During our Christmas travels to Virginia, I flew back to Raleigh via the last of our Independence Air vouchers. Cooking up some jazz in the middle of RDU‘s Terminal A was the Tim Smith Trio. Though they were really grooving, I was one of only a handful of people paying attention.

After a moment a petite brunette sidled up to Tim Smith and whispered for the microphone. She then proceeded to belt out a spirited rendition of the Wilbert Harrison classic “Kansas City.” I thought “wow, she’s damn good for just having wandered off the street.”

Of course, she didn’t exactly wander off the street. After spinning a Zippers CD today, I identified the mystery singer as Katharine Whalen, whose quirky voice (and virtuoso banjo picking) helped vault Chapel Hill’s Squirrel Nut Zippers to worldwide stardom (and unexpectedly spark a renaissance in swing music). Tim and Katharine were bandmates in the Zippers. Their music added a wonderful treat to an otherwise boring wait for my plane.

When not playing holiday gigs at airports, the Tim Smith Trio plays at Raleigh’s Stonewood Grill Wednesday evenings. Check ’em out.