"The hammer hits the chisel,
Then it chips away a piece
And I am one step closer
To a finished masterpiece"
From Gods Still Working On Me

If God is indeed still working on Roses Wild, then let this record show that Hes already perfected their sound and their looks. Sisters Chris and Liz Costanzo inhabit their songs the way actors inhabit a playalways with an eye toward finding the dramatic core. In their exquisitely matched voices, you can hear all shades of joy, excitement, flirtation, pain, determination and youthful mischief. Close your eyes as you listen to Up On This Mountain, and its like sitting in on a film festival.

While proudly proclaiming Shania Twain as a major musical influence, Chris, whos 21, and Liz, 18, are authentic country girls. They were born in Vineland in southern New Jersey, far from the lights of Newark and Manhattan. Weve always lived in rural areas, says their mother, Vicky, and when they were toddlers, my husband and I started a greenhouse nursery at home so we could raise them without the usual daycare and babysitting upbringing. They grew up loading azaleas on trailers and rooting plants from cuttings. They spent their days singing together while they were helping us.

In 1998, the Costanzos moved to a 70-acre farm in Tioga County in northcentral Pennsylvania. There the sisters joined the Future Farmers of America (both eventually becoming chapter president) and the 4-H. Although their specialty was horticulture, they also raised beef, pigs and chickens and rode the familys horses.

Were just very outdoorsy, says Chris. Weve hunted and fished with our dad all our lives. In the 4-H, we shot skeet and clay pigeons and we are good at it. People called us Annie Oakley and Calamity Jane.

It was Chris who decided that singing country music might just fit into their country living. When I was 10 years old, she recalls, I was going through the channels after school one day, and I saw Shania Twain singing on Oprah. I forget what song it was, maybe Any Man Of Mine and I just loved it. I thought, Hey, I can do that. I could picture myself up on stage doing the same thing. I think it was that day I made the decision.

Two years later, Chris talked Liz into singing with her at a school talent show. It was their first public performance. .We had a little dance we made up, Chris explains. And we sang Shania's Dont Be Stupid. We were pretending we were the Riverdancers that were in her video.

Before long, the sisters were singing at all sorts of community gatherings, from weddings to fairs. For two years, they performed at the local fire departments monthly square dances. In spite of the usual sisterly rivalry (as Chris calls it), the two were even-handed when it came to the question of who would sing lead and who harmony. They mixed it up. We mostly switch back and forth, says Liz. When we first hear a song, if it has a deeper sound through the verses, then usually it goes to Chris, and Ill sing harmony or take the second part in a verse.

After placing second in a regional talent contest (where they were encouraged by a former judge from Star Search), the girls began thinking about recording in Nashville. In 2003, they made their first pilgrimage to Music City and cut a three-song demo. Then, in 2004, they met producer Ken Isham, who also heads the Mission Studio in Ashland City, just outside of Nashville. He was enthusiastic about sisters musical potential and over the next eighteen months recorded the 11 songs that comprise Up On This Mountain.

Some of the most-awarded songwriters in Nashville contributed material to the project. Among these were Larry Cordle and Larry Shell (best known for writing George Strait and Alan Jacksons Murder On Music Row), Pat Bunch (Faith Hills Wild One), Rebecca Lynn Howard (Trisha Yearwoods I Dont Paint Myself Into Corners Anymore) and Reese Wilson (Jeff Carsons Not On Your Love).

In addition to the valiant and hopeful Gods Still Working On Me, Up On This Mountain gleams with a string of other musical gems. Theres Girl With The Honky Tonk Heart, a raucous, hard-driving two-stepper thats sure to populate the dance floor every time its played; Fastest Healing Broken Heart, a chin-up, chest-out survivors song; and the resigned but resilient Win Some, Learn Some.

Diggin digs in with swampy, determined urgency. Trouble Rides A Fast Horse mourns lives overwhelmed by bad luck and bad choices. Ill Give You Thirty Minutes is a playful and teasing whiff of seduction. My Favorite Part dwells on the joy of surrendering to moments of ecstasy. Meanwhile Back At The Ranch contrasts the Saturday night liveliness of bar-hopping with home-cooking in the bedroom. Another Innocent Man is a sarcastic dressing-down of a congenital bad boy. The Alabama-flavored title cut rejoices in the eternal hills of home.

So here you have it: Roses Wild in first bloom and the freshest sound in country music today.