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FAMILY ALBUM: Nancy, Kacie
and Brodie sing close harmony.
Courtesy Capitol Records
Nashville |
falling asleep in a narrow
bunk on a bus takes some getting used to, but Nancy
Jenkins doesn’t mind. At an age when many women
experience an empty nest, she’s on the road with
her 17- and 20-year-old daughters, Brodie and Kacie.
Buoyed by glowing praise (think comparisons to The Judds),
The Jenkins are busy promoting their country music.
In the past year, the mother-and-two-daughters act has
opened for LeAnn Rimes, played at country fairs and
music festivals across the country, and juggled a crush
of back-to-back radio interviews in a media blitz backed
by Capitol Records Nashville. “I’m surprising
myself. All those years I stayed at home and didn’t
want to travel. Now I love my bus,” Jenkins says,
laughing.
The Jenkins’ debut single was released last spring
and quickly climbed the country music charts into the
30s. “Blame It on Mama,” co-written by Nancy,
describes how she once lulled her girls to sleep singing
such Southern gothic tunes as “Fancy” and
“The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia.”
Two music videos and another single followed, and their
album “The Jenkins,” produced by music powerhouse
Rodney Crowell, is to be released in January.
A Kentucky native who loved singing as a girl, Nancy
Wheeler studied neuroanatomy as an undergrad and then
entered Stanford’s master’s program in physical
therapy. In 1981, she married Bob Jenkins, ’76,
and quit her job when Kacie was born in 1984. “I
loved my work as a physical therapist, but my desire
to be a full-time mom was even stronger.”
For years the family’s life in rural Sonoma County
revolved around the girls’ activities. On the
way to school and soccer games, Jenkins taught Kacie
and Brodie the harmonies to her favorite Dolly Parton,
Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt songs. A few years
later, Jenkins, always with energy to spare, volunteered
to co-produce the local junior high talent show.
In 1996, Jenkins joined her daughters onstage for a
performance of The Judds’ “Guardian Angels.”
Musician Dennis Hysom was in the audience and found
their harmony “a flawless blend. . . . I fell
out of my chair.” He and his wife, Christine Walker,
worked with Jenkins to write songs about love, coming
of age and family ties, often drawing inspiration from
Kacie’s and Brodie’s experiences. Representatives
from Capitol Records Nashville heard a demo recorded
in Hysom’s tiny studio and then flew to California
to audition the trio in the family living room.
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“The girls and I enjoy every new experience together,”
Jenkins says. “I wish I could tell everyone never
to discount anything. If I hadn’t taken on the
talent shows, I might not have shifted into songwriting.
And it’s made my internal life so much more stimulating
and filled me out in just the right way.”
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