The Band Perry Proves that Family Matters!

The future looks bright for The Band Perry 

Made up of siblings, Kimberly, Reid and Neil Perry, rising country trio The Band Perry, has had a year to remember. Celebrating the release of their self-titled debut album last October, this country group has been unstoppable ever since. Not only did they sell out their first headlining concert in Nashville in a mere 20 minutes, they were also nominated for five 2011 CMA awards. The Perrys have already left their mark on the country music scene, but this is just the beginning. The future looks bright for these music sensations as they continue to rise to country stardom.
 
Youthink caught up with the siblings to chat about their debut album, their five CMA Award nominations and how life in the music biz is treating them.
 
YT: The three of you worked in different bands before coming together in 2005. Can you put into perspective how much more special it is to be able to play with your siblings?
KP: I have to say that even though we were really good friends with people in our other bands, it wasn’t going to be right until it was a family band. We grew up listening to the same music, were raised with the same values. We knew that we had this commitment as a family.
RP: Even when it comes to the business side, growing up we had the same ideas and ideals so we agree on a lot of stuff as well, or we are able to come to some common ground.
 
YT: Once The Band Perry formed, was the whole process of writing and creating music as smooth as outsiders would assume or were there some early challenges?
NP: Each song is different. Sometimes a song will come to you in a few hours, and sometimes they’re a little more stubborn. One of our songs, called Independence, took a full year to write, whereas If I Die Young was written in just a few hours. It just depends on the mood that day.
KP: Some songs are so easy and others are so hard-headed; it’s really quite a process to invent a piece of music. It’s really a form of communication for us. I feel like some people communicate in written word and others in paintings, and music is our medium.
 
YT: What inspired you to write If I Die Young?
KP: If I Die Young was a song we wrote on a cloudy day in Tennessee. It’s kind of ironic with the word "die" in the title; the song is actually about life. This song came about before our first album. There was zero promise at that time our music would fall on any ears. But we were just so grateful to have the opportunity to play music and do it as a family. So If I Die Young was a song of contentment, and this whole idea that if for whatever reason it all ended at this moment, we’ve kind of done all that we set out to do so far. And it continues to remind us to make sure that we can put our heads on our pillows every night saying exactly that: I’ve done everything that I could have done today and I really think that’s one point of contentment. 
 
YT: All three of you used to play music at your school and in church. Have you always been connected with religion and does religion play a big part in your music?
KP: It has. I feel like the reason we all do music in the first place is because all three of us have this really strong sense of purpose, that we were created to do this job. We were raised with the same values in our heart for the Lord and that really comes out in who we are as people - and who we are as people comes out in our lyrics.
 
YT: How did it feel to receive five CMA nominations?
NP: You know, it’s great. They actually asked us to announce them, which was great because last year we played a 30-second clip of If I Die Young, so to go from a playing 30 seconds to now having five nominations is a big deal for us.
RP: And the CMA awards are like the Superbowl in our house as far as award shows go, so being nominated for that, from the industry, it feels like they’ve accepted us. It’s really an honour.
KP: We’ve have had worse days, let’s just say that.

YT: Which of those five awards would mean the most to you to win?
(Since speaking to the Band Perry, the trio went on to win Best New Artist, Single of the Year and Song of the Year for If I Die Young. They were also nominated for Vocal Group and Music Video of the Year.)
KP: All those awards are so special. If we can walk away with any of those awards, it will have been an amazing feat of the last year. I would really love If I Die Young to win an award mainly because, even bigger than us, what that song has meant to people. It’s certainly been one that has not only accomplished a lot for our careers but seems to be kind of a warm little comfort blanket for a lot of folks who needed it, and we would like for it to be honoured for that reason.

YT: I read that your first headlining show in Nashville sold out in just 20 minutes. What thoughts and emotions went through your mind when you heard the news?
KP: It was a wake-up call.
RP: Especially because it’s at the Ryman [Auditorium] as well. That place is just like the mother church of country music so to be able to say that we sold the Ryman out in 20 minutes, it’s huge.
KP: We put the tickets on sale six months in advance - but we did it so early because we wanted to make sure we sold every last seat, but then it took 20 minutes. That was our wake-up call.
 
YT: What is your ultimate goal as a band?
KP: I think right now, we still have a lot of legs on our first album because we’re still under one year in our release, but it would be to deliver a second album that so far surpasses our first album when it comes to our creativity, in our songwriting and our images in how we grow as live artists. To always keep challenging ourselves, to be better then we were yesterday.