As young girls, Guelph sisters Liv and Anita Cazzola used to listen to their parents rehearsing in the playroom of the family home.
Ed and Mirella were in a local cover band called IMG that would use the Cazzola home to practice, Mirella supplying most of the group's harmonies.
"That's where we get our love for harmony from: our mom," said Anita. "We would sing along with her parts, dancing and singing in the next room."
That humble beginning for Anita, 20, and Liv, 22, is now The Lifers, the pair's folk-rock self-described "velvety harmonizing duo" that on Wednesday released it's debut album, "Out and In."
Friday night they will hold an album launch show at DSTRCT concert venue, a dual show with their sometimes drummer Sam Boer who is releasing his album "Crossed Legs" at the same time.
The Cazzola family love of music led to piano and guitar lessons for the pair at an early age. While at St. James high school they formed a band and learned the joy of playing live at various school events.
University (Anita attends the Ontario College of Art and Design, Liv is wrapping up studies at Western) got in the way of the music for a while, but about two years ago the two started focusing on The Lifers.
A co-op year for Liv allowed the pair to spend a year living together in Toronto.
Many coffee shops, small venues, a single and EP release later, they have finished "Out and In," which was recorded with producer Dave Silani and several guest musicians during a week-long binge last summer at the family's Wiarton cottage.
They also spent last summer crossing the country, playing wherever they could, including on moving trains as part of VIA Rail's Artist on Board program.
Liv explains that the band's name comes from the fact that the two are in life together as sisters as well as lifers when it comes to music.
"We have a song called "Jailbird" where one of the lines is 'I'm a lifer who can't decipher," Liv explained. "As sisters we're linked in some ways forever and we're dedicated to music forever."
The two share song writing duties, bringing them to one another for fine tuning and input.
"We come together at the end to flush out or expand in a different way," Liv said.
One of the tracks on the album, "The Moon and the Stars," was a poem Liv wrote that Anita later added a melody and chorus to.
"I find it really hard to write with other people. I like to be alone with my thoughts before sharing with someone else," Anita says of the creative process.
But Liv said that once they finish a song, it's adopted by both: "It's a Lifers song. It's our song."
Being sisters and friends has its advantages.
The pair know one another so well, and know what each other is feeling or going through, that creative disagreements rarely get far.
"There is a certain trust thing there, being sisters especially knowing each other's lives so well," Anita said. "Working together on a song is almost like letting someone read your diary.
"It's easier to be honest with one another, but you still have to be gentle."
The Lifers will be playing shows in London and Toronto soon. Other shows are planned for Guelph April 22 at the Guelph Civic Museum and April 27 at the Red Brick Cafe.
More information on The Lifers and their music can be found at www.thelifersmusic.com.
