Peaches & Wine, the Jim Thorpe country-rock duo, will spotlight musicians from the borough on a compilation album due later this month.

The pair, performing original music and new renditions of cover tunes, consists of vocalist Nicole Tomassini and guitarist Phil Vino, both born in Philadelphia. “The Musicians of Jim Thorpe: Our Town Album” features originals by Tomassini, Vino, Matt Filer, Jessica Corbin, Justin Skyler and others.

“We got the idea from hosting a songwriters open mic for a couple years in town,“ Vino said. “It’s a special album I think everyone will enjoy.”

Vino, mainly raised in Buffalo, New York, has visited Jim Thorpe since 1992. Having had a residence in the borough since 2005, he has lived in Jim Thorpe full time since 2017.

As a kid, Vino tried “every instrument I could get my hands on. I took guitar lessons in eighth grade at school and stuck with it.” His influences included Frank Zappa, Tony Iommi, Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore, Carlos Santana, Al Di Meola and Pat Metheny.

“As an adult when my children got older, I was able to start playing music with my friends on the weekends,” said Vino, who played in rock bands as a kid. “Once the kids grew up and flew the coop, I started playing music more seriously again.”

Tomassini, raised in Philadelphia’s Center City, moved to Jim Thorpe in 2021. As a child, she took piano lessons and performed in plays, musicals and singing groups. However, “I didn’t want to be a musician,” she said. “Acting was my passion for most of my life.”

Growing up, Tomassini, who founded and directed the Red Hot Blue a cappella group at Goucher College in Baltimore, enjoyed artists such as Prince, The Police, Michael Jackson and Sinead O’Connor. Following a love affair with rap music, the rock ‘n’ roll bug kicked in.

The start of something good

Tomassini caught the rock bug upon meeting Vino in 2010 in New York City. The singer, who hired Vino for a photo shoot, attended a couple of his jam sessions.

“I became obsessed with learning how to rock like a rock star and studied the great frontmen. My go-tos became Jack White, The Dead Weather, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Zappa - thanks to Phil - and Black Sabbath. Now I can’t imagine life without music.”

In 2011, Tomassini and Vino collaborated on the “I Love Nicole Show,” a public-television variety program. That same year, with a desire to perform Bowie’s music live, the duo formed Peaches & Wine. By 2012, the twosome could play 10 to 12 Bowie songs.

Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust” album turned 40 in 2012, “so we took a road-trip tour of the East Coast and played anywhere we could,” Vino said. Aside from Bowie, “country-rock was something we liked playing and it seemed appropriate for a duet.”

As for the act’s moniker, “my last name is Vino, so that is why we called it Wine, and Nicole has a round posterior, so we figured Peaches would be appropriate.”

Upon forming Peaches & Wine, “we were good friends and working partners,” Vino said. “After seven years working creatively with each other, we decided to embark on a romantic relationship. It’s been an amazing journey ever since.”

Other albums

Peaches & Wine’s catalog includes 2018 album “The Couch Sessions” and 2019 EP “Orion’s Belt.” Vino, who wrote all musical arrangements and produced all the material, regards 2018’s “The Deal,” the first song he and Tomassini wrote together, as a favorite.

The duo co-wrote another favorite, “We Are Not Alone,” during a thunder-and-lightning storm. “We have a special memory of that session,” Vino said of recording the song about extraterrestrial beings. “It solidified how songwriting can be a magical experience.”

Recording a new album, featuring 12 to 14 original songs, has left less time for gigs at the moment. Peaches & Wine, though, will perform the next of its monthly shows Sunday at restaurant/bar Ouros, located on Broadway in Jim Thorpe.

The couple, planning more dates and venues for later in the year, mostly stays in the Carbon County area, though “we do venture everywhere,” Vino said. “The fans really make it all worthwhile. We will be in Pittsburgh and Buffalo for some summertime gigs.”

With 60-plus cover songs in its arsenal, Peaches & Wine has an “interesting setlist of top hits from the ’70s, with one-hit wonder songs, so it’s a blast down memory lane,” Vino said. Covers dominate the live shows, though “we speckle in our music.”

Peaches & Wine also plays “Ziggy”-era Bowie music on the side, with Tomassini dressed as Bowie and Vino as Mick Ronson. The pair also performs the Bowie show a few times a year with a full band, Ziggy’s Madmen.

Time, Vino said, presents the biggest challenge in terms of music.

“Nicole is also a spirit therapist aka wellbeing coach, and I am a freelance design artist and consultant, so managing our time wisely is always a balancing act.”

Looking ahead, Peaches & Wine would like to explore larger venues and open for well-known bands coming through town. The twosome also has an extra-ambitious goal in mind.

“Here’s a lofty thought,” Vino said, “for what we’d like to accomplish: record the entire backlog of original music we have waiting in the wings so we can write some more.”