Kate and Anna McGarrigle need little by way of introduction.  Since their debut album in 1976, their distinctive harmonies and songs have given their music a world stage, with festival and concert hall tours of Canada, America, Europe, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. They have collaborated on recordings and performances with The Chieftains, Emmy Lou Harris, Linda Ronstadt and Joan Baez, to name just a few. 

Born in Montreal of mixed English and French-Canadian origin, Kate and Anna grew up in the Laurentian Mountains village of Saint-Sauveur-des-Monts.  Taught piano by the village nuns, their family life revolved around music with regular singing sessions around the family ivories.  Kate and Anna absorbed a rich musical heritage ranging from Victorian ballads to blues and Appalachian French-Canadian folk songs to music by contemporary singer-songwriters. 

In the 1960s, Kate went to McGill University to study engineering while Anna studied painting at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Montreal.  They continued to write songs and sing together and in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the sisters were active in the local folk scene, becoming regular features at the legendary Cafe Lena in Saratoga, New York.  A tape of their songs made its way to Los Angeles where Maria Muldaur was preparing her first solo album.  She ended up singing two of their songs, and producer Joe Boyd persuaded Warner Bros.  to bring them out to sing harmonies and record a demo of their own.  The resulting album, Kate & Anna McGarrigle (Warner Bros.  1976/Hannibal 1994), was recognized by most critics as an immediate classic and was chosen by Melody Maker as the "Best Album of the Year." and by Stereo Review as "Record of the Year." 

One song from that record, Heart Like a Wheel, became the centrepiece and title track of Linda Ronstadt's million-selling record the following year.  Other albums followed; Dancer with Bruised Knees (WB 1977/Hannibal 1994), Pronto Monto (WB 1978/currently out of print), The French Record (Hannibal 1981), which received 4 ½ stars from Rolling Stone, and Love Over And Over (Polydor 1982/ re-released by Hannibal in 1997).

When the McGarrigles released Heartbeats Accelerating (Private Music 1990) the New York Times said of one song, "Had Emily Dickinson been a late-20th Century songwriter, this might be just the sort of piece she would have written. 

There was a six-year gap before their next record, but when Kate and Anna McGarrigle released the critically acclaimed Matapedia in 1996, it was well worth the wait.  Critics were unanimous in the praise of the sisters' undiminishing talent and the elegant beauty of the record. 

When not working on their own records, the McGarrigles have guested on numerous albums (including Richard & Linda Thompson's Sunnyvista and the Albion Band's Rise Up Like The Sun).  In 1991 they recorded three Stephen Foster songs for the Columbia/Sony release, Songs of the Civil War, and they contributed a tune to the lullaby album and video, Child of Mine in 1992.  In 1995, the McGarrigles recorded with Emmy Lou Harris at Daniel Lanois' New Orleans studio, and contributed the song Goin' Back To Harlan (which also appeared on Matapedia) to the lineup for her album, Wrecking Ball.  In 1996 they participated in a live album with Joan Baez and recorded tracks for an album by Canadian artist Gilles Vigneault.  They have also performed and recorded with The Chieftains. 

Last winter Kate & Anna joined with their extended family to pay homage to their childhood days growing up singing in Quebec.  Kate's ex-husband Loudon Wainwright lll came along with their children Rufus and Martha Wainwright.  Anna's husband Dane Lanken and their children Lily and Sylvan joined in, as did honorary McGarrigles Emmy Lou Harris and Linda Ronstadt, and old Montreal cohorts Chaim Tannenbaum, Michel Pepin and Joel Zifkin. 

The result was The McGarrigle Hour, (HNCD 1417), a recording of their favourite songs released by Hannibal on October 13, 1998.  With songs by the likes of Stephen Foster, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin and Charlie Poole, as well as some McGarrigle and Wainwright originals, the album bursts to overflowing with glorious singing, with solo performances, duets, harmonies and verses traded back and forth among some of North America's finest singers. 

Rufus Wainwright, now a burgeoning star in his own right, and his sister Martha join their parents in a heartbreaking rendition of What'll I Do?  Anna harmonizes on her daughter's show stopper, Alice Blue Gown.  Emmy Lou joins Kate and Anna for a Quebec version of the Cajun classic, Porte En Arriere.  Kate and Linda Trade verses on Foster's Gentle Annie.  Chaim finally records his show-stopping Dig My Grave, a song he made popular during McGarrigle concerts in the 70s and 80s.  And that's just a small part of a 21-track extravaganza which lasts just over an hour. 

For bookings in the US, please check out Concerted Efforts.