Kindred the Family Soul is a vocal duo from Philadelphia consisting of husband and wife Fatin Dantzler and Aja Graydon. Both began as solo performers. Dantzler was born in Philadelphia and got his start in the music business writing songs for Pebbles and Bell Biv DeVoe. Graydon, from Washington, D.C., had a solo deal at the age of 15. The two united and began writing songs, but then married and started a family, necessitating the steady income of work outside the music business. After a time as an appliance salesman, however, Dantzler went back to trying to make it on the local scene. He and Graydon began performing at the Black Lily club, where they caught the attention of Jill Scott, who took them to her label, Hidden Beach Recordings. They were signed and spent the next two years working on their debut album, Surrender to Love, which was released in February 2003.

So once you surrender to love, what happens next?

In response to that question Kindred The Family Soul gets down to the heart of the matter with their sophomore release In This Life Together in 2005, on the Hidden Beach Recordings label.

“There is more to a relationship than just the hook- up and the break-up,” says Aja Graydon whose vocal interplay with husband Fatin Dantzler is a key component of Kindred’s unique sound. “Most R&B songs are either about ‘I just met you and I’m falling in love or I’m done with you and what the hell happened to us?’”

“But there’s nothing in between,” chimes in Dantzler. “No room to talk about things outside of lustful love, the temptations and the profundity of love. There’s also the beauty of relationships and what they can bring about and what emerges from them.”

In following up their critically-acclaimed 2003 Hidden Beach Recordings debut Surrender to Love, Graydon and Dantzler were inspired by the collaborative relationship and marriage of another powerful couple, actors/activists Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. Before Davis’ death earlier this year, the celebrated pair successfully balanced work and love for more than 50 years. Their marriage and working relationship was chronicled in their dual autobiography, In This Life Together, which also serves as the title of Kindred’s latest release.

“We’re enamored of the relationship Davis and Dee created together, and everything they were able to accomplish,” says Dantzler. “Seeing these shining examples is the only way to let people truly know you can get to a place like that. We wanted to shed light on the black family and relationships in general.”

Adds Graydon, “There’s no music that represents that kind of strong, committed couple relationship. It’s not about having a handbook or being experts; but more so about a free exchange of ideas – being open, talking and relating to one another honestly. This was our goal with this new album – to explore the relationship between couples who are truly friends, and share this with our fans.”

Building on the sentiments touched on by its predecessor, In This Live Together is a more intimate and candid look at what happens when life intrudes on love. Grown and sexy is one thing; juggling work, our personal lives, and additional obligations is quite another. Sharing the wisdom gleaned from being married for seven years and with three young children, Kindred is crafting its own contemporary, urban love story for the 21st Century, one that many couples will relate to.

In 2008 they released their third album The Arrival, solidifying their position as the voice of a generation of music fans working to keep relationships, family and romantic love alive.