Faces to watch 2010: The Living Sisters
THE LIVING SISTERS
"Dreamy" isn't a word that crops up a lot in pop music today, but it might be the best descriptor for this L.A. indie supergroup of sorts, a sweet adventure in harmony between jazz-pop singer Eleni Mandell, Lavender Diamond front woman Becky Stark and the Bird and the Bee's Inara George.
They've been working together sporadically for about three years now, ever since Mandell told Stark of her wish to create a group focusing on harmony singing, after which the pair brought in George, the daughter of Little Feat founder Lowell George, as a third collaborator on the project.
Their debut album, "Love to Live," is due March 30 on the folk-rooted Vanguard Records label. It's an utterly charming introduction, one that strikes an effervescent middle ground between the earthy country style of the Louvin Brothers and the silky vintage pop of the likes of the Andrews Sisters and the Mills Brothers.
As the trio showed recently at their short but impressive set at Walt Disney Concert Hall alongside Brian Wilson and Dave Alvin, they also know their way around '50s doo-wop, gospel and sexy contemporary pop.
"There's something about us three singing harmony," Mandell says, "that is almost like religion." Amen to that.
-- Randy LewisMore Faces: Faces to Watch in 2010: Architecture Faces to Watch in 2010: Theater Faces to watch in 2010: Classical Faces to watch 2010: Scott Amendola Faces to watch 2010: Dum Dum Girls
Photo: Becky Stark, from left, Inara George and Eleni Mandell. Credit: Vanguard Records