LA GRANDE — “No matter how we played the game, nobody’s gonna win. But we can have fun tryin’ and denyin’ what we’re in…”

So many of us have been caught up in that messy connection with someone we know we should cut off, but we just can’t quit! Singer-songwriters Carolyn Lochert and Janis Carper capture this sentiment beautifully in their humorous song “One More One Last Time.”

Lochert and Carper, the musical duo who form Jezebel’s Mother, will perform Saturday, Aug. 10 at Side A Brewing’s public house, 1219 Washington Ave. The music starts at 7:30 p.m.

Influences cited on their website include Etta James, Billie Holiday, Abbey Lincoln, and Aretha Franklin.

However, I found myself longing for wooden porches and mountain streams as I allowed the haunting key changes and plaintive melodies of “St. Sebastian Blues” wash over me. Truly, Carper’s earthy alto is the perfect compliment to Lochert’s sweet soprano, as their harmonized voices and guitar dip and soar.

But just when you’re set to kick back with that pitcher of tea, Jezebel surprises you with the deceptively easy-going jazz number, “This Place.” Underneath the bright melody and lilting scat of “da da’s” lies a sorrowfully charged scrutiny:

“Days go by, but luckily our fears distract us. What’s a few more lives for freedom? The monster takes up the whole house. How did we get to this place?”

Then it’s back to the folk-driven rhythm of “Long Ride Home,” a Patty Griffin cover that will surely lower your blood pressure as you melt into the gorgeous harmonies these two ladies create.

Their latest album, “Real Pearls,” is available on streaming services.

Lochert, the soprano, has performed the lead in various rock, country, funk and jazz ensembles and received her composition degree at Oregon State University. Her first album, “She’s Lookin’ Back,” features musicians from both Portland and Wallowa County.

Carper, alto, won the 2015 Indie International Songwriting Contest. She’s made nine recordings and played numerous festivals, concert halls and radio programs at the national level.

Carper is also the founder and director of the Wallowa Valley Music Alliance, a group that supports music in Wallowa County through programs such as the Wallowa Fiddle Tunes Camp, the Courthouse Concert Series in Enterprise, Tunesmith Night and Juniper Jam.