If the question, "Hi, honey, how'd it go at work?" is asked in the Dana Clark/Kevin Lewis household, it's likely to be strictly rhetorical.

The singers/songwriters/music educators/multi-instrumentalists have known each other for a decade, been together as a couple for more than eight years and been married about 18 months. Though they occasionally work with other artists, their main gig is the Lewis and Clark Musical Expedition. As a duo, they fuse jazz, blues, folk, rock, classical and more. As a couple, their lives revolve around music.

"Ideally, doing something you love with someone you love is the very best of life," Clark said. "Music has so often been the glue that keeps our relationship together. We can go to a gig and feel out of sorts and by about the third song that's all gone."

"Onstage, Dana is one of my favorite musicians, and I get to enjoy her music a lot," Lewis said. "Offstage, I know she has massive tons of good. A lot of times it's from her lips to God's ear. Because I love Dana so much, I would say what makes her happy makes everybody happy."

When they're not working together on a stage somewhere, Lewis and Clark, who are in their 50s, are often teaching music in their Highland Park home. But there is downtime.

"We have what I call a snuggle recliner, a recliner built for two," Clark said. "When we watch movies together in that recliner late at night, that's the ultimate escape."

-- Photo and article by Jim Beal Jr.