Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 11, 1992 TAG: 9203110243
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETH MACY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Rehearsed one day, played the next - never to be performed again. The Fabulous Twister Sisters call the songs the Handiwipes of music.
Of course, that was before the Twisters started taking their tunes on the road, playing off the exposure they've received as featured performers of the alternative-music radio show.
Now the high-energy Handiwipes are part of their regular touring routine. They'll be featured Friday night at The Iroquois Club.
"A lot of times you say alternative folk and people think of the Cowboy Junkies - music to go to sleep by," singer/violinist Bonet said in a recent interview. "Our music is more like to wake up to. . . . It's tap-your-toes kinda stuff."
Regular listeners of "Mountain Stage" will recognize the Twisters' blend of sassy folk-rock that glides easily into jazz, swing and funk. Adams sings lead while Bonet handles vocal harmonies and lead instrument - a chameleon electric violin that has accompanied a range of groups, from REM and Warren Zevon to Michelle Shocked and the Indigo Girls.
Bonet's eclectic fiddling also is featured on Chris Whitley's album, "Living With the Law," as well as Canadian folk singer Sarah McLachlan's new release, "Solace."
Backing up the duo, "Mountain Stage" house-band members John Kessler and Ammed Solomon play bass and drums respectively - a fact that Bonet says makes them one of the most progressive bands around.
"We have two guys who are part of a group named the Twister Sisters," Bonet deadpanned. "We think that makes them really good sports."
Like the Charleston, W.Va.-based radio show itself, the Twister Sisters are about as laid back as elbow-rubbing musicians get.
Bonet joked about "weaseling" onto the stage with people like Bruce Cockburn and R.E.M. - talking them into letting her improvise with them just before they go on stage.
"If they're cocky, that doesn't last very long when they get here," she said of the featured performers. "Because that's not the way we are. Living in Charleston, it's hard to put on too many airs.
"And if they are pretentious, we just nice 'em to death, and usually it wears off."
The Twister Sisters originated as a spin-off from an earlier band they performed in called Stark Raven, which toured the Southeastern college-campus circuit.
Bonet and Adams met while students at West Virginia University in Morgantown - either in a human sexuality class or a smoky college bar; they can't remember which.
Joining the radio program in its fledgling days of the mid-'80s, the Twister Sisters perform both original songs and covers.
"We try to make the covers our own, though," Bonet said, adding that their version of Sam Cooke's "Twistin' the Night Away" is accompanied by accordion, bass and drums. (Trained as a classical pianist, Bonet recently has taken up the accordion.)
Asked what the band's goals were, she joked, "To become really rich and famous.
"Realistically, though, we don't consider ourselves Nancy and Ann Wilson. You listen to the radio today, and everything has the same sound.
"What we're trying to do is to have a unique sound that will be competitive in today's market."
The Twister Sisters haven't found their market niche yet, but they're working on it.
Then again, with their built-in weekly "Mountain Stage" audience of 300,000 and growing, maybe the niche will find them.
ON STAGE: The Fabulous Twister Sisters, 9 p.m. Friday, The Iroquois Club, $5. Opening act: acoustic folk by Jane Hicks & Radar Rose. 345-6335.
by CNB