The Staves To Tour India With Fink

Writing a song is kind of like cooking, says singer Jessica Staves Taylor over the phone from London. “I’m not very good at cooking though,” the singer replies cheerfully when asked whether she cooked a lot, “I tend to burn things.” Jessica may have run into a spot of trouble in the kitchen, but it’s a different story on stage with her sisters Emily and Camilla. The group of sisters known as The Staves, an acoustic rock act from Watford, have turned into masterchefs of sorts, opening for the likes of folk rockers Bon Iver and appearing at the biggest festivals including Bonnaroo. This week, The Staves bring their lilting harmonies, finger-picked guitar riffs and shining ukulele parts that cheer up songs of doomed love, to the Bengaluru edition of Bacardi NH7 Weekender.

The Staves, who grew up harmonizing on songs by the Beatles, CSNY [Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young] and Simon & Garfunkel and decided to form a band in 2008, released their debut album Dead & Born & Grown in November, drawing inevitable comparisons to Brit folk singer Laura Marling. While The Staves are headed towards a distinct sound that they are averse to describing as folk, their debut produced by Ethan Johns [also produced Laura Marling] has been well received in the UK and Ireland, both countries that are currently in the throes of a folk music revival. But Jessica isn’t entirely optimistic. “Fans of British folk music would be very disappointed if they heard us,” she says, “There’s so much music that it takes a lot to surprise audiences in the UK, but there’s definitely a place for our kind of music that is acoustic and folk-y. I think artists like Mumford & Sons and Laura Marling have opened the doors for other musicians like us.”

Pure folk or not, The Staves seem to have won favor with both audiences as well as artists such as Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon, Irish folk musician Fionn Regan and oddly enough, Tom Jones. Vernon invited them to join him on stage on a track titled “Re: Stats” when they toured with his band earlier this year in the US. “It’s really nice when we do ”˜Regarding Stats.’ Everyone steps off stage so it’s just Justin and us,” says Jessica. Regan roped in the sisters to collaborate on “North Star Lover,” a track on his third album 100 Acres Of Sycamore after he listened to their EP. “Fionn’s been a big influence and we’re huge fans, so when we happened to perform at the same gig as him in Liverpool last year, we went over to say hi and gave him a CD,” Jessica adds.

Jessica sheepishly admits that it’s become second nature to sing in harmony. “It’s quite cheesy, but that does happen. We always find parts to sing in and it comes quite naturally,” she says. Emily being the oldest takes the lowest range, Jessica being the “awkward middle sister,” as she had described herself in the past, gets the mid range and Camilla, the youngest sister takes the highest pitch. What’s it like to have a man singing alongside their delicate three-part harmonies? “We’ve always been singing with others and it’s always fun to change things up,” says the singer. Although they’ve never performed with Brit songwriter and singer Fin Greenall and his band Fink, The Staves are sure they will hit it off when they take to stage in India. “We saw him perform this summer and we have a lot of the same friends. I think it will be really exciting,” says Jessica. There’s a ritual they maintain with the setlist that makes it even more so. “We decide only 10 minutes before the show.” The recipe seems to have worked perfectly so far.

The Staves support Fink in India performing on

December 14^th, Liberty Theatre, Tickets at nh7.in

December 16^th, Blue Frog, Delhi, Tickets here

The Staves perform on December 15^th, Bacardi NH7 Weekender, Bengaluru Jack & Jones Stage, Tickets at nh7.in/weekender