In 1994, a teary-eyed Walker cowered under the scaffolding at the Merrit Mountain Music Festival and pleaded with Elliott not to make her perform. Walker and Elliott were the opening act, and 5,000 country music fans were waiting to hear what they had to offer.

But Elliott wouldn't take no for an answer. Though he knew his girlfriend was genuinely scared (it took weeks before she would even sing for him), he also knew she had an amazing voice.

I'm sure glad we were the first ones on because I would have gone crazy listening to that for two days," remembers Elliott.

Eventually, he said the right things and together they must have wowed the crowd because people lined up for autographs later. (Walker thought there must have been some mistake).

The festival helped boost Walker's confidence and it wasn't long before the Vancouver duo began busking and performing the odd gig around town. They took their music a step further this year and have been performing regularly since September.

Locally, Elliott and Walker are booked indefinitely at the Roadhouse Eatery in South Surrey every Thursday night. Interestingly, they got the gig by accidentally dialing the wrong number for another venue.

With them, they bring soulful harmonies, rootsy, danceable songs and a high-energy stage presence. All the songs are original, written primarily by Elliott, who also plays guitar and sings along with Walker.

Elliott believes it's the vocal harmonies that appeals to listeners.

The thing that impresses me the most is people are really reacting to it," says Elliott.

At a recent gig in Gastown, Elliott and Walker were approached by a visiting German couple who fumbled with a German to English dictionary and their own brand of sign language to convey how much they enjoyed the music. The conversation continued over beer, and the German woman pulled out a poster of Elliott and Walker that she'd taken from the restroom and asked them to sign it.

"I'm totally humbled by the response of people," says Elliott.

Unlike Walker, Elliott has never been shy when it comes to music. He's been a musician since he was five years old. He picked up the banjo at 10, a guitar at 14 and was writing and performing with his own group at 16. His first Top 40 writing success came with Jamie Donald's version of You're the Only One.

Elliott then joined forces with Canadian fiddle champ Frankie Rodgers to form the popular country show band, Reckless Driver, at the same time working during the day with the International Music Ensemble, performing more than 500 concerts in schools around B.C and Alberta.

Since then, Elliott's music has been recorded by artists such as B.C. Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year Bing Armstrong, Loverboy's Paul Dean, and Nashville's Ricky Van Shelton.

Walker started her carer as a youngster in Laval, Que. She moved to London, Ont. at eight and by the time she was 12, she was accepted into music school touring with the award winning St. Peter's Choir. At 19, she won the only singing contest she ever entered and soon after hit the road with the recording act John McAbe and Utah.

Her powerful and versatile voice led her to a behind-the-scene-career singing dozens of radio and TV jingles, including the Benndorf Verster and Dueck on Marine songs.

Walker and Elliott were introduced six-and-a-half years ago by a mutual friend who thought they would make a great pair, both musically and romantically. The friend was right.

But Elliott remembers it took "weeks and weeks and weeks" before Walker would sing for him -- until then she'd only allowed him to listen to tapes.

"I never sang for anyone --nobody ever saw my lips move!"

In fact, Walker wasn't really interested in performing live at all until Elliott came along and convinced her otherwise.

"I loved him before I could sing for him," she says now.

As well as singing, one of Walker's talents is songwriting. She was the 1998 Original Composition winner of the B.C. Country Music Association's Talent on Tape contest for 'Love Me or Leave Me'.