I was lucky enough to follow up Sunday night's Wilco show with Monday's midday in-studio concert by the Watson Twins. The Louisville-rooted, LA-based duo was due to play YEP before their February show but Snowmaggedon hindered their plans. Yesterday they graciously stopped through on their way home to LA, having concluded their recent tour at the Mountain Stage in WV last night.
Chandra and Leigh (Watson) brought a wirey-haired keyboardist (Kip?) and filled the studio with their beautiful harmonies, light acoustic guitar and axillary percussion. Between thoughtful anecdotes and recording stories their set list was:
1. Tell Me Why 2. Calling Out 3. Devil in You 4. Southern Manners
All four songs were well-performed, but "Southern Manners" (the title track to their 2006 debut album) was downright stirring. Honestly, I didn't know their catalog outside of 2006's Jenny Lewis collaboration "Rabbit Fur Coat." Big mistake on my part. These ladies are supremely talented.
A captivating and symbiotic presence, they have been harmonizing since they were 8-years-old. In fact, they are so in-synch that their mother's (pre-ultrasound) obstetrician couldn't discern two separate heartbeats until less than two months before their birth. As Leigh said yesterday, "Our dad is 6'8" so our parents thought we were just a really big baby."
They wear their lo-fi-ness as a badge of pride; typically opting for 8 or 16 track analog. Surprisingly, they write their music separately. On March's recent release "Talking to You, Talking to Me," they each wrote 6 of the 12 tracks, taking their inspiration from time holed up in their producer's remote cabin in the high-Sierra Mountains. This time around, the song's author took lead vocals then together, they recorded duet harmonies for backing vocals.
Hot off of today's studio set I'm excited to delve into their albums and will be looking forward to their return to the 'Burgh, which Chandra thinks will be late-Summer or early-Fall.
Stay tuned. In the meantime, click here for a free MP3 of "U N Me" off of their new album.
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