s Rhythm Grille in Warrendale is hosting the nationally recognized musical duo Alice Howe and Freebo for a performance on Wednesday, May 6, at 7 p.m. and expect to see a familiar face.

Alice Howe is an up-and-coming folk singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles, and Freebo is an established bass player who made his start with Edison Electric Band and moved on to play with Bonnie Raitt’s band, Ringo Starr’s All-Stars, Crosby, Stills and Nash, and even recorded on Maria Muldaur’s “Midnight at the Oasis.”

“I’ve been exposed to a lot of entertainers in my career,” said Jack Hunt, also known as Johnny Angel, from Pittsburgh-based band Johnny Angel and the Halos. “Every now and then, an entertainer comes along that just lights you up, you just like the vibe, and that’s what Freebo and Alice are to me.”

Hunt met the pair around five years ago at Cindystock, a music festival and fundraiser event featuring new and established musicians. Johnny Angel and the Halos were headlining, and Alice and Freebo were also in the lineup.

“They just blew me away, their chemistry was so great together,” Hunt said. “You could just tell they had that throwback vibe to the days of Crosby, Stills and Nash and The Troubadours.”

The pair invited Hunt to play a few songs with them, and they remained in contact ever since. Recently, Hunt received a phone call from Freebo, asking if he could set them up with a passthrough gig in Pittsburgh between their State College and Ann Arbor, Michigan shows.

“Jergel’s has become this hip place in the eastern part of the United States, and most acts that are passing through Pittsburgh make it a point to try to appear at Jergel’s,” Hunt said. “It’s a great place to catch a group where you can see them up close in person.”

Hunt was ecstatic that the crew at Jergels wanted to feature the duo, so he invited Mark Ferrari, a Pittsburgh-based guitarist, to open. In turn, the duo asked Hunt to play a few songs with them at the show, reprising their Cindystock collaboration.

“Alice and Freebo have that happiness in them to bring to the people, which is the reason I got involved in music in the first place,” Hunt said. “If I wasn’t on the bill, I’d go see them perform, that’s the way it is.”