The Staves are an English

indie folk Indie folk is a music genre that arose in the 1990s among musicians from indie rock scenes influenced by folk music. Indie folk hybridizes the acoustic guitar melodies of traditional folk music with contemporary instrumentation. The genre has it ...

trio of sisters Emily, Jessica and Camilla Staveley-Taylor from

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...

, England.

Career

The Staves began performing together at open-mic nights in Watford hosted by a local pub, The Horns. Originally performing as The Staveley-Taylors, the trio later changed their name to The Staves. The group appeared on the

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer *Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in 1 ...

album ''

Praise and Blame ''Praise & Blame'' is the 38th studio album by Welsh musician Tom Jones, released 26 July 2010. The album was Jones' first release with Island Records and was recorded in 2009 at the Real World Studios in Wiltshire, England. Produced by Ethan ...

'', released in July 2010. They supported Mt. Desolation on their UK tour in autumn 2010. Jessica Staveley-Taylor also performed as part of Mt. Desolation and provided vocals for their eponymous album. The Staves released the ''Live at Cecil Sharp House'' EP and the ''Mexico'' EP in 2011, and appeared on

Fionn Regan Fionn Regan (born 1981) is an Irish folk musician and singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Bray, Regan came to prominence with the release of his debut studio album, '' The End of History'' in 2006. He had been releasing extended plays for six ...

's third studio album, '' 100 Acres of Sycamore''. The Staves toured in the United States while supporting

The Civil Wars The Civil Wars were an American musical duo composed of Joy Williams and John Paul White. Formed in 2008, The Civil Wars won four Grammy Awards prior to their 2014 breakup. History 2008–2010 Both Williams and White had solo careers prior ...

in January 2012. They followed these appearances with performances at

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

and a tour in March and April with Bear's Den,

Nathaniel Rateliff Nathaniel David Rateliff (born October 7, 1978) is an American singer and songwriter based in Denver, Colorado, whose influences are described as folk, Americana and vintage rhythm & blues. Rateliff has performed with a backing band called the ...

and

Ben Howard Benjamin John Howard (born 24 April 1987) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and composer. His self-released debut EP ''Games in the Dark'' (2008) was followed by two more EPs, '' These Waters'' (2009) and '' Old Pine'' (2010). Signed t ...

. This tour was the subject of the film, "Austin to Boston", a documentary by Marcus Haney. The band supported

Bon Iver Bon Iver ( ) is an American indie folk band founded in 2006 by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon. Vernon released Bon Iver's debut album, ''For Emma, Forever Ago,'' independently in July 2007. The majority of the album was recorded while Vernon ...

on their May and June 2012 US and Canadian tour. The band's debut album, ''Dead & Born & Grown'', was released in November 2012 and produced by

Glyn Johns Glyn Thomas Johns (born 15 February 1942) is an English musician, recording engineer and record producer. Biography Early history Johns was born in Epsom, Surrey, England. He had three siblings, two older sisters and a younger brother, Andy ...

and

Ethan Johns Ethan Thomas Robert Johns (born 1969 in Merton, London, England) is an English record producer, engineer, mixer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Johns has worked with artists including Ryan Adams, Kings of Leon, Paul McCartney, Ray LaMo ...

. An excerpt from their performance of "Facing West" on '' Later... with Jools Holland'' was featured on the ''This is BBC Two'' promotional programme. The second full-length album, ''If I Was'', was released 23 March 2015 on Atlantic Records in the UK/EU and on 31 March on Nonesuch Records in the US; the record was produced by Justin Vernon of Bon Iver. The album debuted at #14 on the Official UK Album Chart. In July 2015, The Staves performed with Bon Iver as guest artists along with

Colin Stetson Colin Stetson (born March 3, 1975) is a Canadian-American saxophonist, multireedist, and composer based in Montreal. He is best known as a regular collaborator of the indie rock acts Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, Bell Orchestre, and Ex Eye. In additio ...

, yMusic, and No BS! Brass for Bon Iver's return to the stage as part of the Eaux Claires Festival in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. They have also performed as the warm-up act for

Florence and the Machine Florence and the Machine (stylised as Florence + the Machine) are an English indie rock band that formed in London in 2007, consisting of lead vocalist Florence Welch, keyboardist Isabella Summers, guitarist Rob Ackroyd, harpist Tom Monger, and ...

on Florence's ''How Big Tour'' supporting ''

How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful ''How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful'' is the third studio album by English indie rock band Florence and the Machine, released on 29 May 2015 by Island Records. After returning from her year-long hiatus from music, lead vocalist Florence Welch re ...

''. The Staves joined the live line-up of Bon Iver for the latter's Asia tour in late February and early March 2016. On 24 November 2017, The Staves released The Way is Read − a full-length album created in conjunction with NYC-based chamber music ensemble yMusic. This album is available on vinyl, via the streaming service TIDAL in both normal and high quality MQA (

Master Quality Authenticated Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) is a lossy audio compression format, which is used to transfer high-quality audio to a smartphone or audio device. The tech was launched in 2014 by Meridian Audio, and is now owned and licensed by MQA Ltd. MQ ...

) formats, and as an MP3 download. There is no CD version available yet. In October/November 2018 they supported

First Aid Kit A first aid kit or medical kit is a collection of supplies and equipment used to give immediate medical treatment, primarily to treat injuries and other mild or moderate medical conditions. There is a wide variation in the contents of first aid ...

on their Rebel Heart tour. In January 2020, The Staves announced that Emily Staveley-Taylor would not take part in touring, following the birth of her daughter. In March 2020, The Staves announced they would be performing at the

Glastonbury festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

in 2020. But due to concerns over the 2019–20

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...

, the festival had to be cancelled. On 5 February 2021, their third studio album '' Good Woman'' was released via

Atlantic Records UK Atlantic Records Group LLC is an umbrella label owned by Warner Music Group. It oversees several labels assigned to its Atlantic Records unit. In total, the label group has nearly three hundred artists on its roster. History In 2004, Time Warner ...

and

Nonesuch Records Nonesuch Records is an American record company and label owned by Warner Music Group, distributed by Warner Records (formerly called Warner Bros. Records), and based in New York City. Founded by Jac Holzman in 1964 as a budget classical label, No ...

. The album was produced by

John Congleton John Congleton is an American Grammy Award-winning record producer, engineer, mixer, writer and musician. In addition to his production work, Congleton has fronted the alternative rock band the Paper Chase, and writes music for a newer project e ...

and charted at number 13 in the UK albums chart.

Personal lives

The sisters learned to play guitar from their father while growing up in Watford. As children, they aspired to create a sketch comedy television programme together. They enjoy

Guinness Guinness () is an Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in ov ...

and are vocal in challenging tropes about sensitive wilderness-bound artists that dominate modern folk music culture. In addition to touring with

and producing ''If I Was'' with

Justin Vernon Justin DeYarmond Edison Vernon (born April 30, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the primary songwriter and frontman of indie folk band Bon Iver. Known for his distinct falsetto voic ...

, the sisters have become friends with the Wisconsin-born musician. In summer 2018, the sisters' mother, Jean, a former teacher who had encouraged them to follow their dream of making music, died. In 2019, Emily became a mother to a daughter called Margo.

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Extended plays

Singles

References

External links

Official website

The Staves talk to Michael Hann

The Staves Live In Session at The BBC

{{DEFAULTSORT:Staves, The British folk rock groups English country music groups Sibling musical trios People from Watford Musicians from Hertfordshire Musical groups established in 2009