Left to right: Laura Kepner-Adney, Gabrielle Pietrangelo and Caroline Isaacs. (Photo by United Studios Mobile Photography.)

Normally when you see three young, attractive, stylish girls with instrument cases in downtown Tucson, you generally expect them to plug a Fender in and start pounding away. But local act Silver Thread Trio is coming from a distinctly more delicate place. They blend their own three part harmony interpretations of vintage folk songs (American and English) with their growing set list of original music. And the result is beautiful, haunting and astoundingly pristine.

The women recently performed at the All Soul’s Procession grand finale, have several shows and appearances scheduled in the near future and will begin recording their second album next week, despite the fact that member Caroline Isaacs is due to give birth the day before Christmas. Now that’s dedication.

Vocalist/guitarist Laura Kepner-Adney attributes the group’s strong commitment to their music and flawless performance style to their perfectionist personalities. A lot of time and intuition goes into creating the kind of music Silver Thread Trio makes, not to mention lots and lots of homework.

“I think that, for us, the key element is practice,” Kepner-Adney says. “We meet usually about six hours per week, in addition to practicing on our own. Once the harmonies and instrumental parts are down, that’s when we can finally add the little elements that turn a song into music. Intuition comes from years of that much practice and just getting to know each other so well as musicians.”

The Trio had a great springboard for their work together as a small group, having met in the large vocal ensemble Old Soul Sisters, of which Silver Thread Trio member Gabrielle Pietrangelo was the director.

Kepner-Adney says that the three women were inspired to create a more practical, smaller group out of the desire to do something more focused and earn a little money from performing at events. But then they discovered that their focus ended being more about the path their musical experiences were taking them down.

“Originally, we were doing a lot of classical pieces, with the goal of playing weddings and bringing home some cash,” she says. “Our style slowly developed, and we realized that we were more interested in the dark side of old folk music and Americana in general.”

And though sad songs aren’t typical top requests at weddings, the Trio has found success and fulfillment writing and performing slightly darker songs.

“We work primarily with traditional American or English folk songs,” Kepner-Adney says. “I like to say that my favorite thing about folk music is that it lends you the flexibility to make sad songs sadder. We do our own arrangements to make the songs our own. … We also draw from those songs to write our own.”

Where their first album focused on the Trio’s own version of traditional Americana songs, their next album will be a mix of self-penned originals and covers. Though they are recording this album at Loveland Studios here in Tucson and putting it out themselves, the group acknowledges the opportunity that their first label (Old Bisbee Records) gave them. Stuart Oliver, of the bluegrass/folk duo the Dusty Buskers, owns the label, which is based in the artsy mining town of the same name.

“Stuart has been a huge supporter ever since we started,” Kepner-Adney says. “I think his vision of Old Bisbee Records included us as one of the original groups (we were the third recording on the label). His primary role was to make our first recording possible. … Most new groups just don’t have the funding to create a quality product, and Stu made that happen for us.”

Some would say that Silver Thread Trio is lucky to have the early support they do for a newer group. But the truth is these women have earned the respect they have received as a result of hard work and moxie.

The group will perform live on KXCI FM’s “Locals Only” on Nov. 23 at 9 p.m. and at Plush on Nov. 27 at 9 p.m. For the rest of the group’s upcoming shows, visit their site at www.myspace.com/silverthreadtrio.