This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Dec. 23, 2008 - St. Louis' country music sweethearts, Pearl Heart (formerly Me Too), are returning to their hometown to headline and perform their original material at 6:30 p.m. on the main stage of the city's largest alcohol-free New Year's Eve celebration, First Night . This performance will be the group's second First Night appearance since 2004 and their first since being finalists on Nashville Star.
The three sisters, Amy, Angela (twins who are 20) and Courtney (17) Krechel, took a minute from their busy songwriting schedule in Nashville to chat about coming home for the holidays.
Q: So, you're living in Nashville now. How do you like it?
Amy: We love Nashville. I think it's because there are so many people just like us here that we can relate to, because everybody moves here to pursue their dream. In St. Louis, I'm sure there are such people, but here it's everybody. We love St. Louis, though. It's always home.
Q: What do you miss most about St. Louis?
Angela: I really miss all of our family and friends and [all three chime in] the food.
Q: What kind of food?
Angela: They don't have toasted ravioli down here. Certain restaurants like Chevy's, that Mexican restaurant, we love that. They don't have that here. Henke's, it's a little tavern/restaurant in Florissant. That used to be one of our favorite places.
Q: What are you looking forward to most about performing here again?
Courtney: We're really looking forward to seeing our fans and our family and friends who are going to come out to our show and support us.
Q: People were just so disappointed when you guys were voted off Nashville Star. What have you taken away from that?
Amy: A lot of people thought that we got voted off too soon, but everything happens for a reason, and it's worked out really well for us so far. I think we're out of our contract now, so we're pretty much able to do whatever we want. We're working with Jeffrey Steele, who is a judge on the show and he's really respected in the industry, and so that's a really good thing for us. I feel like it happened for a reason. It sucks, but, you know.
Q: Have you gotten any new inspiration from these experiences?
Angela: It's really surreal for us to be working with Jeffrey Steele, because he's a great songwriter and we've looked up to him for a long time. He's a big inspiration to us and I think our family, and our faith too. So, that's pretty much our inspiration.
Q: How do you envision the album? Do each of you have a different idea, or is it coming together piece by piece?
Courtney: We're really just working on it together piece by piece. We're working on trying to find the right songs right now, and then after we find them, then we'll record them and try to put them all together. But right now we're just trying to write the right songs that fit us.
Q: It's so great to have you back for New Year's. What's the first thing you're going to do when you get back to St. Louis?
Amy: Well, actually we're leaving to go back to St. louis on Christmas morning, so we're going to spend Christmas with the family there, and then spend time with our friends, and then New Year's Eve. We're really looking forward to First Night. I just can't wait for that!
Solange Deschatres is a freelance writer.