SheDaisy – Interview [2000]

After The Whole SheBang, SheDaisy quickly stepped to the forefront of the country world. With glorious harmonies, the three sisters (Kristyn, Kelsi and Kassidy Osborn) have a chemistry that can’t be denied. Upon the release of their fantastic Christmas album, Brand New Year, I caught up with Kelsi to talk about SheDaisy, the holiday, and family stuff.

I saw you have your own Christmas special on TNN tonight. Was that prerecorded?

Yeah, we actually recorded that a few weeks ago in Salt Lake City. It was right before Thanksgiving and actually the first snowfall they had.

You are originally from Salt Lake, right?

Yep. From a town called Magna, Utah.

Why record it in Salt Lake?

Well, it was a Christmas special and there was no other place we’d rather be than there for Christmas. And the scenery there is amazing. But it was also freezing cold. We had so many people show up all bundled up and all you could see was their eyes. Plus we wanted to represent Utah and show it’s more than what people think. We could have chosen a nice warm place. We did record the interview in a nice warm cabin, but we actually performed outside on a stage.

Was it tough on your voice, being so cold?

We dressed as warm as we could, but yeah, it was cold and Kassidy said it effected her voice. But then again we were in rehearsals for seven hours that day and there was a blizzard outside. Right before the show it stopped. It was bitter cold, so I think it did effect our voices.

Did you have to record Brand New Year during the summer?

We recorded it in July when it was like ninety degrees with humidity. So we brought in a Christmas tree and decorated it. We really have to thank our fans because they sent in Christmas cards and stuff that was a little encouragement. We taped them up all over the studio, lit candles, and turned the air conditioning way down. You have to set the scenery to make it feel like Christmas.

I think every artist who makes a Christmas album goes through the same thing because most record it in spring or summer.

I know and I don’t think people realize that. They think you can come in in the fall and just put an album together quick.

Obviously some of the songs on the album are traditional and you’ve sung them before, but with the twists that we hear.

We used to dream about wanting to do a Christmas album. We’ve been putting together a list for so long with the songs we’d like to do. Like “Christmas Children” is from the 1969 musical Scrooge. We used to watch it as a family. Then we did another song called “The Secret Of Christmas” that we used to sing together as kids, so we wanted to do that. And then you have some songs Kristyn wrote which are unique. Then you take the traditional stuff and we SheDaisy-fied it. I mean, how many times can you hear the same song done over and over again?

Right. A lot of those songs haven’t changed since the fifties.

We wanted to make it totally new, fresh, and different. I think we accomplished that. If we don’t sell one copy, we are proud of it.

The arrangements stuck out, but even more so was the harmonies.

That is our strong point to help us stand out. It’s like we never have enough. We get into the studio with our producer and it’s like overload.

And you grew up to the Beatles and Beach Boys, and your harmonies especially remind me of the Beach Boys.

Yeah, we grew up to both and they were big influences on us. You don’t think of that as a child, but now you can see the result of their influence on us.

I think a lot of people probably think country artists only listen to or grew up listening to only country.

I think it’s important to listen to everything so you aren’t sort of in a box in this genre. I think it also makes you a well-rounded person too.

What is the best/worst thing about being in a group with your sisters?

That is a big question. People are always like ‘How do you do it? I can’t even sit in the room with my siblings without killing each other.’ I think because we shared everything since we were little, like our rooms, toys, and everything. I think as we grew up and moved to Nashville, we all sacrificed for this and we were in it for the long haul. I can’t say we don’t fight like any other sisters or brothers would. It’s almost always about personal things. We rarely argue about business. We have a majority rules kind of thing between the three of us. We definitely listen to each other and work really well.

The big plus has got to be the chemistry you can hear in the harmonies.

Definitely. It’s funny, when we sing on our own we have our own unique sound, but together we blend very well. That is why it works for us.

How are you spending the holidays?

We all go home for Christmas because that is the one time of the year we can all be together. It’s always chaos with the hustle and bustle of getting gifts ready. There are six kids in our family. We have a brand new niece, three spouses, and two dogs. So we all have to cram into one house. So this year we asked for one thing and that is to have some relaxation and bypass the gifts and just enjoy the time together. We rented a cabin in Park City (Utah) away from phones and everything. This is the best time to not worry about working, enjoy each other, and be together.

+ charlie craine