Chapin Sisters bring Appalachian, folk and country rock to Chidham and Shoreham

On July 23, Lily and Abigail Chapin will be at Chidham & Hambrook Village Hall, Chidham Lane, 8-10 pm. £15 plus £1.50 booking fee on 07802 500050. On July 24, they will be at Ropetackle Arts Centre, Shoreham, starts 8pm. 01273 464440, £14 plus £1.50 booking fee.

Spokesman Richard Fryer said: “Growing up in a famous American musical family, up the river from New York City, the sisters made their vocal debuts at ages six and eight on their father Tom Chapin’s Grammy Award winning children’s albums. Their uncle was the late, legendary folk icon and social justice activist Harry Chapin, whose number-one single Cats in the Cradle is still beloved. Their grandfather, Jim Chapin, was a celebrated jazz drummer and their cousin Jen Chapin is an acclaimed jazz-influenced singer/songwriter and activist. Music runs in their blood.

“Together with their half-sister Jessica Craven, their 2004 demos made an immediate splash at KCRW, a prominent Los Angeles taste-maker radio station, with their haunting cover of Britney Spears’ Toxic quickly becoming a station favou rite.

“In 2010, Jessica left the band to focus on raising her own family though not before the sisters became media darlings (Rolling Stone, Spin, The New York Times, Paper, Nylon, Washington Post) with their debut album Lake Bottom LP. Shortly afterwards Abigail and Lily, now a duo, released their five-song EP Oh, Hear the Wind Blow followed by their second album, the aptly titled Two on their own Lake Bottom record label. Maintaining independence within a corporate industry, they soon began to gain acclaim for their song-writing with Popmatters.com comparing them to Lennon/McCartney and adding ‘their music blends the harmonies of traditional sister acts with a modern lyrical sensibility’

“Perhaps with harmony in mind, their next self-release was 2013’s gender-bending tribute album A Date with The Everly Brothers featuring some of New York’s finest players and Abigail and Lily perfecting their two-part vocals a la Don and Phil.

“Their follow-up album Today’s Not Yesterday was recorded in 2015 in Echo Park, California using Jackson Browne’s old tape machine.

"The album captures a Southern California vibe with a more emotive, reflective and contemplative side of the sisters emerging, looking back upon what had been and forward to what would be. In 2018, soon after both sisters had given birth to their first children, Ferry Boat EP arrived with a new view of the world around them. Recorded days after Trump’s surprise presidential victory in November 2016. Lily described the time spent recording as ‘a refuge’ while Abigail added that ‘music is something positive that we could put into the world, and now, as new mothers, it feels more powerful than ever.’”