Sweethearts of the Rodeo

All Music Guide:

Sister duo the Sweethearts of the Rodeo scored a series of Top Ten country hits during the late '80s with a blend of contemporary country-rock and traditional bluegrass. Janis (born November 28, 1959) and Kristine Oliver (born March 1, 1957) grew up in the Los Angeles suburb of Manhattan Beach and started singing harmony together while still in elementary school. As teenagers, they performed together in garage bands and, later, acoustic bluegrass groups and also played by themselves in coffeehouses as the Oliver Sisters. In addition to bluegrass, they also took a strong liking to country-rock groups like Poco and the Byrds and eventually renamed themselves the Sweethearts of the Rodeo after the latter group's classic country-rock album. Their music took a similar turn, and after high school they performed at clubs and festivals around Southern California. Emmylou Harris took a liking to them, and soon the Sweethearts were opening for prominent country acts and occasionally singing backup session vocals; after a while on the scene, they found husbands in Pure Prairie League lead singer Vince Gill (Janis) and Blue Steel guitarist Leonard Arnold (Kristine). In 1983, the Gills moved to Nashville for the sake of Vince's budding solo career, and the Arnolds followed suit several months later.

While supporting their husbands and raising their families, Gill and Arnold started singing again, and in 1985 they won a high-profile talent competition that resulted in a deal with Columbia. Their self-titled debut album was released the following year, and their first single, "Hey Doll Baby," just missed making the country Top 20. The follow-up, "Since I Found You," turned out to be the first of seven consecutive Top Ten hits as well as the first songwriting success for Foster & Lloyd, who would land a record deal of their own in the wake of the song's breakthrough. Both Sweethearts of the Rodeo and its 1988 follow-up, One Time, One Night, sold well on the strength of singles like "Chains of Gold," "Gotta Get Away," "Midnight Girl/Sunset Town," "Blue to the Bone," "Satisfy You," and a bluegrass reworking of the Beatles' "I Feel Fine." 1990's Buffalo Zone wasn't as commercially successful, and although the sisters wanted to experiment with their sound, the label pushed for more of what had made their initial singles hits; additionally, Columbia was frustrated with their reluctance to tour extensively, owing to their family commitments.

After the disappointing sales of 1992's Sisters, Columbia dropped them, and they signed on with the roots label Sugar Hill, which allowed them much greater creative control. Their first effort was 1993's Rodeo Waltz, and it marked a return to their roots in acoustic bluegrass, folk, and classic country. Gill and Arnold subsequently opened their own clothing store in their Tennessee hometown of Franklin. They returned to recording with 1996's Beautiful Lies, an even rootsier offering that blended rock covers with bluegrass classics and old-time country tunes. The Sweethearts also continued to tour, both alone and with a backing band.

Wikipedia:

Sweethearts of the Rodeo is an American country music duo composed of sisters Janis Oliver (guitar, vocals) and Kristine Oliver (vocals). The duo recorded for Columbia Records between 1986 and 1991, releasing four albums and twelve singles for the label. In the 1990s, they also recorded two albums for Sugar Hill Records. The duo reached Top Ten on the Hot Country Songs charts seven times in the late 1980s, with its highest singles being the #4 hits "Midnight Girl/Sunset Town" and "Chains of Gold," both in 1987.

Biography

Janis Oliver was born March 1, 1954 (1954-03) (age 58) and her sister Kristine Oliver was born November 28, 1956 (1956-11-28) (age 55) in the South Bay region of Los Angeles, California. They were raised in Manhattan Beach, California, where they began singing while in elementary school and performed bluegrass music as the Oliver Sisters during their teenage years.

The duo later renamed itself Sweethearts of the Rodeo, taking the name from The Byrds' album Sweetheart of the Rodeo. After being discovered by Emmylou Harris, they secured slots as opening acts and backing vocalists for other artists. In 1977, the Sweethearts opened a Redondo Beach, California, show for Sundance, a group which included a then 19-year-old Vince Gill. In 1980, Janis married Gill, who by then was a member of Pure Prairie League, and Kristine married Leonard Arnold of the band Blue Steel. In 1983 the Gills moved to Nashville, Tennessee, followed soon after by the Arnolds, and the sisters began singing together again.

1986–1992: Columbia Records

In 1985, Sweethearts of the Rodeo won the Wrangler Country Showdown talent contest and soon after signed with Columbia Records. Sweethearts of the Rodeo's first single, "Hey Doll Baby", debuted in April 1986, followed by the release their self-titled debut album. After it came the duo's first Top Ten hit at #7, "Since I Found You." The song was written by Radney Foster and Bill Lloyd, and its success helped Foster & Lloyd secure a record deal of its own. Four more singles from the album followed, including the #4 hits "Midnight Girl/Sunset Town" and "Chains of Gold," which would be their highest-charting singles.

A second album, One Time, One Night, accounted for three more Top Ten hits: "Satisfy You," "Blue to the Bone" and a cover of The Beatles' "I Feel Fine," but its next single, "If I Never See Midnight Again," peaked at #39. Two more albums for Columbia followed (1990's Buffalo Zone and 1992's Sisters), but neither produced any major hits, and Columbia dropped the duo in 1992.

1993–present

Sweethearts of the Rodeo continued to tour in the 1990s, later releasing two albums of bluegrass music on the Sugar Hill label: Rodeo Waltz in 1993 and Beautiful Lies in 1996. Janis and Kristine owned a clothing store in Franklin, Tennessee called "Gill & Arnold" for a time in the late 1990s that has since closed. Janis and Vince Gill were divorced in 1997 and she married Roy Cummins in 2000.