NEW ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: The Band Perry

By Bob Doerschuk
© 2011 CMA Close Up® News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc.
The Band Perry released its self-titled debut album in October, with Nathan Chapman and Paul Worley each producing five cuts and Matt Serletic piloting one. But they’re not a new act by any means. They’ve been working together since Kimberly Perry, then 15, hired her brothers Reid and Neil, 10 and 8 respectively, as her roadies. Eventually the guys started opening for her at local venues around their hometown of Mobile, Ala.
More important, the Perry siblings sang, wrote and played music at home, working up a distinctive style that combined elements of pop, punchy rock and plenty of raw Country.
Inevitably, they pooled their talents. And after spending the summer of 2008 writing in Nashville for their first demo, the results compelled Big Machine Label Group President/CEO Scott Borchetta and Republic Nashville President Jimmy Harnen to sign them. Their investment paid off quickly, as The Band Perry debuted at No. 2 on the Country chart and No. 4 on the Billboard all-genre Top 200 with 52,000 copies sold — the highest album debut from any new Country music group since 2006.
From Kimberly’s whimsical romance on “All Your Life,” written by Brian Henningsen and Clara Henningsen, to the feathery but poignant unison and harmony vocals on her solo write “If I Die Young,” their first No. 1 and Platinum-selling single, and the exhilarating call-and-answer riffs of the trio’s co-write “Quittin’ You,” the album spotlights their singing. But their instrumental talents frame the vocals tastefully, with Neil’s mandolin enhancing an atmosphere that’s immediate yet grounded in tradition.
Strong writing completes the package. One or more Perry is credited on nine of the album’s 11 tracks; between them, they can sting with wicked humor on “Miss You Being Gone,” which all three penned with Brian, Clara and Aaron Henningsen, or playfully tease on their first single “Hip to My Heart,” by the Perrys with Brett Beavers. The Band Perry flashes past like a merry-go-round that’s ready to ride all night.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS Q&A
MUSICAL HEROES
“The Rolling Stones and Loretta Lynn.”
SONG YOU’D LIKE TO COVER“’Southern Girl’ by Amos Lee.”
SONG YOU WISH YOU’D WRITTEN
“‘Let It Be,’ by The Beatles.”
CD IN YOUR STEREO“Carolina by Eric Church.”
DREAM DUET PARTNER“We would love to do a crossroads with Keith Richards and Loretta Lynn.”
FAVORITE MODE OF TRANSPORTATION
“We heart bus life!”
FIRST GIG
“In our living room. Our grandmother Betty Lou loved it.”
BOOKS ON YOUR NIGHTSTAND Reid – “Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.”
Neil – “Lord Of The Flies by William Golding.”
Kimberly – “A Good Man Is Hard To Find by Flannery O'Connor.”
TITLE OF YOUR AUTOBIOGRAPHY
“We’re The Band Perry and We Play Country Music.”
(ANSWERS GIVEN COLLECTIVELY BY THE BAND PERRY.)
The Band Perry will performe with Tim McGraw on May 21 at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at St. Louis. For show and ticket information, log on to www.livenation.com