The Living Sisters

The Living Sisters include Inara George, Becky Stark, and Eleni Mandell, three Los Angeles-based songwriters who began singing together in 2006. All three had previously pursued different projects; George sang retro-pop songs with the Bird and the Bee, Stark recorded chamber folk music with Lavender Diamond, and Mandell maintained a healthy solo career. A shared interest in vocal jazz, gospel, doo wop, and country harmonies eventually brought the trio together, though, and the Living Sisters began collaborating whenever their schedules would allow. By 2009, they had squared away enough free time to begin recording an album with co-producer Sheldon Gomberg, and the resulting Love to Live was released by Vanguard Records in March 2010. Nearly three years later a covers EP appeared, including versions of songs originally by Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, and Doris Day, and finding the trio bolstered by Alex Lilly (Obi Best), who had backed George on Bird and the Bee tours. In 2014 the group issued its first-ever Christmas album, Harmony Is Real: Songs for a Happy Holiday.