Pop Music Reviews : Williams’ Nephews as Sons of the Everlys

If you’d been given the chance 10 or 20 years ago to take a stab at predicting which sibling duo would be making great music in the ‘90s, based on their respective rock lineages, whom would you have picked--Rick Nelson’s kids or Andy Williams’ nephews?

We all would have gotten it wrong (and a few million teen-agers still are). While Nelson is out in the big halls proving that rockabilly bloodlines count for zip, the lesser-known Williams Brothers are currently embarked on a two-month tour of L.A. coffeehouses, getting it exactly right and sounding--if anything--like the children of Phil and Don Everly.

Playing acoustically Tuesday to a packed house at KUP on Melrose, Andrew and David Williams produced a steady stream of years-in-the-making brotherly harmony, finding truly heart-rending moments in “Can’t Cry Hard Enough” and “Miss This World,” two paeans to mortality from their current sophomore album (and perhaps the two most gorgeous ballads on any record this year). Joining them on the latter was frequent collaborator Marvin Etzioni, playing psychedelic mandolin through a wah-wah pedal.

The coffeehouse tour includes stops at Big & Tall Books (7311 Beverly Blvd.) on Friday, Highland Grounds (742 N. Highland Ave.) on Saturday and Aug. 2, and Ministry (524 1/2 N. La Brea Ave.) on Sunday.