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.
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 didnt 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
Selected Performances include:
The Blue Guitar, Palm Springs, 2007
House of Blues Las Vegas, 2006
The Knitting Factory, Los Angeles 2006
Gram Fest, Joshua Tree, 2002, 2003,2004,2005
Selected Media engagements
Weeds Showtime, Featuring The Sibleys song “Angel Dreams” 2007,
WEEDS: HE TAUGHT ME HOW TO DRIVE BY
In episode 307, season three, episode seven
WEVL, Memphis,”Sirens Muse Radio Show” Dickerson, Lea 7/15/2007
KUCR, Riverside,”Undercurrent”,Venable, Elizabeth 7/ 6/2007
Radio reverb 97 FM., United Kingdom, “Simple Folk Radio” Swinhoe,Dillon,
Palms film 2007 By John Bock featuring the Sibleys, premereing at Redcat Theater 2008 Los Angeles, exhibited Shirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt Germany 2007
New York Times, “Art Blooms in California Desert”Chaplin, Julia, 4/21/2006 (Travel Sec)
Simply Luxurios, (Einfactluxurios, Kalifornien) Swiss Television, show featuring The Sibleys, Channel SF Zurich broadcast 11/16/2006
LA Times Magazine, Gilstrap, Peter, April 17, 2005 pp.18 - 21
100 Concerts in 100 Days ( The Sibleys day 4) Pepsi Smash / Yahoo Web broad cast on Yahoo Music. 2005
I heard that Wonder Valley was 116 degrees! Heck, get yer selves outta the heat & come down here & play! It's only about 10 degrees cooler here, but hey!!! We need some Sibleys!
You are sooo nice to say such kind things! I feel kinda bad, because I made some more cookies the day after and they were better (three people tried both batches and said so) and then I made another kind and they were good, too. I will send you some better ones, I promise!
Hope all is well in your part of the world. It's kinda muggy and sweltery here...'skeeters are starting to make themselves noticable (got a good bite last night--OW)
On the other hand, we got to see a REALLY awesome firefly display. There's a part of WNC where the fireflies do a sequential lighting display--and we just happen to live right near that area! So we saw the little guys doing their disco light show last night. AMAZING! Never saw anything like it 'til I moved to this area. It's like lightning bugs on Jolt cola or mega-caffeine!!!
Girrrrrrl I'm not joking, I'd be honored to make & send you some. Did I tell you my Dad was the main Ernie Keebler artist while I was growing up? We got a LOT of cookies, quite often! :*D Guess that sorta inspired me to learn to bake, too!!!
Message me w/a mailing address and I'll send them out Monday (priority) so you can get them quickly while they're still fresh (they're yummiest fresh, after all).
Thanks for the stray kitten offer. How I'd LOVE to have a million of them...but my true love darling husband is allergic to all things furred and feathered (can you BELIEVE IT?). Very sad, he LOVES animals but the birds and furry mammals do him in...*SIGH*
So we live in a rather hypoallergenic home. But I can still watch the critters from my windows and doors! A few days ago we had three bunnies in the backyard...SO CUTE...
And there's a grey-and-white stray cat who looks like Tom from Tom & Jerry--only with long hair--we throw food out to him and he enjoys it--but he's rather feral and doesn't stick around. That's just as well, less temptation for me to try to pet him!
Thank you so much my dear. I am very please of the way they came out. But let us be honest, with a subject like you, how could I go wrong. Good luck you guys! You are doing very good. I can see the progress it is wonderful. Bisous Didier
MMMMM! Ice cream! I LOVE ICE CREAM! If you like it HALF as much as I do, you'd fit in wonderfully with my family. My Dad once took me out for ice cream THREE TIMES in the same day (he's a bit of a quiescently frozen treat buff himself).
I haven't tried either of those Ben & Jerry flavors but DANG they sound tasty!!!
