Ortolan

Not to be confused with the Celtic group of the same name, Ortolan are a female indie pop quartet comprised of three sisters and one sister-in-law. The group began taking shape in 2007, when songwriter Stephanie Cottingham played a church coffeehouse with the help of a friend. The audience’s response was encouraging, and Cottingham began making additional appearances at the coffeehouse, often with her two older sisters — drummer Lara and bass player Brianna — playing along. Ken Fabianovicz caught one of the girls’ performances and introduced them to Daniel Smith, a local producer and founder of the New Jersey-based label Sounds Familyre. After recording some demo material in Smith’s studio, the group added a fourth member, keyboardist/vocalist Jill Cottingham, and properly joined Sounds Familyre’s roster. The demos were released in 2009 as the Ortolan EP, and a full-length album, Time on a String, appeared early the following year.