Amy Winehouse was also mad about the family band. The group's sound is a mix of old-fashioned 1940s/1950s rhythm 'n' blues, blues, roots music, jazz, country and western, Hawaiian, rock 'n' roll and ska, which makes it impossible to pigeonhole. They hate being called a rockabilly band - "because that is just not what we are about," says Kitty, who, still in her late teens, is the youngest of the trio.
They were teased at school for their quiff hairstyles and were called "Elvis" all the time. "Mum used to send me to primary school in old cowboy shirts with my quiff," says Lewis.
"I was called a farmer's wife when I went to school in old 50s shirts," laughs Kitty.
"It wasn't so much a fashion thing," explains Daisy "It's just the quality of clothes, after the 50s, went downhill. Mum has an eye for old stuff and shopped in junk shops. We've always been wearing this stuff. It's who we are. It's what I feel comfortable in."
Kitty, Daisy and Lewis Durham started their band in 2001, after they became a fixture at the Come Down and Meet the Folks Sunday afternoon country and rockabilly club at North London's Golden Lion pub with their parents, as young kids. "We would sit in the front row on three chairs listening to the bands. Then we'd get fired up and go home to play music," recalls Lewis.
Soon they were headlining their first gigs in pubs as Kitty, Daisy and Lewis, while their school friends were at home doing their homework. Their first single Honolulu Rock-a Roll-a was released in 2005. Second single, Mean Son of a Gun in 2006 was followed by Going Up the Country and (Baby) Hold Me Tight in 2008.
That year they also released their self-titled debut album, a mixture of bluegrass, jive, and rhythm and blues covers their dad used to sing to them when they were children, together with new material, also released as a 10in vinyl album. In 2007 they produced a compilation album of their favourite music, A-Z - Kitty Daisy and Lewis: the Roots of Rock 'n' Roll. They finally released their first entirely self-penned second album, Smoking in Heaven, last year.
The family home was always littered with musical instruments of all types.
"Mum and Dad weren't the type of parents to say, 'put it down, you might break it'," says Daisy.
They listened to Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley and Wynonie Harris rather than modern music.
"We like the old sounds of records we listened to as kids and they are sounds we want to hear in our music," says Lewis. "If you listen to a Muddy Waters record you can hear two notes and from that you can work out loads of other tricks." The whole family would jam together in the front room and spontaneously break out in song.
"You'd be sitting on the sofa and someone would start playing," says Lewis. "One by one, the others would enter the room and before you knew it a whole frenzy was going on. For us to play music with our parents is the most natural thing in the world to do."
The siblings are self-taught multi-instrumentalists who sing and swap instruments during songs. These range from banjo, glockenspiel, accordion, ukulele, harmonica, an electric lap steel guitar that Lewis built, to more traditional instruments such as guitar, drums, and piano.
Their half-Norwegian mum, Ingrid Weiss - who plays double-bass, used to play drums in Kurt Cobain's favourite post-punk band, The Raincoats. She's also a keen collector of 1940s and 1950s dressmaking patterns and makes vintage dresses for the girls.
Anglo-Indian dad Graeme Durham - who plays guitar in the band - owns and runs London's The Exchange mastering studios, which has done albums for Laura Marling, Foals and The Chemical Brothers. He produced and recorded Kitty, Daisy and Lewis' album at the vintage recording studio they have built at home with 1940s and 1950s recording equipment, using ribbon microphones and tape. Their homemade studio was inspired by Memphis' Sun Studios.
This family is fixated with all things vintage and releases music on vinyl as well as digital downloads and on CD. Last year Lewis opened his analogue recording studio in a Soho gallery, where the public could cut one song direct-to-10in disc. He collects and DJs 78rpm records.
"Old records have a pure and natural, open sound compared to music recorded on computers, which doesn't sound musical. When we built the studio at home we did bring in a computer. We heard it and laughed; it was so far below the quality of what we could do on tape recorders," says Lewis.
They have been referred to as the musical version of The Waltons because they smile happily on stage together. But, like any family, there are arguments - for them it's often on stage. "Sometimes we haven't decided what song to play for the encore, and Dad wants Paan Man Boogie, which we don't like anymore," says Daisy. "Dad's like, 'come on!"'
There is also screaming, crying and walking out during rehearsals and they give each other dirty looks when mistakes happen. "But we're not going to split up over it," says Kitty. "We're a family. After five minutes everything is back to normal."
LOWDOWN
Who: Kitty, Daisy and Lewis
Where and when: Powerstation, Auckland, Jan 31; Bodega, Wellington, Feb 1
-TimeOut / Independent
