Laugh in New Year with Chenille Sisters
Written by Vicki L. Kroll | | news@toledofreepress.comThe Chenille Sisters are known for their harmonies and wit.
In “Pizza Deliverance,” they sing about finding the face of the Virgin Mary on a pie: “My prayers have been answered all for $8.99.” In “Help! I’m Turning Into My Parents,” the trio quips: “My happy hour is a nap.”
“When you look at entertainment and art, the funny stuff doesn’t usually get the awards,” said singer Grace Morand. “The funny movies don’t win the Oscars, but I think they have a really important place in our culture. I think [comedy is] valuable and underrated.”
Morand, singer-guitarist Connie Huber and singer Cheryl Dawdy have showcased silliness since they formed in Ann Arbor in 1985. Morand and Huber were in a band and decided to cover “Respect.”
Chenille Sisters
“I was like the Aretha, and Connie said, ‘You know, I can’t do the ’sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me’ by myself,” Morand recalled. “So we recruited [our friend] Cheryl, and she was the other sock-it-to-me girl, and we made some silly choreography, and it was really fun.”
The three knew it was something special.
“It seemed like our voices just blended very naturally, just the timbre of voices went together very well and we said, ‘We sound like we’re family; we sound like we’re sisters,’ ” Morand said.
The singing siblings just needed a name.
“It’s kind of nostalgic, like you know chenille fabric that bathrobes and bedspreads used to be made out of. It’s kind of like that; some of our music is nostalgic. We’re very drawn to early jazz and the trios like The Andrews Sisters and The Boswell Sisters,” Morand explained. “There were girl groups named after very elegant fabrics like The Chiffons and The Ravonettes. This is sort of a spoof on that because nowadays people weave beautiful, elegant things with chenille, but back then it was just sort of more comfy, cozy, cottagey kind of feel to it.
“But we liked that; we thought that sort of reflected us.”
The three folksy singer-songwriters have appeared on NPR’s “A Prairie Home Companion” and won two Emmy Awards for the holiday special, “The Secret of the Box.”
The Chenille Sisters will perform at 10 p.m. Dec. 31 at the Ark in Ann Arbor. Doors open at 9 p.m. Tickets are $35.
“It’s pretty low-key but it’s a lot of fun, and it’s just from 10 until midnight so at midnight we all go, ‘Woo-hoo-hoo,’ toast and Happy New Year and it’s done,” Morand said. “It’s not a late evening and it’s not an intense boogie evening; it’s just a mellow, fun, enjoyable evening.”
On the Web: thechenillesisters.com
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