SHeDAISY Article1

SHeDAISY: Sister Act
By Jennifer Key
Music City News Magazine
June Issue

It's hard to believe that the trio sitting before me are sisters. Kristyn, Kelsi, and Kassidy Osborn, otherwise known as SHeDAISY, don't look even remotely alike. Moreover, they're a cross-section of personalities, ranging from the quiet to the bubbly. There's Kristyn, the eldest, talkative and stylish in an all-black ensemble; Kelsi, dark-haired and level-headed, the least talkative of the sisters; and Kassidy, the baby of the family and the group's lead singer, with strawberry-blonde curls and a carefree attitude. Despite their differences, however, it's clear that when it comes to their music, they're a model of unity.

Family harmonies have been a staple of country music history since before the Carter Family. And now, more than 70 years later, history repeats itself in a fresh and exciting way with SHeDAISY's debut album, The Whole SHeBANG, which includes their first single "Little Good-Byes." Kristyn, the group's outgoing unofficial leader, is the person responsible for inventing the group's distinct sound of soaring three-part harmonies infused with everything from pop to country. Their music, however, is anything but formulaic. "We didn't sit down and think, 'We want to be pop/country or we want to be traditional,'" she says of SHeDAISY's sound. "All we did was go, 'Okay, what can we do to make ourselves different?' And that was the goal. And whatever came out, came out."

Despite superficial comparisons of other family-based musical groups, including the Dixie Chicks, The Kinleys and The Lynns, SHeDAISY says being a family group has given them a musical advantage. "When you have a group of poeple that aren't put together at an audition, you have the security of knowing it's not going to fall apart," Kristyn says. "Because you can't get rid of family," add Kassidy with a smile.

That kind of fortitude has come in handy for SHeDAISY- their first measure of success has been a long time coming. It was Kristyn who first visited Nashville in 1990 to check out the country music scene. She was dismayed by what she saw. "There was no youth market, there was no female market, no market for groups. I don't know what made us think we could do it." Call it blind faith, but soon Kristyn had packed her bags and moved out of her family's Magna, Utah, home, and into a Nashville apartment. Kelsi and Kassidy, who were still in high school, waited until 1993 to make Nashville their permanent residence.

With only one car among them, the sisters began working at the same mall ("It's not like we had nursing degrees", jokes Kristyn.), selling clothes in various department stores while the perfected their sound, cut demos and began a four-year wait for a record deal. Homesick and unsure of themselves, there were times that each one of them wanted to throw in the towel and move back to Utah. However, there was one thing stopping them- the "Osborn Law." "We signed an agreement between the three of us," Kristyn says. "A legal document. We did! If one wanted to leave, all three of us had to agree. It was our way of saying..." "We were committed," Kassidy continues. "For the long haul. Regardless of boyfriends, husbands, anybody. We've done this longer than we've known any one of these people. So that has to be the basis for everything."

Any thoughts of leaving town were quelled when they were signed to Lyric Street Records in 1998 after label head Randy Goodman heard the song "Little Good-byes," which is currently a Billboard Top-40 hit. "We'd love to really conquer radio," Kristyn says. "That's our first goal for this year. We have a real deep album and we hope we can have it get acceptance. That's the most important thing right now."

For the most part, SHeDAISY are just new enough at all of this to still get excited at things more seasoned artists take for granted. They gush about participating in Country Radio Seminar (CRS), the week-long extravaganza where artists and label heads entertain deejays and radio broadcasters in hopes of recognition and the all-important, career maker-or-breaker, radio airplay. "Everybody was like, 'Give it another year, you won't think it's so fun.' But we had a great time," Kelsi says. "They kept saying, 'Okay get ready, take lots of vitamins. You know you're going to get worn out.'" Prophetic words, indeed. The stress of the event, compounded with the fact that it was one of the group's first live performances, caused Kassidy to develop a bad case of bronchitis. Today she's on anitbiotics and clutching a wad of Kleenex, trying not to strain her vocal chords by talking too much. After years of waiting for their big break, the sisters are now trying to find time to catch their breath. Immediately after CRS, the group was flown to Florida to participate in another round of meetings. They readily admit the past few weeks have left them exhilarated yet completely exhausted. "But, that's what we got into this business for," Kristyn says cheerfully. "That's the name of the game. We'd rather be busy than not!" It's a point on which all three sisters, no matter how different, can agree.