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When they first started touring in 2005, the members of SHEL were a bit of a novelty. At the time, the four classically trained, musically gifted sisters ranged in age from 12 to 18, and most of their gigs were in churches.
In the six years since, all four members of SHEL — the family band featuring Sarah, Hannah, Eva and Liza Holbrook — have grown up.
They look different. They sound different. And they’re seen in a different light. “The sound of our band has matured so much in the past six years,” 21-year-old Sarah Holbrook said during a phone interview from her home in Fort Collins, Colo. “People are taking us seriously.”
The group, which describes its sound as pop-folk, will be in Wichita on Thursday as part of local promoter Barney Byard’s College Hill House Concert series, which he normally stages in his home.
But Byard is expecting demand for SHEL to be so high that the audience likely wouldn’t fit in his house, so he’s staging the concert at Jet Bar-B-Q, 1100 E. Third St. It’s not the group’s first stop in Wichita. The sisters have been through several times before, most recently for a gig at Mead’s Corner, where Sarah said she fell in love with a white chocolate cranberry scone she hasn’t stopped thinking about since.
The members of SHEL inherited their musical ability.
Their father, Andrew Holbrook, is a well-known and respected folk singer-songwriter in Fort Collins. When his daughters were old enough, he asked them to appear onstage with him, backing him up.
But as the years went on, the girls became the main attraction. Now Dad plays backup for them.
Oldest sister Hannah, 23, plays keyboards in the band. Eva, 22, often sings lead, plays the mandolin and writes the lyrics to the group’s original songs.
Sarah, 21, plays fiddle and bass, and Liza, 17, plays drums and other percussion instruments.
The sisters, who’ve always been homeschooled, travel the country for weeks at a time in a Saab station wagon with their father and their mother, Lynn, who serves as their manager.
All that togetherness has been good for the family, though the siblings admit that it’s a situation ripe for sister bickering.
“Whenever we do bicker, we work it out pretty quickly,” Eva said. “You’re in an environment where if you’re going to make it or make any money, you have to be professional. You have to work out your disagreements.”
The bigger struggle the band faces is perception of what an all-girl group of sisters should sound like.
Often, the group will arrive at a gig and get the distinct impression they’re not being taken very seriously.
“We’re all girls, and they don’t really know what to expect, and then afterward we get the most outrageous response,” Sarah said. “It’s a constant struggle. They have this idea of what an all-girl band sounds like, and I would say we don’t always fit into that mold.”
If you go SHEL IN CONCERT
What: Pop-folk group made up of four sisters from Fort Collins, Colo.
Where: Jet Bar-B-Q, 1100 E. Third St.
When: 7 p.m. Thursday
How much: Admission is $15. Reserve a space by e-mailing barney@barneybyardpromotions.com or calling 316-648-5601.
Particulars: Capacity crowd is 150. Attendees should bring folding chairs, drinks and snacks. Doors will open around 6:15 p.m.
Kansas.com Follow a link attached to this story at Kansas.com/entertainment to watch a SHEL music video.
