The Band Perry shares their fair favorites
Exclusive Interview by Michael Aaron Gallagher
Country music group The Band Perry is (from left) Reid Perry, Kimberly Perry and Neil Perry. Photo by Ivan Clow.
Celebrated country music group The Band Perry is best known for radio hits like “If I Die Young,” “You Lie” and “Postcard from Paris.” The Grammy-nominated siblings brought their headlining show to the New York State Fair on Sept. 2, 2012. They recently chatted about some of their favorite memories growing up and what fans can look forward to during their upcoming free concert at Chevy Court.
Michael Aaron Gallagher: “Have you been to Syracuse before?”
Kimberly Perry: “We have. We’ve played Syracuse. It’s actually been a little while, but I believe this will be our first time as headliners and certainly our first time at the fair. We’re looking forward to it.”
Michael Aaron Gallagher: “When you first step out on stage, what are some of the things that are going through your mind in those first few moments of the opening song?”
Kimberly Perry: “For me, I always have a lot of adrenaline just before the set, so I’m just trying to sort of calm down a little bit. It’s always so exciting to run out on stage and meet our crowd for the first time but vocally I have to sort of make myself relax.”
Neil Perry: “For me, it’s probably not falling off stage. We kind of run out on stage, I think like Kimberly, she’s got adrenaline and I do too, so I think just calm down and get in the groove of playing on stage.”
Reid Perry: “And then for me, it’s to make sure that I don’t miss the wrong note because that’s my worst fear is to go out on stage and the first thing that happens is a big ol’ wrong, fat note right there for everyone to see.”
Michael Aaron Gallagher: “What are some favorite fair memories from when you were growing up?”
Kimberly Perry: “Well, I remember every year, we grew up in Mobile, Alabama. But a lot of our early, early years were spent in Jackson Mississippi, which is where we were born. I remember our state fair in Mississippi would happen in October every year and they had the best taffy on planet earth, which is something we always looked forward to and the livestock barn.”
Neil Perry: “The livestock barns and the pig races. We were big fans of the pig races.”
Kimberly Perry: “We would watch those for a couple hours at a time. We we would always make a big family event of it.”
The Band Perry is (from left) Reid Perry, Kimberly Perry and Neil Perry. Photo by Joseph Anthony Baker.
Michael Aaron Gallagher: “Being in the entertainment industry, I’m sure it’s nice to be able to work with family, because you know you can trust them. How have you seen each other grow both personally and professionally since you started?”
Kimberly Perry: “You know I think we’ve grown certainly, personally giving each other space and really work as a team even though we’re brothers and sister. Professioanlly, I really love the chemistry among the three of us because all three of us have different strengths. I’m the oldest and I like to keep a firm grip on the steering wheel. Reid is the middle child, he’s the one who has the business conscience, all the details of everything. Where all our money is spent and really taking over the business side of things. And Neil is the baby. He is kind of our comic relief. He’s really good at keeping everybody’s spirits in the right place. And it works really, really well with the three of us.”
Michael Aaron Gallagher: “For people who may not have seen you perform before, what can they expect at your upcoming concert?”
Neil Perry: “I think they can expect several different things. We’ve got songs for the lovers in the group. For girls night out, not in the best relationship with a guy, we’ve got songs like that, like “You Lie” and songs like that. But we’re influenced a lot from our dad, he loved rock and roll and our mom loved country music I feel like our rock and roll roots come out for the live show.”
Michael Aaron Gallagher: “Do you have a special message for your fans across New York state who will be coming out to the Fair?”
Kimberly Perry: “Bring your family, your dogs and your cats and your dancin’ shoes. It’s going to be a great night for everybody. We’re really excited to bring our headlining show to Syracuse and we’ll see y’all there!”
“The Band Perry shares their fair favorites”
Copyright © 2012 by Michael Aaron Gallagher
Photography courtesy of Splash! Public Relations
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