NMG Exclusive Interview with Nashville Duo “The Darlins”

The Darlins 2014 courtesy of The Darlins
The Darlins 2014 courtesy of The Darlins

From a personal prospective country music has and always will be the best genre in the music industry. It’s roots run deep from the sounds of old favorites like iconic legends Earnest Tubb, Hank Williams, and Patsy Cline. But for some of us it’s the duo’s, the partners, that brought out the magical harmonies we so greatly love even still today. In years past it was Conway and Loretta, Homer and Jethro, Dolly and Porter, and of course the Bellamy Brothers. Now it’s Lorrie Morgan and Pam Tillis, Brooks and Dunn, Montgomery Gentry, and Sugarland.

We all know there are so many more favorites and there will be even more to come in the future. For those of you who have not had the pleasure, NMG would like to introduce you to The Darlins. Jude Toy and Erinn Bates are one of country music’s hottest rising duo’s and believe me when I say hot, I mean hot.

These ladies are beautiful inside and out and when they sing, Wow!! You’ll be a fan for life from day one. I guarantee it. Their accolades are proof these two beautiful women are here to stay in country music. They’ve been compared to Miranda Lambert, Pistol Annies, The Judds, and Allison Krauss but even with those honorable comparisons “The Darlins” truly have their own style, their own unique sound and they are drawing fans in with their bright and intoxicating personalities.

This past year has been a huge year for Jude and Erinn and in this exclusive interview the ladies discuss a few of those exciting events in more detail.

The Darlins courtesy of Jude Toy and Erinn Bates
The Darlins courtesy of Jude Toy and Erinn Bates

NMG – You’ve been together for several years now but 2013 was just the beginning of the roller-coaster ride and now 2014 has begun heating up for both of you especially with the opportunity to open for Montgomery Gentry and all the songwriting with several of Nashville’s heavy hitters like Anthony Smith. Could you give me the top five newest accomplishments over the last six months and how those have been?

Jude and Erinn: Opening the NAMM show in Anaheim California was a blast and
filming an upcoming episode for Balcony Television at The
Hard Rock Cafe, Tuesday, May 6th was extremely exciting. Being asked to be
part of the Blake Shelton tour, cruise for 2015 has us revving up our motors to get
started. We have been so blessed to receive the Breedlove endorsement for our musical
instruments which is phenomenal. And of course the recent writing with Anthony
Smith.

Erinn Bates courtesy of The Darlins
Erinn Bates courtesy of The Darlins

NMG – As things with your career continue to move quickly what holds your feet on the ground. What keeps you grounded and focused on the details of being true to yourself and your music?

Jude and Erinn: We are very grateful for all the things happening, e.g. (the
Blake Shelton Cruise, Breedlove endorsement, and the Balcony
Television episode). We always feel humbled by success and
don’t think it will ever change who we are. If anything, we
want to do more to give back to others. We give God credit
for all the good things happening.

NMG – In speaking of your recently received, amazing endorsements. Tell
us about them and how these endorsements will help you in the future with your career?

Jude: We are very grateful for our recent endorsement with Breedlove guitars. I have needed another guitar for years and this is a really a great blessing. I like to tune in alternative tunings and that is hard to do during a show with only one guitar. I feel that Breedlove has the quality and sound we need to take us to a new level.

Erinn: Breedlove makes incredible mandolins, the sound quality is very pure and will be an asset to our current sound. We already received a few wonderful instruments and enjoyed them at our Bluebird show on April 26th.

NMG – I understand you will be opening for Blake Shelton on the Blake Shelton Cruise. Tell me about the show and where it will be and what thoughts you have about this opportunity.

Jude & Erinn: We are blown away by this opportunity. We will be on the cruise with Blake and a few other major artists to the Bahamas 2015. This is a major break for us and we will be opening all the shows, I believe eight in all, so we will be working the entire trip. We will be doing different shows, both acoustic and with full band. We are both big fans of his so we are really looking forward to getting to know him better. I mean hanging out with Blake to the Bahamas, What??? AMAZING!

NMG – Since our last conversation you’ve been doing a lot of writing with some of the industries major heavy hitting songwriters in the industry. Who have you been writing with and what can the fans look forward to hearing over the next few months?

Jude & Erinn: We recently had the amazing opportunity to write with Anthony Smith. He is an incredible man and it was great to write with such a talented guy. We’ve never had a write like that before, He is so meticulous and that pays off, he inspired us to go to a new level in writing. we love the
song and we can see why he’s had so many cuts.

NMG – On a fun note. Your fans love your music, your style, your shows. Tell us something interesting that you’ve done recently that most people might find surprising about you.

Jude: I don’t think a lot of people know that Erinn and I met working at Sephora. We have both been in makeup artistry for years as our day jobs and we recently partnered with Sephora to do in store events. We hope to do more of that in the future as well as creating a product to sell with Sephora in the
future..

Jude Toy courtesy of The Darlins
Jude Toy courtesy of The Darlins

NMG – Fans love to feel close to the artists that they listen to and it builds a stronger bond between artist and fan so give them a tidbit of the personal side, what one thing do you enjoy doing when your not playing music and touring? What is your non musical fun thing to do?

Jude: I love to go hear other artists perform, go to writers nights. I read spiritual books, inspirational stuff. I really like unwinding watching great movies.

Erinn: I love a good movie and going out to hear others play live music.

NMG – It’s so nice to always hear from The Darlins and keep up with all the amazing things happening for you both right now. So in closing tell me how all the exciting events of the last five months have changed/improved the course of your writing, your new CD and your outlook on the rest of the year.

Jude and Erinn : We believe the success we are having is adding even more motivation to all we do. We are so inspired to do more and more. We feel that our writing is getting stronger and better and we are really growing in leaps and bounds.
For more information on The Darlins and where you can purchase their music or find out where you can catch a show please visit:

Websites:

http://www.thedarlins.com/

https://www.facebook.com/thedarlins

https://www.facebook.com/jude.toy?fref=ts

https://www.facebook.com/erinn.bates.9?fref=ts

http://www.reverbnation.com/thedarlins

 

About Sherryl Craig 410 Articles
Sherryl is a Senior Writer and Assistant Editor with Nashville Music Guide and her blog, Lyrics N Legends has been featured since 2012. Her articles has graced the cover and have appeared as feature stories in the NMG print edition. She is also a member of WMMW, Women of Music Music of Women, a non-profit organization in support of women in the music industry. WMMW also appears here in Nashville Music Guide.

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