Sibling trio the Band Perry ready to unleash new music

When everyone in the band has the same last name, certain things tend to hold true.

One, the band will be tightknit. Two, the band members will be brutally honest with one another. And, three, they will love one another no matter how much they drive one another crazy.

Such is the case for The Band Perry, made up of the Perry siblings Kimberly, Reid and Neil. Since releasing their self-titled debut in 2010, the family band has stormed not only the country charts but also the adult contemporary chart with its breakthrough single, “If I Die Young.”

Group mandolinist, drummer and backup vocalist Neil Perry said playing music with your siblings has far more pros than cons.

“We’re with each other 24/7 and like any other siblings get on each others’ nerves. But at the end of the day, we are all finally adults but know how to work through the squabbles,” he said from the road in Nevada. “But, honestly, it’s a great experience. I wouldn’t want to do this with anyone else. We know how to read each other really well and work the crowd as a family band. We know how to pick up the slack if it needs to be done.

“Plus, when we’re in the writing room, if you’re with people who are just friends, you want to be careful. You beat around the bush to not offend anyone. But with family, we just cut to the chase. We’re always respectful, but we can say our opinions and at the end of the day, it’s with love.”

That love, and chemistry, has propelled the Perrys to a trio each of County Music Association Awards, Academy of Country Music Awards and CMT Music Awards and Academy of Country Music Awards. Earlier this year, the siblings also took home their first Grammy Award, for best country duo/group performance for a rendition of Glen Campbell’s “Gentle on My Mind.”

Neil Perry said group members learned of their Grammy win while still on the red carpet. But their reaction had some unintended side effects.

“Someone whispered it in our ear we had won. We all did a unified yell. I think we scared Lady Gaga, too. She was looking at us, giving us the stink eye afterward,” he said. “The Grammys are the Super Bowl for our family. So to be able to win and take one home was really an honor. For the three of us, it was just a great, great day.”

Since their skyrocketing success of 2010’s “If I Die Young” (certified platinum six times and viewed over 100 million times on Vevo), the group has charted three more No. 1 country singles with “All Your Life,” “Better Dig Two” and “DONE.” Last year also marked the band’s first headlining world tour.

The group brings its current tour to Ironstone Amphitheatre on Tuesday, Aug. 11, with Jana Kramer and Casey James opening the show. The concert was rescheduled from its original Thursday, Aug. 13, date due to a scheduling conflict.

Now, besides touring, the band is hard at work on its third album. Neil Perry said the siblings have finished writing all the songs and are plugging away at the mixing and mastering. It will be the band’s first release since 2013’s “Pioneer,” but he said it should be worth the wait.

“We feel like we’ve waited a long time to put out new music simply because we wanted it to be great. Sometimes when you rush art, it doesn’t turn out as amazing as you want it to be. So we spent two years making this album,” he said.

Neil Perry also called the album a “new phase” in the band’s music-making process. It also worked with some high-profile, and perhaps surprising, names on the project. They include mega hip-hop and R&B artist and producer Pharrell Williams, EDM DJ and producer Diplo and country superstar Blake Shelton. The group members wrote with them and hope, in the future, to do full-scale collaborations.

“We’re good friends with Diplo and Pharrell. We enjoy putting ourselves in new scenarios and new situations,” he said. “We’re putting ourselves in a room to write with artists who don’t approach writing the songs the same way we do, and we enjoy that. We enjoy that push back. I think you’ll hear that exciting energy in the new songs.”

Still, Neil Perry said, the group isn’t necessarily angling for crossover success by working with artists from other genres. While “If I Die Young” played extensively both on country and adult-contemporary radio, he said, staying true to their experiences remains the goal.

“I think it’s something we always hope for. But the thing we always try to do when writing new songs is to write honestly to ourselves. If we write honestly to what we feel and what we’re going through, we know other people will also relate to what we’re going through as well,” he said. “We just hope to write songs that resonate with people.”

The new album will be released later this year, but on Aug. 14, fans can get a taste of what’s to come with the release of its first single. The name of the song is being kept under wraps, Neil Perry said. So don’t expect any previews on the group’s current tour. But they do promise all the hits off their first two albums, and some well-known covers. He said the tour includes some pyrotechnics and a family favorite – singalongs.

“The most exciting thing about the show is the giant singalong. We love to stop singing when on stage and let the crowd just sing along,” he said. “Playing on stage is our favorite thing to do. We hope people will want to join along.”

This story was originally published August 4, 2015 at 5:43 PM with the headline "Sibling trio the Band Perry ready to unleash new music."