10 Questions with ... The Secret Sisters (Laura and Lydia)

1) First of all, congratulations on the fantastic new album, the accolades and all of the wonderful things that are happening for you right now. Now the obvious question-why did you name yourselves the Secret Sisters?

Ah! Naming ourselves was a monstrous challenge. We really loved having something with the phrase "the (blank) sisters" just because it sounded so classic. So we searched and searched, and every other name idea was taken. Then one day, our manager stumbled across the phrase "The Secret Sister" and it caught his attention. He shared the idea with us, and we liked it, and it wasn't already taken by someone else. The name worked out well though, because at the time, no one had a clue who we were or where we came from.

2) You grew up with a musical family-how old were you when the two of you started singing together and how did it start to gel with your harmonies-is it true that you sang at church, family picnics and get togethers?

We have been singing since we were little bitty. As we got older and our voices developed, we realized that our voices blended well together. But that wasn't a surprise, because our family is full of sibling duos and trios that sound good together. Singing together wasn't something we just started doing one day. We've literally been doing it since we first learned how to sing. We attribute our vocal abilities to two things: the church we grew up in, and our incredibly talented family. The church we were raised in never used instrumental music, and so we had to learn to blend with the other worshippers, and really use our ears. After so many years of that, singing harmony with any song just becomes second nature. There was just always an abundance of Folk, Country, Bluegrass and Rock music around us growing up. It provided really fertile ground for growth and instilled a genuine love for music in both of us.

3) What kind of stuff would you sing at church-it was a Church of Christ correct? They have a reputation for being conservative. What sort of things would you sing there-is that where you honed your a cappella singing skills?

Right. We have always worshipped with the Church of Christ. We would just sing the good old hymns that have been around for hundreds of years. We had this really great old hymnal that had so many really touching, moving worship songs in it. And you're right, it was a "conservative" atmosphere, but that helped us learn to express our emotions through our voices, rather than covering up or substituting with instruments. In that kind of setting, sometimes you have to sit by a complete stranger, and so you kind of have to learn how to not overpower, and how to make your voice match the ones around you. That's how we really trained our ears to match our voices.

4) Let's jump to a little bit later on-is it true that even with this unique growing up period that you really didn't consider yourselves a duo? Why not?

We never considered ourselves anything, really. We just knew that we loved music and we liked to sing. Being a singing duet was never a conscious decision for us. It was as simple as "Hey, sister. I'm gonna sing this song and you should throw some harmony in there." It was never calculated. We really only became a duo once a record deal was offered. We didn't ever expect to be where we are now, and we certainly never expected to be doing this together. It's just what we've always done.

5) How were you discovered? I read that you referred to it as an accidental discovery.

It was definitely an accidental discovery. A friend of ours in Nashville told us about an open audition that was being held by a record label. They were looking for good singers to put together a singing group. And so they just opened the floodgates to anybody and everybody who thought they had a chance. I (Laura) went and auditioned completely on my own, first thing that morning. I didn't think anything would come of it. I mean, Nashville is such a hotbed of musical talent, so I really only went in hopes of overcoming some stage fright that I had. After I performed, they called me back in and asked me to sing more songs for them. The judging panel loved my voice, and then I told them that I had a younger sister that they needed to hear. So Lydia drove in from Alabama, and auditioned on her own. Then they asked us if we ever sang songs together, and we said, "Well, we can if you want us to." And so we whipped out a few songs, completely unrehearsed, and that was the beginning of this fairy tale. They weren't looking for an act like us, and we weren't really looking to be signed. It really was one of those "right place, right time" experiences.

6) Lots of people are involved, from T Bone Burnett as your Executive Producer to Dave Cobb (who has worked with Waylon and Jamey Johnson), and even Jack White has been involved-tell us how these people all became engaged with your singing and your careers.

Dave Cobb was actually on the judging panel the day of our discovery, and became our first and most important ally in all of this. He helped us hone our sound, and choose songs for our record, and of course he did the producing on the album as well. He is one of the most inspiring people we've met, and he just really understands us as artists. Jack White and T Bone came along because of our record label. From the beginning, the label wanted to show our music to the tastemakers of today's industry. Not in a forceful way, but just in a very "here it is, see what you think" way. And so Jack and T Bone both heard the music, in separate situations, and loved it. So then Jack asked to produce two tracks with us, and T Bone jumped in and wanted to help catapult our career. We have been so blessed, and each of these three men has really helped push us along.

7) Your music has evoked feelings of everything from rural American music of the 1920s to early the romantic 1940s and Nashville's glory 1950s. Did you specifically want to make music that seems so timeless?

Absolutely. We wanted to pay tribute to the wonderful sounds of previous musical eras, but we also believed, all along, that a good song is good, no matter when it was written. We wanted our music to be more than a one-hit wonder that fades away after a few years. We aimed for a record that would transcend generations, demographics and musical genres, and so far, it has been doing exactly what we wanted it to do. I mean, we have 75+ year olds who are crazy about the record, and then we have kids who are 3 and 4 years old who know every song. It's really special.

8) You recorded the album at the famed Blackbird Studios in Nashville; however, you had the studio set up to resemble a studio from the 1950s, right? What was that experience like?

When we started talking about the kind of record we wanted to make, the two of us and Dave really were specific about recreating the same setting that would have been present 50 years ago. So we used these really old microphones, and the two us sang directly into one mic, so there were no individual vocal tracks. The band was all set up in one big room, and most of the time we were right there in the room with them. We used these crazy old tape machines, and recorded everything to tape. We didn't know much about recording at the time, so we really trusted Dave to do things authentically, and that timeless, classic sound comes across through the songs.

9) Tell us who were some of the amazing studio musicians that played on this album.

Oh my. We had the coolest studio musicians ever. We used Pig Robbins, one of Nashville's most talented session pianists. He played keys on tons of unbelievable records, from Tammy Wynette to George Jones to Bob Dylan. Just ridiculous, he is so talented. Then we used a couple of really killer pedal steel players, Robbie Turner and Russ Pahl. Two great guitarists named Jason Cope and Jackson Smith, a really super bass player named Brian Allen, and a crazy tight drummer named Chris Powell.

10) Why did you choose the classic covers that you covered? By the way, personally I think your version of Sinatra's "Something Stupid" is amazing.

Thank you so much! That one was really fun to record. We chose our songs with the help of Dave Cobb, and it literally was just the three of us digging through tons of great old songs, and we picked out a list of about 25 or so that we really felt strongly about, and then narrowed it down. We wanted the songs to be somewhat era specific, but we also wanted songs from different genres on there. So there are Classic Country tunes, an old Irish Folk tune, a Pop song and some originals. We think it's got a good sense of diversity to it, while still being stylistically consistent.

1) Do you girls own personal computers like laptops? For some reason we can't picture you running around with iPads.

Lydia: That's so funny. I actually just bought a new laptop. You just have to have it, being on the go all the time. Most of the time the people we work with are thousands of miles away from us, so computers make it easy.

Laura: Haha! We do have to communicate with the outside world, and though we dress and sing like we're from pre-computer days, we certainly do have to do a lot of emailing and communicating with people all over the place. We also help maintain our Facebook, Twitter and blog accounts, so we need internet access for that. Sometimes when I'm in my Secret Sister dress, I feel like I'm not allowed to use my cell phone, because obviously those weren't around "back then." We're modern girls who like to dress up in old clothes and sing old music. Ha!

2) What artist(s) alive or passed on would you love to record with?

Lydia: I am a huge Brandi Carlile fan (I reference her in every stinkin' interview-ha!) and would LOVE to sing with her on something. Rufus Wainwright would be fun, any of the Country music greats, Loretta Lynn, George Jones, etc. Most of all though, I wish my sweet grandfather was still around. We never recorded anything with him, and I regret that, because he was a huge influence on our musical tastes, and he was so talented.

Laura: For me, Johnny Cash is one of them. What a heartbreaker! Bob Dylan would be amazing as well and I also adore Fiona Apple, so I'd love to stand beside her in a studio.

3) What was the best advice that you ever received?

Lydia: To remember whose we are and who we are. We are just two young girls from a small town in Alabama, who have been given an amazing opportunity to share something special with lots of people. We just want to stay humble and sweet and innocent. We have a lot to learn, but we are firmly rooted, and we just want to keep our hearts in the right place.

Laura: To stay humble and true to our roots. From the beginning, Dave Cobb told us that we'd soon realize that the most talented people in the world are also the nicest, most humble people. And we've definitely learned that. Everyone from back home reminds us to stay true to our faith and family, and to remember where we came from. That's really important to us, because in our minds, being a good person with a purpose is the only thing in this world that matters.