Twins Evan and Jaron are now getting double the exposure

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Evan and Jaron are everywhere.

The handsome and sexy identical twins have a smash hit with the romantic ballad "Crazy For This Girl," from their Columbia debut album, "evan and jaron." Their picture seems to be in all the magazines, and their video is constantly on MTV and other music channels.

"But it hasn't been overnight," Jaron Lowenstein cautioned over the phone from Columbia's headquarters in Manhattan. "We've been working this record now seven, eight months. And it's been a gradual and slow climb. Kudos to Columbia for sticking with it.

"Now we're in every magazine, we're everywhere you turn. But they're still sticking with us even though we haven't sold millions of records. With the Simon & Garfunkel/Everly Brothers kind of music we do, it's been very difficult going up against the popular music of today."

Evan and Jaron, Sally Taylor and Flying Blind 7 p.m. Tuesday, all ages, Showbox, Seattle; $10, 206-632-TIXX, www.fastixx.com

The twins, who recently turned 27, will distance themselves further from the pop tarts and boy bands of today's popular music with their next single and video, "From My Head To My Heart," which is a rock 'n' roll song.

"Our last video," Jaron explained, "was about these two humble guys, these small-town boys that show up at a dive and a couple of fans recognize them as Evan and Jaron and we end up playing. This video, we have a hit in the can already, we're these big heroes, larger-than-life-type rock stars. It's a very big stage performance, because we're getting ready to kick off a tour.

"We really wanted to drive home that we're a performance-type band. This one is more featured on Evan and Jaron and the band - not just the two of us. This time it's us with a full-on band, and we're definitely rockin' out. The video will reflect that this is a rock 'n' roll band, with the ubiquitous after-party, heading back with the girls and drinking in the bathroom and hangin' out, like we really do. We're trying to capture what really goes on at a rock 'n' roll show."

The video will also contradict the sweet, nice-guys image the twins now have. Articles about them have pointed out that they're Orthodox Jews whose management contract stipulates that they do not work on the Sabbath, from sundown Friday through sundown Saturday. They were both star athletes at the yeshiva high school they attended in their hometown of Atlanta (they're now based in Los Angeles). And both are spoken for: Evan is married and Jaron has a girlfriend.

Their music career started when Evan took up guitar at age 17. Soon he was setting Jaron's poetry to music, and the two began singing at local venues. They eventually started their own label, A Major Label, and released two albums on their own before being signed by Island Records. But their only album for Island flopped and they were dropped by the label.

"We had signed with (label head) Chris Blackwell, who departed the label in December of '97," Jaron said. "Our record came out in April of '98 and the new regime wasn't really interested. Only two months after our record came out, PolyGram (which owned Island) was bought out by Universal, and they dropped a lot of artists, including us."

Now the twins' indie albums and the Island disc are being re-released.

While the Island experience was painful, it did have one benefit: The label sent Evan and Jaron to Cuba to perform in a cultural exchange concert that also included Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac, Bonnie Raitt, Peter Buck of R.E.M., Joan Osbourne, Peter Frampton and others.

"It was all these (guys) whose records we had had for so long," Jaron recalled. "It was great to play alongside - not in back of, but alongside - all these people."

From that experience, Evan and Jaron got Fleetwood to play on their Columbia debut, and he brought in other musicians, including John Medeski, keyboardist of Medeski, Martin & Wood.

"It was really a great jump-start to the record," Jaron said.

While Evan and Jaron have performed a lot, and done several tours, the show here Tuesday opens their first major headlining tour.

"We have a lot of surprises," Jaron promised. "Our show is very theatrical. It's all about having fun. I think without a doubt you will be entertained."

The show will be opened by Sally Taylor, daughter of James Taylor and Carly Simon, and a new band, Flying Blind.

Patrick MacDonald can be reached at pmacdonald@seattletimes.com.