Called “a country version of the rock duo Heart” by the keyboard player for Shenandoah, sisters Britta and Brooke Dodgen came to the studio for this episode after having just returned from playing the Americana Music Fest in the Florida Keys. In their ten years as The Redheads they’ve played in countless locations ranging from Six Flags in Chicago to the Roxy Theatre in Denver. Currently based in Orlando, they have also lived in Nashville, Denver, Georgia, and South Carolina, and talk here about having to learn a new music market every time they move. Brooke also talks about the healing power of music after having been trampled by her horse and Britta talks about the conversion from having been an opera singer.
“I guess you really shouldn't let it get into your head. Don't make too much of a big deal about being on TV show. You'll just psych yourself out. Everything's about just staying calm and really performing that song. … You really just have to practice that one or two songs you’re going to perform.”
“I think that you have to have a good attitude in life but if you love music and it's what you want to do, you just need to absorb music. If you’re just starting out I would really recommend going to Nashville and joining NSAI (Nashville Songwriter Association International) and SGA (Songwriters Guild Of America) and learn how to songwrite and go to those seminars. If you can't go to Nashville, go to your local chapter of NSAI and just immerse yourself and learn.”
“Every venue that you play is going to be different so you really have to be prepared for anything. Anything goes. Tomorrow we are going to be playing a two-hour show but we are practicing more than two hours’ worth of material because it’s whatever the audience wants. On a dime you’re going to have to be able to switch, especially if you're going to win over the audience every time.”
“You have to choose what critiques you listen to in music because music is subjective. You don't know the hidden agenda of the other people who are critiquing you behind the scenes. And in music it also seems like it's almost a football game and there's a team going on and they are backing their quarterback and you don't know who's working with who or what's going on behind the scenes and so you really have to have a vision for your music and who you want to be.”
“We primarily write together, just the two of us, but we have co-written as well. I think that it's really whenever you find somebody that it's really organic and what's right for you – if you can meet somebody that you connect with on that level. With the music industry in general there's been a few times where we've had a feeling that we shouldn't go a certain avenue or do it anyway. It's never what we were supposed to do. Always trust your instincts.”
"Vultures in Disguise"
"Who Needs Enemies"