Touring indie folk trio from Georgia brings haunting harmonies to Barking Legs Sunday

Sunday, January 1, 1905

photo Hope for Agoldensummer is Claire Campbell, Paige Campbell and Suny Lyons.

Considering the way their voices intertwine in hauntingly beautiful harmony, it might seem like sisters Paige and Claire Campbell have always been friends.

Such was not always the case.

"We grew up singing together, but we didn't get along until many years later," Claire said. "We lived in the attic of the house, so it was two people with no separate space. We got on each other's nerves a lot."

When they were older, however, Paige left to attend film school in Chicago, and the distance brought them closer together. Shortly after founding a new folk project, Hope for Agoldensummer, in 2004, Claire convinced her sister to return to Athens, Ga., to lend her voice to the endeavor.

The band will headline a three-group show at Barking Legs Theater presented by ArtFront Artist Presentations as part of a tour in support of their upcoming album, "Life Inside the Body," which is slated for a May 1 release.

The album marks the first recorded debut of the group's newest member, Suny Lyons, an Athens, Ga.-based multi-instrumentalist who also engineered the project.

Although Lyons' influence can be heard in the additional samples and texturing layered atop the band's typically stark folk songs, he will be absent from the tour.

Without Lyons, the audience will hear a more stripped-down sound that emphasizes light instrumental accompaniment that allows the Campbell sisters' harmonies to shine.

"I don't want to say it's more rinky-dink, but it's more folky," Claire said, laughing. "It's definitely more folky -- tinier and cuter."

Contact Casey Phillips at cphillips@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6205. Follow him on Twitter at @Phillips CTFP.

Online: Read a Q&A.

IF YOU GO

* What: Hope for Agoldensummer, HuDost and Lacy Jo.

* When: 8 p.m. Sunday.

* Where: Barking Legs Theater, 1307 Dodds Ave.

* Admission: $10 in advance, $12 at the door.

* Phone: 624-5347.

* Venue website: www.barkinglegs.org.

DISCOGRAPHY

2012 "Life Inside the Body" [recorded over two years at Pop Heart Studio in Athens]

2004-0Bought a Heart Made of Art in the Deep, Deep South," "Ariadne Thread," "Hours in the Attic"

"You have to use it sparingly unless you want all the neighborhood dogs barking at your window."

-- Claire Campbell, on playing musical saw