10 Artists With Incredible Gaps Between Studio Albums

Identical twin sisters Irene and Ellen contributed to a slice of American history when they appeared at the first ever Newport Folk Festival in 1959. Born in New York, the sisters began singing at the age of six, and by age 17 were proficient in close-harmony techniques, just in time to add their significant talents to the burgeoning folk music scene. At that same age they released an accomplished album, Bowling Green (1956), songs from which would later appear in the films O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) and Obvious Child (2014).

In between, the sisters continued to perform separately. Irene and her then-husband Tony Saletan released Folk Songs and Ballads (1970), Revolutionary Tea (1975) and played alongside Jackie Washington Landron as the Boston Folk Trio. Both Irene and Ellan have one son and one daughter, both later divorced and, as of 2022, they retired to live together in, of all places, Guatemala.

In 2002, after a gap of 46 years, the sisters released their second album, Hop On Party Girls. Ten years later, more than five decades on from their debut, Irene and Ellen were invited to return to sing once again at the 2012 Newport Folk Festival.