Donna Burke and Bill Benfield deserve to be sitting pretty. Just married (Dec. 28, in Australia), they live in a large apartment in Tokyo's Azabu-juban with three cats, and a flock of sparrows lined up on the balcony waiting to be fed every morning.
In some ways they are an unlikely couple. Donna, vivacious, theatrical ("Lovely to see you again, darling!") and openly ambitious. Bill, quiet, self-effacing, happy to stay in the background. Yet their love of music -- her voice, his skill on guitar -- bind them close.
Maybe you saw them performing on NHK's "Hello Studio Park" a month or so ago: Donna upfront, singing; Bill sitting behind with the other musicians, strumming. It was, she says, "a fantastic experience. My Japanese manager arranged it. I want to concentrate on the Japanese market, to slowly get known."