the sibleys

“What the Sibleys play is spare, moody music carved out of guitar, bass, drums and vocals. Sort of like the Velvet Underground minus the New York attitude, with a beautiful blond female singer who can, at times, turn a better lyric and can always carry more of a tune than Lou Reed and Nico combined. Laura's guitar snakes in and out of her desert-Dietrich vocals about black Kawasakis and using a jumper cable at the carnival and not smiling unless she wants to, sung in a way that's better heard than read about.”

- Peter Gilstrap, L.A. Times.
 

WORDS FROM THE PRODUCER


I bought my house in Wonder Valley in 1998. When I was making my decision on whether or not to buy, I decided to visit the nearest bar to see if I felt at home. So I took the dirt road From Rt. 62 to Amboy Road and made a right. A half a mile down I spotted The Palms. I went inside and every head turned around, just like in the movies. The clientele was a collection of bikers, old men, desert ladies and a dog or two. They eventually gave me a collective look of approval and I ordered a beer. In the back room a band struck up a song. I went in to check it out. On stage were a very young blonde brother and sister (I'm guessing she was 16 and he was but a few years older) with a very gaunt older mustachioed speed freak on drums. They were performing a very interesting version of "Elvira" by the Oak Ridge Boys. That was it. I bought the house and frequented the Palms regularly. It turned out the band was called The Sibleys (Laura and James) and they owned the place with Mary, their mom.

One night they debuted a new lineup (James had replaced the speed-freak drummer and their friend Thom was added on bass) and featured a few original compositions written with Mary. I was astonished by the simplicity of the music and poetic brilliance of the lyrics. I had never heard anything like it. That night I approached the band about working together. We initially recorded their whole catalog at my house only a few miles from the restaurant but the band didn’t sound the same as they did on stage at the bar. I realized what was missing was the bar itself, so with the help of a remote unit, I cut them live with no overdubs at the Palms on a hot Tuesday desert afternoon. The band and I are thrilled with the results.

- Ben Vaughn