Kate & Anna Mcgarrigle

Kate and Anna McGarrigle were sisters from Montreal who sang together. Their father played fiddle and their mother sang, so music was part of the house from the start. They put out their first album in 1975, which was simply called "Kate & Anna McGarrigle." A song like "Complainte Pour Ste-catherine" shows how they could write something that felt both personal and quietly universal.

They kept making records through the late '70s and '80s, including "Dancer with Bruised Knees" and "Pronto Monto." Their singing had a close, familial harmony, the kind that only comes from siblings who've been listening to each other for years. They sometimes sang in French, drawing on the traditions around them, as you can hear in "Dans Le Silence" or "Hurle Le Vent."

In 1998 they released "The McGarrigle Hour," a family album that included their children. Kate died in 2010. Anna has performed since, sometimes singing her sister's songs.