The Whitmore Sisters - Ghost Stories

Sibling singers Eleanor and Bonnie Whitmore begin Ghost Stories with "Learn to Fly," a gentle cut that appropriately soars with sweet harmonies. Eleanor is a multi-instrumentalist (piano, guitar, synth, mandolin, strings and more) and she picks up her fiddle for "The Ballad of Sissy & Porter," a tale of a woman who still thinks of a long lost lover that's set to a downhome country melody. The delicate "Friends We Leave Behind" spotlights the ladies vocal harmonies as does the loping "Hurtin' for a Letdown" which also has twangy guitar parts; title cut "Ghost Stories" has Bonnie and Eleanor harmonizing once again, sadly and sublimely throughout though the song increases tempo partway through. Chris Masterson of The Mastersons adds tasteful banjo parts to "Ricky," a cut about a guy who's living a bit too wildly. Masterson also plays guitar throughout, no surprise since he is Eleanor Whitmore's husband. With Bonnie on bass and a few other sidemen rounding out the players the music is charming country and Americana but clearly the star instruments here are the voices of the sisters.

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