Rowley, Reading duo hit the right notes
Jan. 24—ROWLEY — Cate Mangione often has an unusual answer when her high school classmates ask what she's doing for the weekend.
"I usually say I've got a gig," Mangione said. "Sometimes, I have to explain it to them but they all understand that this is what I do at this point."
The 17-year-old Central Catholic High School senior has been singing professionally, either as a solo act or with her two-piece band, CBTween, since she was 12.
"We perform at restaurants and events, private events and fundraisers, weddings, anything like that," Mangione said. "It has really turned into a part-time job."
Mangione got together with Reading Memorial High School senior and singer, guitarist, drummer, bassist and pianist Ben Mini to form CBTween five years ago and they have been performing regular gigs ever since at Jocelyn's Mediterranean Restaurant & Martini Lounge in Salem, New Hampshire, and Abenaqui Country Club in Rye, New Hampshire.
"My dad and Cate's mom work together and it got around at the office that I was a good instrumentalist," Mini said. "She's a good singer, so it kind of happened."
CBTween has also been an annual fixture, playing Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" during the Newburyport Lantern Festival for Ovarian Cancer Awareness each September.
"We've also played in Market Square during Yankee Homecoming for the past few years," Mangione said. "We've actually gotten quite a few gigs out of that one. The people of Newburyport really support the arts."
Mangione and Mini play a lot of Norah Jones and Frank Sinatra.
"My favorite is 'Fly Me to the Moon.' But we do a lot of new stuff," Mangione said. "I like John Mayer, we do some Alicia Keys and a lot of Taylor Swift."
Mangione and Mini recently decided to pick up Antônio Carlos Jobim's "The Girl from Ipanema" after getting a request at a gig.
"I was a little bit familiar with it but I didn't know it that well," Mangione said. "But Ben is just this kind of guy who can look up the chords and just start playing it. I joined him with the lyrics and we were able to pull it off."
Mini said while he and his partner have been playing together professionally for the past five years, he wouldn't call themselves experts.
"I wouldn't call us music veterans but we definitely know our way around," Mini said. "I've been immersed in the world of music for so long that it's just a natural thing. I never really think twice about it."
Mangione's voice has also landed her in front of crowds at Fenway Park and TD Garden, where she sang the national anthem for the Boston Red Sox and the Boston Celtics, respectively, in 2017.
"I was nervous with the Red Sox but I was much more nervous with the Celtics because I actually had pneumonia, which I didn't even know," Mangione said. "But I still went out there and I did the anthem and I'm glad that I did. So it ended up working out in the end."
The National Honor Society member sports a 4.8 GPA at Central Catholic and is applying to colleges with hope of studying biology, or more specifically, genetic counseling.
"It's not necessarily music that I want to go into full time," Mangione said. "But, when I do go to college, it is very important to me that I do still have some focus on music. It is just a very important part of my life that I want to continue with."
CBTween Facebook: www.facebook.com/cbtweenmusic/.
Cate Mangione YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQJeNiwM6dY6Ihw1R7Y8Ycw.
Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Amesbury and Salisbury for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at jsullivan@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.
Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Amesbury and Salisbury for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at jsullivan@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.