Kossoy Sisters | |
---|---|
Born |
New York City, NY, U.S. |
May 11, 1938
Origin | Greenwich Village, New York City |
Genres | Folk |
Instruments | Vocal |
Years active | 1956 - 1960s, 1981, 2002–2003 |
Associated acts | Erik Darling, Tony Saletan |
Website | KossoySisters.com |
Members | Irene Saletan, Ellen Christenson (born Irene and Ellen Kossoy) |
The Kossoy Sisters are identical twin sisters (Irene Saletan and Ellen Christenson ) who performed American folk and old time music. In their music, Irene sang mezzo-soprano vocal, and Ellen supplied soprano harmony, with Irene on guitar and Ellen played the 5-string banjo in a traditional up-picking technique. Their performances were notable examples of close harmonies singing. They began performing professionally in their mid teens and are esteemed as a significant part of the popular folk music movement that started in the mid-1950s.
The sisters were born on May 11, 1938 in New York City, United States. The twins began singing together at about the age of six, in imitation of harmonies created in the home by their mother and aunt. At fifteen they attended a summer camp at which Pete Seeger and other well-known folk singers often performed, and they developed a lifelong attachment to the genre. They quickly discovered the bustling folk music scene in the Greenwich Village section of New York City and mingled with the people who congregated in Washington Square Park.
When they were seventeen, they recorded the album Bowling Green which features the sisters' close harmonies and accompaniment by Erik Darling. The duo were introduced to a new audience when their version of "I'll Fly Away" from this album was used in the 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou?. Another song from the same album, the Kossoys' version of "Single Girl, Married Girl," is heard on the soundtrack of the 2014 film release Obvious Child.