The latest album from brother/sister duo The Roys is "A Bluegrass Kinda Christmas." The CD's title is a perfect way to describe 2014 for Elaine and Lee Roy: it's been a bluegrass kinda banner year.
In September, The Roys' album, "The View," hit stores and debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Top 10 Bluegrass Albums Chart. The album generated the No. 1 single "No More Lonely" on the Bluegrass Today Weekly Airplay Charts.
On Nov. 13, the duo won their fourth consecutive Bluegrass Artist of the Year award At the 20th Annual ICM Faith, Family & Country Awards in Nashville, Tenn. The Roys were previously honored with the following ICM Awards: 2013, 2012 & 2011 Bluegrass Artist of the Year; 2012 No. 1 Inspirational Country Single ("I Wonder What God's Thinking") and the 2010 & 2009 Duo of the Year.
"A Bluegrass Kinda Christmas" was released on Nov. 18. And the duo will wrap their 2014 touring season - appropriately - with a performance at the Christmas In The Smokies concert in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., on Dec.13.
HNGN caught up with the incredibly busy bluegrassers for an exclusive interview as they were getting ready to head to a show in Crystal River, Fla.
"We're on the road a lot during the year," Lee acknowledges. "We love making music and we love traveling, but unfortunately we don't usually get to spend as much time as we'd like in most of the places we perform and travel to. We see a lot hotels, venues and gas stations. But that's how you reach the people, and that's exactly what we love doing."
The duo, born in Massachusetts and raised in Canada, reveals that the amazing success of "The View" means that all their hard work and hopes for the album have been realized.
"We had been writing songs for a while for a new album. Gathering the songs up," Lee recalls. "Then in May of this year we had two and a half weeks off from the road. It was the perfect window for us to get into the studio. We recorded some songs then. Every time we had a few days off the road, we'd jump back into the studio and work on the album some more. We knew our record label had a late summer or early fall release in mind, so we wrapped up the album to meet that deadline.
"You know," he adds, "we approach every record as if it is our last record. We don't have a box of songs and say let's old this song for two records from now. Those two records may not come. There are no guarantees - so we put the best songs we have on the record we're doing at the time. We don't hold back."
And now fans are not holding back in buying "The View" and downloads of the CD's No. 1 single, "No More Lonely."
"It's always exciting to get new music out. You never know how people are going to receive what you've done in the studio," candidly admits Elaine. "We've been very, very blessed that people seemed to like what we do. That makes us happy and keeps us motivated-pumped, actually. We are truly honored that so many people are getting the messages in our songs. That's what is all about."
The message contained in the lyrics of their hit single "No More Lonely" was very close to Elaine's life and now healing heart. The song was written by Elaine, Lee and hit songwriter Steve Dean.
"It is a personal song for me," Elaine explains. "I'd been through a divorce and been through all those dark days and now I've found someone new who gives me that 'no more lonely.'
"I wanted 'No More Lonely' to give people hope that even though we go through darkness sometimes with broken relationships there is somebody out there who are our 'no more lonely,'" she reveals. "I just wanted to write the positive side about broken relationships. A lot of love songs are about the negatives - tears and heartbreak - but this song is about the opposite side. You know, the side where love is good and where you find that one and only to make you no more lonely."
The song's chorus proclaims:
From now on I'm not livin' in the past
Because of you I found true love at last.
No more hurtin', no more heartache
No more cryin' myself to sleep
Since there's a you and me, no more lonely.
Check out the "Lonely No More" lyric video here.
After "The View," came a long-awaited special album from the talented brother and sister.
"We have for years wanted to do a Christmas album," says Elaine. "If you talk to just about any artist doing a Christmas album is on their bucket list. We kept talking about it and talking about and finally the label asked if was going to be this year? We decided that things felt right for a Christmas and that 2014 was going to be the year we took a Christmas album off our bucket list.
"We had written 'Bluegrass Kinda Christmas' last year with our songwriting buddy Steve Dean," she continues. "So we felt that now was the time to complete a Christmas CD. So, in July - the hottest month of the year - Lee and I were in the studio doing our best to pretend that it nice and cold outside with wintry weather.
The song selection for the album was very easy, because we had been talking about doing a Christmas album for so long. And we'd say when we finally do one this song has to be on there. So we had a list."
"We knew we didn't want to do an album of all original songs," Lee points out. "We wanted some of the wonderful classics on there. "Bluegrass Kinda Christmas" was the song we wanted on the album to be our personal contribution in the way of our artistry and songwriting to the project.
"We had written that song in a writing session with Dean. I had the title, the hook, for the song, so we three got to talking about our respective Christmas times growing up. You know, the excitement you felt as kids when you opened a gift.
"For Elaine and I, we had just as much fun after the gifts and after Christmas dinner, because our family made music. We had a houseful of musicians and singers - aunts, uncles, grandparents - and everybody sang and played. It was so much fun to have everyone sitting in the living room pickin' and singin.' So we wanted 'Bluegrass Kinda Christmas' to capture that joy of jammin' on Christmas day."
Here's the "Blugrass Kinda Christmas track listing:
1. Santa Looked A Lot Like Daddy
2. Santa Train
3. With Bells On
4. If We Make It Through December
5. Christmas Times A Comin'
6. Bluegrass Kinda Christmas
7. There's A New Kid In Town *
8. Winter Wonderland
9. O Holy Night
10. Santa And The Kids
"Doing 'Bluegrass Kinda Christmas' was truly a lot of fun," notes Elaine. "It brought back a lot of personal memories of Christmas and happy times with our family. Now, that's what we hope this record does for others - we hope it brings a smile to people's hearts."
Elaine pauses.
"You know, getting our songs out to the people and maybe leaving a little mark on this earth - because someone was inspired by our music - is why Lee and I do what we do. When someone tells us that a song of ours touched them, that's just the best feeling."
