It’s a little strange for me to write this entry. “How’s that?” you may find yourself asking to no one in particular. Well, that’s because the photo above was the only photo I took last night (04.04.19) at The Secret Sisters performance at The College of Saint Rose Massry Center for the Arts. Not only was it the only photo I took, but I took it with my cell phone. (*Collective gasp of astonishment*). You read correctly. One photo. With my cell phone. I can’t remember the last time I went to a concert just to listen to the music, and can’t remember not having to worry about catching the right shot.
Actually, I did just remember. It was Journey and Def Leppard last May. Although, if we’re being honest I did spend that entire show wishing I was taking photos and seeing all the amazing photos I could have been taking. Ahem. But that’s besides the point.
When I think back to when I first heard the music of The Secret Sisters, I have to rewind all the way to my sophomore year of college. It was fall of 2010 at Purchase College in Bill’s Word & Image I class (what even was that class about?) and I was sitting next to my friend Brian talking about the new music we had heard lately. iTunes had their Free Single of the Week thing that nobody seemed to know about. But I did, and I checked it religiously every Monday. I don’t remember actually downloading the song, but I remember talking about it in that class with Brian. It was the song “My Heart Skips A Beat” off of their debut self-titled album.
MHSAB is this upbeat country tune with good upright bass, cutesy love-stricken lyrics, smooth steel guitar, classical guitar riffs, and phenomenal harmonies. It was unlike any of the country music of the time, and it remains that way. It’s reminiscent of some of the early country greats like Glen Campbell and Patsy Cline and Dolly Parton. There was nothing about pickup trucks, nor alcohol, nor any other modern country musical/lyrical tropes. And that includes the country twang. It was about the abilities and sweet vocals of the sisters. That’s why their music is so refreshing.
Flash forward several years. I had forgotten to keep up with their music, but one day I had been putting music onto a flash drive for my car’s stereo and I found their music again. “What have they been up to?” I had wondered, and checked Spotify. They’d put out two new albums, and I began to listen.
Since their first album, they’d picked up Grammy-winning artist Brandi Carlile as a producer. The sisters’ more recent music isn’t as chipper as their older stuff, which could be a natural evolution of their musical style or their life experiences or both. It carries melancholy lyrics in its chords, and each perfect harmony is chock full of emotion. Falling in love all over again, I downloaded more songs from their newer albums and loaded them onto my USB drive.
It was on this flash drive that my friend Jim asked what we were listening to, and I told him who. He found that they were playing at the Massry Center, and a few days later, we had tickets.
Back in the present, the way the show had been set up was optimal for these two wonderful Alabama born-and-bred musicians. It was just them, a guitar, and the acoustics of the auditorium, bathed in the warm light from above them. They looked, and sounded, like angels. Nary a pitchy note. Their haunting voices soared as they told their sorrowful country stories of love and loss, and in between each set offered humorous anecdotes or sibling banter to counter-weigh the heavy content they performed. They also shared, not only their own musical creations, but some flawless covers of classics like “Kathy’s Song” by Simon & Garfunkel and a Graham Nash song I didn’t recognize. They, sadly, did not play MHSAB.
It was an evening well-spent, even if the seating is highly uncomfortable for bigger and/or taller people like me. The Secret Sisters were made for people who like music in its bare bones. It was made for people who enjoy clean guitar, good lyrics, tunes to sing along to, and unforgettable voices. If you’re a fan of those, then you’re in for a treat.
