The
Lonesome Sisters, Debra Clifford & Sarah Hawker.
Photo by Maria Camillo.
For a high resolution press photo of this pic for print, Click
Here.
"Crystalline harmonies and mournful tunes..." -The Boston Globe
The
Lonesome Sisters were voted Best Acoustic Duo
of 2006 by Gibson
Guitars
Lonesome
Sister "Backstage Pass" Gibson Guitar Article
NEWS: "Follow Me Down" voted best original
song in the Clifftop
WV Appalachian Stringband Festival Songwriting Contest. August 2006.
The Lonesome Sisters, Sarah Hawker and Debra Clifford, are known for their hard hitting high old time country and mountain harmonies and their love of singing about tragedy and heartache in all its forms. They have performed at venues such as the Newport Folk Festival and the Kaufman Center, Merkin Hall in NYC, and played with Jesse Winchester, The Levon Helm Band, Hazel Dickens, Alice Gerrard, Laurie Lewis, Dudley Connell, Marshall Wilborn, Tony Trischka, Mike Marshall and Darol Anger. They were also selected to perform in Fall 2005 for juried showcases at the 2005 Western Arts Alliance in Albuquerque NM, the Performing Arts Exchange in Memphis, Tennessee and the Roots & Branches Stage at IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) 2005 Conference in Nashville, TN. At Merlefest 2004 they performed and won best country song in the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest for Sarah's song, "Forgiveness." There were 894 entries. Sarah's original song "Going Home Shoes" was included in the Fall 2004 Sing Out! magazine and compilation CD, with music & lyrics printed inside. They have recorded three CD's on their own record label, Tin Halo Music. They have just recorded the third CD "Follow me Down" with fiddler Rayna Gellert, which was just released in June 2006. NEWS: "Follow Me Down" was voted best original song in the Clifftop WV Appalachian Stringband Festival Songwriting Contest, August 2006. The Lonesome Sisters were voted Best Acoustic Duo of 2006 by Gibson Guitars. (Lonesome Sister "Backstage Pass" Gibson Guitar Article) In April 2007 they performed at Merlefest, and Sarah was a judge in the 2007 Chris Austin Songwriting Contest.
Click on these links to view their touring schedule and current reviews.
LS BIOS
Sarah
Hawker learned about traditional Appalachian singing from
her aunt Ginny
Hawker,
her uncle Tracy Schwarz,
and her grandfather, Ben
Hawker, beloved Primitive Baptist singer, teacher, and teller of
tall tales. She has successfully entwined the roots of her family
heritage
with her own original work, winning the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest(Merlefest
2004) for her song "Forgiveness," and having her song "Going
Home Shoes" featured in Sing
Out! magazine (Fall
2004). Her song "Follow
me Down" was voted
best original song in the Clifftop
WV Appalachian Stringband Festival Songwriting Contest, in August
2006. In
April 2007 the Lonesome Sisters performed at Merlefest,
and Sarah was a judge in the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest. The
Lonesome Sisters were voted Best Acoustic Duo of 2006 by Gibson
Guitars. Along
with singing and songwriting, She plays guitar and clawhammer banjo.
Sarah
lives in Woodstock, NY, in the beautiful Catskill Mountains.
Debra
Clifford has played in many bluegrass, early country and old
time contra dance bands in the Upstate NY and Ithaca area. She
has performed with Ginny
Hawker & Tracy
Schwarz, Mac Benford,
Alice Gerrard and recorded a CD with the old time string band jimmyjohnnnyjoe.
Debra is a songwriter,
and a singer and also teaches old time rhythm guitar. The Lonesome Sisters were voted Best Acoustic Duo of 2006 by Gibson Guitars. She plays an old Gibson
SJ acoustic guitar, old Gibson mandolin, and fretless clawhammer banjo
in the Lonesome Sisters. Debra lives in the Chatham NY area,
in the beautiful Hudson Valley.
*ARCHIVED RADIO SHOWS*
LISTEN TO LS ON THE RADIO THRIFT SHOP with Laura Cantrell on WFMU 91.1 FM
LISTEN TO LS ON DANCING ON THE AIR with Jay Ungar and Molly Mason on WAMC
LISTEN TO LS ON KGNU's KABARET
