It wasn't love at first sight as much as love at first sound for the members of Steel Magnolia.
When Joshua Scott Jones walked into a karaoke bar, he heard Meghan Linsey's voice before he saw her on stage. Then he took a look.
"I immediately knew from where I was standing," Jones said. "I could see she's a star.
So I walked up and I put in a song, got up and sang and we started talking and that's pretty much how it started. We've pretty much been hanging out ever since."
So I walked up and I put in a song, got up and sang and we started talking and that's pretty much how it started. We've pretty much been hanging out ever since."Couples who share both love and a regular musical partnership are not typical in the music world, yet Sunday's Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas feature two such acts. Steel Magnolia and Joey + Rory, a married couple who've been together for eight years, are both up for vocal duo of the year.
Joey + Rory also are up for top new artist after winning the fan-voted best new vocal duo category in a field that included Jones and Linsey.
There have been plenty of couples who were established artists before joining forces on stage. Johnny and June Carter Cash come to mind. And George Jones and Tammy Wynette, of course. Faith Hill and Tim McGraw continue to create sparks when they hit the stage together, too.
Look for a group comprised of married members who always perform together, though, and the list gets short real quick.
Two members of the quartet Little Big Town — Karen Fairchild and Jimi Westbrook — are married to each other, though they didn't start that way.
Fairchild, who just had the couple's first child, said she and her husband long resisted the urge to explore their interest in each other for fear it would destroy the chemistry in the band.
They later realized that the experience was so much better together than apart. She thinks that gives Steel Magnolia and Joey + Rory a special hook for their fans.
"What's interesting for Steel Magnolia and Joey + Rory is that's probably so much what the fans are drawn to," Fairchild said. "It gives everybody a little glimpse of what brought them together. I think people love to look at people that are in love and are happy."
Spend a few moments with either couple and it's clear they're both. Perhaps that's because each fell in love before they joined forces on stage. In fact, it wasn't until each couple was approached to try out for the CMT reality show "Can You Duet" that it occurred to either to try.
Jones and Linsey, who are not married (though Jones jokes Vegas would be the perfect place to change that), were together for three years and were pursuing solo careers separately with Jones backing Linsey on stage with his guitar before the reality show. They harmonized together on one song and found the reaction interesting.
Joey Martin thought she was done with her dreams of being a singer when her record label told her to choose between her new husband and her nascent career. She quit the business before she'd really ever started and was content to support Rory Feek, an accomplished songwriter who was raising his two young daughters on his own on a farm about 45 minutes south of Nashville before she came along.
She opened a restaurant with Feek's sister, Marcy, and most days was up at 4 a.m. to bake bread and wait tables.
Then an acquaintance suggested they audition for "Can You Duet."
While both groups got their start the same way, the similarities end there.
Jones, 29, and Linsey, 24, have a more urban sound with R&B-inflected vocals and a hip look. Jones has a soaring tenor and Linsey can rattle the rafters with a Joplin-esque, bottom-heavy voice.
"Keep on Lovin' You" from their self-titled EP — their first album is due this summer — currently sits at No. 10 on Billboard's top country songs chart. That's the highest charting debut single for a male-female country duet act in the 66-year history of the chart.
Joey + Rory, on the other hand, are straight-up traditional country with Martin taking more of a lead role. Feek, who sports a flattop, razor-sharp sideburns and likes to wear overalls — even on the red carpet — prefers to stay in the background, providing harmony and support for his wife.
They haven't seen a lot of radio play for their debut single, "Cheater, Cheater," which topped out at No. 30. But there's a readymade audience for their music. Their debut album, "The Life of a Song," has sold more than 200,000 copies.
They also plan a new album this summer. And the best thing about it is they'll be putting it out together.
"We're experiencing everything together," Martin said. "That's been the highlight of it all."
___On the Net:
Academy of Country Music: http://www.acmcountry.com
Joey + Rory: http://www.joeyandrory.com
Steel Magnolia: http://www.bigmachinerecords.com/steelmagnolia
