When close relatives (especially siblings) sing together, the result is often what is called “blood harmony,” the similarities in the two voices almost melding together into a single instrument. Lydia Slagle and Laura Rogers, who perform as The Secret Sisters, are part of this long tradition in country and folk music.
They’re also fantastic songwriters; they may have only released five albums (they’re recording a new one soon), but they already have a number of gems, and they delighted the audience at The Birchmere with a selection of their best material on Friday evening.
Slagle and Rogers come from Florence, Alabama, a suburb of Muscle Shoals. Many musical giants have made the pilgrimage to record there, including the Rolling Stones, Percy Sledge, and Aretha Franklin. They worked with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section whose bassist, David Hood, is the father of Drive-By Truckers front man Patterson Hood. After the show, I joked with opening act Caleb Elliott that they should all say they’re from the tendons. A notable landmark of the Muscle Shoals Region is the Tennessee River, which inspired the Sisters’ “Tennessee River Runs Low.”
Before starting the set “Paperweight,” Laura told us it was Lydia’s birthday. “Twenty-one,” she said, making the cute pun, “forever twenty-one.” The banter from and between the Sisters was charming and delightful. One noted they had decided to eat after the show. As someone with a long history of digestive issues, it’s a decision I can understand. Before playing “Mississippi,” they spoke about their love for murder ballads and how, as they’re out driving on tour, they’ve talked about the best places to hide a body. They’ve decided it’s Louisiana, because of the variety of critters that would quickly make a corpse disappear. This is true, but it’s also true that, as parts of the state are below sea level (thus why bodies are buried above the ground in New Orleans cemeteries), if the body isn’t quickly consumed, it might turn up.Â
Watch The Secret Sisters perform “Mississippi” live for The Bluegrass Situation on YouTube:
The Secret Sisters changed gears, introducing “If The World Was A House” as a “vulnerable song.” After “Tennessee River Runs Low,” they played a new song, which may or may not be on that album they’re recording, which is going to be a bluegrass record. They talked about their Grammy nominations before “Cabin,” which is about “people hurting each other in ways that can’t heal.” This was one of two times during the evening I was reminded of The Mountain Goats, particularly John Darnielle’s line in “Up The Wolves” about how “There’s going to be a few things, maybe several things, you’re going to find really difficult to forgive.” All of this touches my experience; I’m doing well, but I still wake up screaming from nightmares sometimes.
The set continued with “What Am I?” and “I Can Never Be With You Anymore,” one of several songs inspired by a bad relationship in their 20s. We’ve all been there: in the course of my year in Austin, my relationships included a rockabilly scene girl who never told me her real name, claimed her father created Dungeons & Dragons (but never said who he was), and was a bisexual Republican who hated dogs, and a woman twenty years my senior who, when I stayed I over at her house, I discovered her cats hadn’t mastered the litter box. But hey, even Sheryl Crow dated Kid Rock.
That was followed by “Habit,” after which they moved into their encore. “He’s Fine” was inspired by the same troubled relationship, and they finished the evening with “Tonight You Belong to Me.”
At points during their set, Caleb Elliott, who also opened the show, joined The Sisters on cello. One of four preacher’s kids from Lafayette, Louisiana (which I’m familiar with from Steve Earle’s “Telephone Road”), his mother got him and his siblings started playing music young. He alluded to how preachers’ kid have a reputation for being wild, though he didn’t live the stereotype. That was his brother, who inspired “Don’t Go Losing Your Head.” That brother, he noted, “has it way more together than me now.”
Watch Caleb Elliott perform “Don’t Go Losing Your Head” live with Kimi Samson on YouTube:
Caleb started his set with “Old Souls,” after which he noted it was his first time playing The Birchmere. “I Don’t Believe You,” he said, was a fully written song he’d forgotten about and rediscovered, then recorded with The Secret Sisters guesting and released it as a single. When he wrote it, he was feeling angsty while he was waiting for first album to come out. Before “Get Met Out of Here,” he thanked the audience for being such good listeners.
His set continued with “Weed, Wine, and Time,” then “Slow Burn,” which is about how “happiness isn’t a place on a map” (the theme of the Mountain Goats’ “Going To…” songs). “Any Way The Wind Blows,” he said, is passive-aggressively making fun of people, delivering “an old-fashioned Southern uppercut” to bigots. Caleb finished his set with “Are You Ready?” which he said is “an actual love song.”
I hadn’t seen Elliott before, and I was really impressed him: great musician, great singer, great songs. I’ve seen The Secret Sisters several times now, and they’re always excellent. After a stressful week, this show was a much-needed balm.
