Friday, Sep. 11, 2009

On the Scene: Get ready for some sibling revelry

You can get listings anywhere, but you’ll only get the story here.

LOVING SISTERS: The White Mule, the Main Street restaurant and bar, has galvanized the local music scene with something at times foreign around here: inspired scheduling. Patrick Davis, Jason Isbell and Danielle Howle have played in recent weeks.

Tonight, Angelo Gianni and Heidi Brown of Treadmill Trackstar perform an acoustic set. On Saturday, Jay Clifford, formerly of Jump Little Children plays and on Wednesday it’s WPA, an alt-folk group that features Glen Phillips ( Toad the Wet Sprocket), Sean Watkins ( Nickel Creek), Luke Bulla ( Lyle Lovett).

The gem on the calendar this month, though, is Saturday’s early set: The Lovell Sisters, a Georgia-based contemporary acoustic trio, is a band that’s going to make noise.

In the past year, the Lovells — Jessica, Megan and Rebecca — have enjoyed a rise from obscurity. They’ve opened for Elvis Costello. They’ve played the Grand Ole Opry, and they’ve rocked festival stages from Bonnaroo to Merlefest to Telluride.

“It’s really amazing because, it’s just happening. A lot of this has fallen into our laps,” said Jessica, who plays fiddle. “This was not something we were planning to do this as a career.

“We’ve had a really, really fun summer.”

Now the girls are on the road more than they’re home. In 2005, the trio won “A Prairie Home Companion’s” teen talent competition. In 2006, at 16, Rebecca won a mandolin prize at Merlefest. “Time to Grow, ” the Lovell’s most recent CD, was released in July. A song on the album, “Distance, ” won the country category of the 2008 John Lennon Songwriting Contest.

Jessica is the oldest at 23. Megan and Rebecca are 20 and 18, respectively. Most siblings on the cusp of adulthood are thinking about college, boyfriends and girlfriends, jobs and getting out of the house.

But the Lovell’s have made the transition from sisters to business partners. And yes, they really are sisters.

“It’s definitely been a learning process,” Jessica said. “The biggest thing we’ve learned is how important people are. There’s all these things in your life you can put value on.

“As with any group of people, it’s hard to get along. You get tired, you get cranky, you get this need for personal space. At a certain point, you need to be quiet.”

The style is hard to pin down. Elements of bluegrass, roots, Americana, bluegrass, country and folk float underneath the sisters’ harmonies. The varying sounds is due to what the sisters listen to: opera, Jeff Buckley, Coldplay and Iron & Wine, among others.

“We are so excited of what comes next,” Jessica said of playing music. “And maybe we do grow into a genre.

“We’re still figuring that out. We don’t want to buttonhole ourselves.”

For now, the sisters will continue to tour. They’ve been invited back to Grand Ole Opry, but they still like to play intimate stages.

“I’ve heard about The White Mule,” Jessica said. “It sounds like a cool place.”

It is.

The Lovell Sisters’ show starts at 6 p.m. The White Mule is at 1530 D Main St. $8 in advance and $10 at the door; (803) 661-8199

The late show begins at 9 p.m. Owen Beverly, Steven Fiore and Josh Kaler will open for Clifford. $8 and $10.

RISING PHOENIX:Phoenix Tongue will be reincarnated — if only for one night. In conjunction with Verseworks, Art Bar’s weekly poetry residency, Phoenix Tongue, the creation of John “SilDag” Starino, will host a poetry and music event at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

The night, called Virgo Monologues, is a parity on “The Vagina Monologues” in name only. It’s also a celebration.

“It’s a reunion show,” a remembrance for the Red Tub poetry nights, said SilDag, the evening’s host and a benevolent poet. “It’s also a birthday for the Virgos in the community.”

SilDag is a Virgo; his birthday is Saturday. Tuesday is the actual birth date of Heather Dearmon, who will be the featured poet. Abyss, a traveling poet who will also perform, is an August Virgo.

But you don’t have to be a Virgo to step to the open mic and share your verse or song.

Sign up begins at 7:30 p.m. Art Bar is at 1211 Park St. Free; (803) 929-0198

WALK WITH PRIDE: The SC Pride parade begins at noon Saturday. Ongina, a contestant from “RuPaul's Drag Race” on LOGO will be the grand marshal.

Tiffany, the ’80s star with the unforgettable hit, “I Think We’re Alone Now,” will perform, as will Frenchie Davis, a former “American Idol” contestant.

If you can’t make it to the parade, WXRY-FM 99.3 will broadcast live with commentary by Nickelodeon Theatre’s Larry Hembree and Patti O’ Furniture.

The parade, which ends in Finlay Park, is free. But, for $25 in advance, you can hang out in the VIP tent where you can meet Tiffany and Frenchie, drink free beer and stand in the shade.

The pride celebration runs until 6 p.m. Gay-owned and gay-friendly businesses will also hold their annual Business Guild Expo in the park.

Finlay Park is at 930 Laurel St. The parade will assemble at 11 a.m. on Laurel Street. The route will go from Laurel to Main Street and then through the Vista.

For more information, and a list of other SC Pride events, visit www.scpride.org.

ONE MORE:Randall Bramblett, a folk and country singer who pulls at the strings of life, will perform a duo show at Doc’s Gumbo Grille at 8:30 tonight. Doc’s is at 1115 Assembly St. $10; (803) 256-4440

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