THE LOVELL SISTERS > Time To Grow

THE LOVELL SISTERS

Time To Grow

(2DEFPIGS)

[Rating: 3 stars]

The Lovell Sisters are young. Two of them—dobro player Megan and guitarist/mandolinist Rebecca—still have “teen” at the end of their ages; Jessica, the fiddler, is in her early 20s. And, yet, they’re already a self-sufficient unit, holding their own as an instrumental trio, turning down a major label deal that didn’t prioritize their songwriting and co-producing their second album, Time To Grow, with Brent Truitt.

Nowhere is the Georgia-based Lovells’ independent streak more explicit than the title track, an original that opens the album. They conjure a combination of “Banjo Pickin’ Girl” by late-‘30s female string band the Coon Creek Girls and Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots are Made For Walkin’.” Not that their song sounds like either. (It doesn’t.) But it parallels the lyrics and spirit of both: music as a vehicle for a woman to circle the globe without help or hindrance from her man.

“Time To Grow” is a good introduction to what the Lovells do. They land on the simpler side of newgrass with pure, unadulterated pop vocals—full-throated, polished and expressive—and sumptuous harmonies. They’re not flashy players. And that’s a good thing. Megan, in particular, handles her dobro with sweeping strokes.

Before the album’s end, the material—roughly half of it original—starts to drag a little beneath the weight of self-serious pop ballads. But, if the album title is any indication, the Lovells see this as the beginning, not the final destination.