The Kinleys: Heather Kinley

By Alex Teitz and Karen Weiss

In 2000 The Kinleys (Heather and Jennifer Kinley) took to TNN and CMT with their single, “She Ain’t The Girl for You.” This single, with gust star Chely Wright, had a great beat and took to the airwaves. The Kinleys went with it. Their album, II, was produced by Radney Foster, Tony Haselton, and Russ Zavitson. The Kinley twins, from Pennsylvania, had other hits including “Somebody’s Out There Watching” featured on the Touched by an Angel soundtrack. The twins, both skilled guitarists and singers, have a hands-on approach in their recording. FEMMUSIC spoke to Heather Kinley last year. The Kinleys

FEMMUSIC: Can you tell me how you found the producers for the CD, II?

HK: How we found the producers? First producers were producers from our first album. Basically, they got us a record deal. They kind of worked with us and wrote a bunch of the songs with us, and were wonderful people. But we felt like on the 2nd album we kind of had to, I guess, go in a slightly different direction. So we used them for half the project and then we ran into Radney Foster, who is a… to me, a mad scientist, he’s a genius. (laughs) He’s been in country music, he’s been in a duo himself, years ago, the popular Foster and Lloyd. And so he brought us a song, and said, “what do you think of this?” and talked to us about producing us, and we said, “Yeah, we want to go there. We want to do that. This sounds perfect.” And so with the collaboration of the three producers, we came up with 13 songs, 12 songs, on this second album, and we’re super proud of them.

FEMMUSIC: I can understand why. What sort of differences did the producers have? I mean, there is a distinct difference between them.

HK: Yeah, there definitely is. I think you can hear that in the music and you hear their different ways of producing but there also is a common thread and bond, between the three producers, like they seemed to like the same things. Like we’ve got the dobro as the thread that ties everything together, basically. That’s our main instrument – not main instrument but our signature instrument – and that’s in a lot of the songs. They had the same views and visions, but brought them about in different ways, which was very interesting.

FEMMUSIC: You co-wrote a number of the songs on the CD. Can you describe your songwriting technique?

HK: There isn’t a set pattern. I go basically with something that inspires me, whether it be a guitar lick, or a title, a phrase, and then Jen and I, we bring it to each other and say, “Hey, I see this as going in this direction and I hear this with those words. And then it just kind of falls out. When you’re that inspired and you’re really digging what’s happening, it seems like it all just comes about on its own, and you’re just the vehicle.

FEMMUSIC: How do you think your music has evolved?

HK: I think we’re on the same street, but I think we’ve kind of turned a corner. I think it’s still the Kinleys, but a little different. Maybe better. I think we’ve grown so much in these past three years that I think this album is a step up. I think it shows growth both musically and personally, and we’re a little bit less green, a little less naïve, and I think it shows. I hope it shows .

FEMMUSIC: What do you think is the most important thing you’ve learned in the past few years?

HK: To not be so…not be so much of a perfectionist. That music is so much subjective that you can’t – it’s not – there’s no recipe for making things perfect. You can’t. You just have to enjoy it, and feel it, and pour your heart and soul into it, and I think people are gonna hear that and notice that. And I learned that.

FEMMUSIC: Can you tell me how it was working with Chely Wright?

HK: How it was working with her? Oh yeah, she’s awesome. We ran into her at the studio, and she said that she wanted to cut our single, first single from this album, “She Ain’t The Girl For You.” And we were in the studio cutting it at that moment and we were like, “Oh man, I’m really sorry.” Apparently we had gotten it right before she called to ask for it and we said, “Well, since you’re in here, would you mind putting some background vocals on it?” And she was gracious enough to do that, and her voice just added so much to it. You know, after not getting a song that you wanted and then to go ahead and sing it… she was very gracious. And she’s an animal lover too. She had her little dog in there with her the whole time while we were cutting it. A little three pound dog. (laughs) It was fun.

FEMMUSIC: When I was reading through everything, I noticed that you said you suffered a bit from stage fright. How do you overcome that?

HK: I think that’s what I mean about learning to have fun. I cannot worry anymore about making mistakes, I think I just have to accept the fact that mistakes will happen. Accept that, and relax and learn to have fun and that helps me to conquer my fears. It’s definitely a mind game. I’ve got to concentrate more on relaxing as opposed to “Oh my gosh! I’m going to make a mistake!” (laughs)

FEMMUSIC: As a woman in the music industry, have you been discriminated against?

HK: Yes. I definitely see that answer as ‘yes.’ Because there was a time – I can give probably a number of instances – but there was a time a while ago when one of our original producers, Tony Haselden, and Jen and I went on this TV show. And he played guitar and I played guitar, and I basically played the rhythm and he did some – he had an acoustic also, but he played some lead parts behind me. And they totally, when we heard the play of it back, they totally did not have my guitar in the mix. I guess they assumed it was a prop or something and didn’t ask or anything, and we had just Tony’s little lead part behind us, and it sounded terrible. And then on the bus, I think you kind of have to play this game of – you know, you’ve got all these guys working for you, and I don’t think they like to think of Jen and I as a boss. I don’t think they, for the most part, see us as that. And I often wonder if that’s the impression that I give off, if that’s the vibe that I give off, or like it’s something I can control. Cause I definitely don’t want to be a bitch but you know, I also want to be respected. So I think there’s a balance there for women that has to be entertained as opposed to men. I think men automatically…men that are working for other men, I feel like they’re probably respected a lot more so than the chances that women get at being respected.

FEMMUSIC: What one thing would you like to see changed about the music industry itself?

HK: Radio play. I would just… well.. I think the openness for different kinds of country music. That’s what I would like to see change. I would like to see radio programmers welcome pop country, traditional country, bluesy country. I would like to see them be more accepting of that, as opposed to labeling it immediately once [they] hear it. Give it a chance, you know?

FEMMUSIC: What advice do you have for an artist just starting out?

HK: Don’t get involved unless you have a deep passion for music, and an intense determination. Because it’s tough, and it is a business. And just when you think, you know, “Oh man, hey, this is all about the music,” you get woken up and realize, “Oh, whoa, ok, I guess I AM supposedly running this corporation here.” Which isn’t what I got into the music business for, but if you want to be in the music business, you’ve got to take on that challenge. And make sure you want it bad enough.