NEW ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: The Roys
Robert L. Doerschuk
March 02, 2009
It's tempting to say that the easy affinity displayed by The Roys can be explained by their history as brother and sister raised by French Canadian parents in Fitchburg, Mass., and in the tiny town of Coal Branch, New Brunswick, Canada.
That's only half the story, though. Plenty of siblings fall short of the talent that Elaine and Lee Roy exhibit. There's enough looseness in their harmonies and distinction in their timbres to establish each as an individually gifted singer. And their joy over making music adds dimension to their most heartbroken ballads and infuses their uptempo tracks with the playfulness that siblings often share.
They came to Nashville, survived a major record label deal gone bad, went back to Fitchburg to tighten their act and then returned to Music City to take control of their destiny. With their vocal coach Kenny Royster producing, they cut 12 songs, five of them co-writes by Lee and the rest of them well suited to their sound.
A single from their Pedestal Records debut album, Good Days, "Workin' Girl Blues," which Lee wrote with Royster, combines a foot-stomp beat, swampy guitar and the feisty fatalism of a nine-to-fiver minutes away from the weekend.
But they also ease into the tropical heat of "The Good Life Paradise" and turn faded pages of memory on the fiddle caressed "Grandpa's Barn."
All of it comes to life through unaffected yet impeccable performances that herald the arrival of The Roys, who describe themselves jokingly as a "15-year overnight sensation," come at last to the dawn of an enduring career.
2009 CMA Close Up® News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc.
That's only half the story, though. Plenty of siblings fall short of the talent that Elaine and Lee Roy exhibit. There's enough looseness in their harmonies and distinction in their timbres to establish each as an individually gifted singer. And their joy over making music adds dimension to their most heartbroken ballads and infuses their uptempo tracks with the playfulness that siblings often share.
They came to Nashville, survived a major record label deal gone bad, went back to Fitchburg to tighten their act and then returned to Music City to take control of their destiny. With their vocal coach Kenny Royster producing, they cut 12 songs, five of them co-writes by Lee and the rest of them well suited to their sound.
A single from their Pedestal Records debut album, Good Days, "Workin' Girl Blues," which Lee wrote with Royster, combines a foot-stomp beat, swampy guitar and the feisty fatalism of a nine-to-fiver minutes away from the weekend.
But they also ease into the tropical heat of "The Good Life Paradise" and turn faded pages of memory on the fiddle caressed "Grandpa's Barn."
All of it comes to life through unaffected yet impeccable performances that herald the arrival of The Roys, who describe themselves jokingly as a "15-year overnight sensation," come at last to the dawn of an enduring career.
2009 CMA Close Up® News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc.
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