Growing up in Akron, Ohio, twins Josh and Zach Carter were surrounded by music from the time they were born. Their mother worked in country radio and encouraged their interest — Zach stole time at her piano, while she taught Josh “Stairway to Heaven” on the guitar. The family moved to Hilton Head, S.C. when the brothers were 15, where they landed their first live gig at Coligny Plaza. They realized their true passion was performing in front of a live audience and continued to craft their musicianship while juggling a busy high school schedule and playing hundreds live gigs.
The young duo’s air-tight harmonies reflect a wide range of musical influences, including everyone from Rascal Flatts, Brooks & Dunn and Keith Urban; to John Mayer, the Everly Brothers and Gavin DeGraw. Songwriting comes naturally to the twins, who easily finish each other’s thoughts and benefit from a little brotherly competition.
In 2008, the Carter Twins scored a chance meeting with an MTV executive in Los Angeles, who ultimately led them to CMT. The brothers recently completed high school and moved to Nashville to pursue their music career full-time under the development of CMT Music and Meteor 17. Now 19 years old, Joshua Scott Carter and Zachary Edward Carter are settling into their new Nashville digs, and spent the summer working with some of Music City’s best songwriters and crafting as many as 80 songs in just six months.
Under the helm of Frank Rogers,
Billboard Magazine’s #1 country producer, the Carter Twins have just released an EP and are working on their debut album for a release in early 2010.
That Nashville Sound had an opportunity to interview the guys as they put the finishing touches on their soon-to-be-released album.
That Nashville Sound- What brought you to music in the first place?
Zach- Our mom worked in Country radio, which instantly made us a big fan of music. Growing up, we'd see artists like Faith Hill and the Dixie Chicks pass through the station, and we always hope that one day we'd get to do the same thing.
TNS- Describe your music- what's the mission behind the music?
Zach- We like to call it "New Country" - kind of like a blend of The Everly Brothers meets somebody like Brooks & Dunn. It's a lot of harmony driven stuff. We got to work with Frank Rogers, which is really cool because he's worked with artists like Brad Paisley, Trace Adkins, Josh Turner, and the list goes on. Frank is known for producing really good straight up country music, and since we have more of a "New Country" sound, we feel that we really created something unique.
Josh: Our mission is to get as many people as possible to listen to our music - and hopefully they'll enjoy and relate to it!
TNS- What might people be surprised to find out about you?
Josh- I really like to play golf - that's something a lot of people don't know about me. Sometimes people are really surprised by that.
Zach- I like to spend a lot of time outdoors. I know this is really random, but I really like to go on hikes.
TNS- What kind of music are you listening to? What's in your iPod?
Josh & Zach- We listen to every genre of music! Our iPods are loaded with anything from what's new and hot in the pop world to what's currently on the radio in the country world. Then we have things like Simon & Garfunkel, George Strait, and John Mayer. We love everything!
TNS- If you had a crystal ball and looked forward five years, what do you see for yourself?
Josh- We'd like to see ourselves still making music, exposing our music to more people, and hopefully headlining a tour one day. That would be really nice!
Zach- If I had a crystal ball, I'd love to see Taylor Swift open up for us (laughter). We still want to be getting our music out there, and hopefully connecting with more and more fans everyday! We just want to keep doing what we love.
Jerry Lee Lewis released a digital EP, Mean Old Man, through Amazon.com this week for only $2.99 The five-song country project includes collaborations with Merle Haggard ("Swinging Doors"), Kid Rock and Slash ("Rockin' My Life Away"), Sheryl Crow ("You Are My Sunshine"), Eric Clapton and James Burton ("You Can Have Her") and Kris Kristofferson ("Mean Old Man," written by Kristofferson specifically for Lewis). Currently on tour in Europe, Lewis will release a full-length album in early 2010.
Background:
Growing up in Akron, Ohio, twins Josh and Zach Carter were surrounded by music from the time they were born. Their mother worked in country radio and encouraged their interest — Zach stole time at her piano, while she taught Josh “Stairway to Heaven” on the guitar. The family moved to Hilton Head, S.C. when the brothers were 15, where they landed their first live gig at Coligny Plaza. They realized their true passion was performing in front of a live audience and continued to craft their musicianship while juggling a busy high school schedule and playing hundreds live gigs.
Earlier this year, "American Idol" third-place finisher Danny Gokey made waves when he said he was thinking of releasing a country album. Turns out, he wasn't joking, eventually signing a deal with RCA's Nashville label.
Known for bringing beautiful harmonies, authenticity and romance back to country music, husband/wife duo Joey+Rory are offering their take on holiday traditions this November with their poignant single “It’s Christmas Time” and a unique children’s album from songwriter think-tank The Song Trust entitled Merry Kidsmas.
The second holiday project, Merry Kidsmas (Giantslayer Records/S1 Songs/Welk Music Group), is a 12-song collection sung by everyday kids of all ages and created by The Song Trust. Founded in Nashville TN, The Song Trust is a collaborative group committed to creating and delivering music from the perspective where the song, not the singer, is the star. True to concept, Merry Kidsmas lists only writer credits and no singer credits.
Grammy-winning country star and Grand Ole Opry member Joe Diffie will release his first-ever live album, Live at Billy Bob’s Texas on November 17th on the Smith Music label. Diffie joins such greats as Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Asleep at the Wheel and a host of others who have recorded projects for the series.
It's not often that I provide links to other stories, but CNN- yes CNN- had a "revealing" story about Jessica Simpson and Dolly Parton on their site today. You can read the whole story HERE.
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