Biography
The Staves are Watford born sisters Jessica and Camilla Staveley-Taylor. The band first formed in 2009 around the talents of sisters Emily (vocals), Jessica (vocals/guitar), and Camilla Staveley-Taylor (vocals/ukulele), who first learned to harmonize by singing along with their parents' record collection, dominated by the likes of Simon & Garfunkel and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. They made their live debut at a neighbourhood pub's open-mike night, but they were well-received and began appearing on a regular basis. They released their debut EP, Facing West, in 2010, the same year they performed as backing vocalists on Tom Jones’ 2010 gospel collection Praise & Blame.
The siblings signed with Atlantic Records and, capitalizing on the buzz created by their well-received debuts, they spent the beginning of 2012 supporting acts ‘the Civil Wars’ and ‘Bon Iver’ in North America. Album ‘If I Was’ was produced by Justin Vernon and released in February 2015. It landed them in the Top 20 of the Billboard Americana/Folk and Heatseekers Albums charts and resulted in a tour with Florence + the Machine and an appearance at Glastonbury.
They spent the latter part of 2018 touring the U.K. with First Aid Kit, another indie folk act comprising sisters. However, it was the death of their mother -- as well as the birth of Emily’s daughter -- that led to the slowdown of their public appearances in the period that followed. Emily stepped away for the band to focus on family life and the Staves now continue as a duo.
Their new album All Now emerges, bold and bright. An album as rich and honest as their most profound music. “When you sing about hesitation and fear, there's a lot of power in not making it sound fearful and being quite steadfast instead," says Camilla. "It feels like an act of taking control." With All Now, there's no letting go.
The Staves are just about to conclude a US and European tour and will head to various summer festivals in the UK. The band are keen to further their footprint in sync. Previous syncs include a placement in Amazon’s ‘Your Christmas Or Mine’, a bespoke track in Robin Wrights film ‘Land’ and a placement in Netflix’s ‘Dash & Lily’. They also found time earlier this year to record their NPR Tiny Desk.