Jones, 30, was born in Texas and grew up in Illinois, where the sounds of country, rock and soul were his obsession. Her mother helped her start and front her first band as a teenager.
Linsey, 25, grew up in New Orleans and Ponchatoula, La., the daughter of a mother who loved country, a father who loved rock and the soundtrack of south Louisiana playing in the background. And for them to have such unique individual voices that blended so well, I thought it was something really unique, that if they really got a grasp and a direction, then it could really be something special." "Usually duos are one dominant voice, then the other one carries harmony, whether it's The Judds, Brooks & Dunn, et cetera. "You rarely have what I would refer to as two elite singing voices," Borchetta said. That eclectic sound is what drew Big Machine Records' Scott Borchetta to the group when he served as a judge on "Can You Duet," a show that featured a record contract with Borchetta's label as top prize. With a few exceptions, their debut is a mosaic of soul, R&B, pop and rock, with just a hint of country in the sonic touches producer Dann Huff lays over a handful of the songs - a racy banjo line during a chorus, a mood-enhancing pedal steel accent. It's a weeper that actually resonates with genuine emotion.What listeners will find on that journey is a band that doesn't quite fit the well-worn formula that defines most country duos. The closer, "Glass Houses," written by Jones, is a solid, old-school country waltz with a lilting three-chord structure, sweet mandolin and fiddle fills, and old-school harmonies. The latter, with acoustic slide guitars melded to crunchy electrics, a funky shuffling backbeat, and the contrasting contralto and baritone voices of Linsey and Jones in call-and-response and chorus formulations, add a sense of playfulness and swagger to the original that wasn't there before. "Keep on Lovin' You" is the most notable thing here, but other standouts include the opener, "Ooh La La," a sassy, rockist seduction song, and a reading of Keith Urban's "Homespun Love" (written while he was still with the Range) near the very end of the album. Dann Huff, who not only produced the set but plays all over it, guided the duo to turn in a by-the-numbers, radio-friendly disc that will offend no one. Other than a banjo here and a fiddle or pedal steel there, this may be what passes for country music in the 21st century, but simply put, it's '80s-styled pop with different production.
Their self-titled album - issued a week after they were nominated in the "best new group or duo" category by ACM - contains not only their hit, but the studio tracks from their EP - "Edge of Goodbye," "Ooh La La," and "Just by Being You (Halos and Wings)," and the subsequent single "Last Night Again." Steel Magnolia are an able, energetic, vocally savvy country-pop act, and stress the word "pop" in that phrase. They subsequently released an EP and two other digital-only singles in 20. Their debut single "Keep on Lovin' You" slowly inched up the country charts and hit number five.
Steel Magnolia, the duo comprised of singer/songwriters Meghan Linsey and Joshua Scott Jones, gained Nashville's attention when they won the second season of CMT's television program, Can You Duet?.