Grammy-nominated Haim sisters on family band and Taylor Swift tour

One of the most closely watched Grammy Awards categories Sunday will be best new artist. Among the past winners: Mariah Carey, Maroon 5 and Adele. The contenders this year include three sisters who make up the group Haim, an act keeping it all in the family, CBS News' Ben Tracy reports.

Three women, three voices, one signature sound. Haim is their last name, and it's also the Hebrew word for "life." Right now, life for these three sisters, Alana, Danielle and Este, could not be any sweeter.

"I'm speechless. It's been a crazy two years," Alana said.

"Getting nominated for a Grammy is kind of the most crazy thing," Este said. "And we've had like a mini-freak out."

The Haim sisters grew up in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley. They owe their love of music to their parents -- amateur musicians who enlisted their girls into a family band.

"We were called Rockinhaim. No 'g,' just Rockinhaim. One word," Alana said. "Basically we just played covers of songs we heard on the radio. And the radio station that we solely listened to was K-Earth 101, which is the oldies station in L.A. When disco Saturday night came around it was like -- party time!"

They eventually got good enough to play a gig at one of L.A.'s most famous Jewish delis. Their dad booked them in the Kibitz Room. They were paid handsomely, in matzo ball soup.

The sisters said Rockinhaim was not part of a plan to launch their careers.

"I think it was like a ploy for our parents to spend time with us, and we thought it was really fun," Danielle said.

But in 2007 the sisters ditched their parents, shortened the band's name to Haim and started working on their first album. 2013's "Days are Gone" took them five years to write, which may explain why they titled the first single "Forever."

They shot the video in their parents' living room; after all, that's where they wrote most of the songs. They describe their sound simply as "fun," and the glossy pop of their album gives way to a more gritty live performance.

On stage, Este, the bass player, said she gets lost in the music, and you can see it on her face. Her fans call it her "bass face." It was on full display when the band played the "Late Show with David Letterman."

"It really only happens when I'm physically playing my bass, like when I'm on stage. It's the first time of the day when I can really just let go and not care about the way that I look or my hair," Este said.

Offstage, the Haim sisters have made some new friends. On Instagram it appears Haim loves to shake it off with fellow musicians Taylor Swift and Lorde. Swift just added Haim to her world tour.

"There's something really nice about being with a group of women who all are really passionate about what they do and like to have fun and don't take themselves too seriously," Este said.

But there are two things Haim takes very seriously: their music and their bond as sisters.

No one had asked them before, but Este said she doesn't know if the group would work as well if the three weren't sisters.

"I think we have a weird sister telepathy where we kind of can read each other's minds and know what each other is going to do before they even do it," Este said.

"Being on stage with them is the most comfortable I've ever felt in my whole life," Alana said. "It's such a cool thing that I get to tour the world with my sisters. It's the best thing in the world. I wouldn't change it for anything."