It all started for the Foresters in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, first with a performance by Kathy and June as a duo at church, then with parties and shows in the Chattanooga area, when Kim made it a trio. Christy took her place in the lineup, expanding The Forester Sisters to a quartet, and they so impressed the locals that songwriters began providing them with original songs.
They headed to Muscle Shoals to record a demo, and the drummer at the session passed the tape along to a friend in Nashville. It ended up in the hands of a Warner Brothers executive, who called the family and asked for an audition. On July 31, 1984, the group officially signed with the label, and started setting new standards in country music.
Their first single,”(That’s What You Do)When You’re In Love,” reached the Top Ten, and the next “ I Fell In Love Again Last Night, went all the way to #1. The string continued unabated for six years, as The Forester Sisters became the first act to place each of their first 14 singles in Billboard’s Top Ten since the introduction of the 100-position country chart. In the process, they reeled off five #1 singles, including “Just In Case, “You Again,” “Mama’s Never Seen Those Eyes,” and their duet with The Bellamy Brothers, “Too Much Is Not Enough.” For their efforts, they received Vocal Group of the Year honors from the Academy Of Country Music.
It hasn’t been easy. The Forester touring entourage including the band, business associates and kids--numbering 19, and the whole crew toughs it out in just two functional-but-cramped buses. The constant crowding naturally leads to tense moments for the quartet, but it’s also helped the sisters learn to work through hard times to achieve their singular goal.
“It’s been like a marriage, “ June explains. “We’ve gotten to know each other more than we ever did as children, I probably spend more time with them than my husband. So it has been a lot like marriage.”
The marriage hit a creative high-point with I Got A Date, their second album under the direction of producers Robert Byrne and Alan Schulman. Muscle Shoals Sound upgraded its facilities specifically to entice The Foresters to record there once again (they cut their second album at the same studio), and in a very relaxed environment, they soaked up some intangible musical energy left behind by such prior Muscle Shoals Sound clients as The Rolling Stones, Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin and The Oak Ridge Boys. The album cooks, appropriate in a year which The Forester Sisters’ tenth anniversary as a quartet coincided with the release of their tenth album
“Most people have a different image of us than what we’re really like.” says Kathy. “All four of us are very different people, but we’re very close, ‘cause I think we bring out the best and worst in each other. But we’re very spontaneous, and we do have a good time.”
“Our earlier albums were real sweet,” adds June. “And we are sweet, but then there’s another side of us that nobody’s ever seen--the wit, the mischievousness--we’re raucous sometimes.”
The energy and the sense of humor that have sometimes eluded the public eye can be found in abundance in I Got A Date, The Forester Sisters tenth album for Warner Brothers Records. The album runs through the hurts and the hilarity of male/female relationships in the 90’s, viewed from a decidedly feminine perspective.
Opening with “Show Me A Woman”, I Got A Date amusingly suggests a woman as the cause of a man’s drinking problem, and the satire continues with their thumping, sarcastic salute to the “Redneck Romeo” (“thinks he’s Elvis in a picture show”). The package runs the gamut of male/female interaction, from the romance of a new relationship, (“I Only Have Eyes For You”), to obsession (the first single, “What’ll You Do About Me,”), longevity (“There Hearts Are Dancing”) and divorce (“Wanda”). While the album covers a wide emotional spectrum, the title track, in particular, underscores the Forester’s heightened sense of the absurd. In “I Got A Date”, a suddenly single woman finds herself back on the market with a man penciled into her appointment book. All the questions about insecurity, appearance and proper behavior come into play, as the lady anticipated an experience she hasn’t had in years. Though it’s somewhat serious business, it’s all handled with a laugh.
“At the time the album was released, I was going through a divorce,” Kim admits, noting the realism of the song. “So goin’ out on a date-- I hadn’t been out on a date in five years. And that is really funny. I thought, ‘I’m entirely too old to start dating.”
In actuality, The Forester Sisters are pretty young to have achieved all they have in the country music business. The group offers its tenth album, a landmark release in a competitive business where fame is fleeting and security non-existent.
“It’s a definite milestone,” says Christy- the youngest of the quartet. “We didn’t know the career was comin, when it came, and it’s all happened real fast. From the beginning, we were fortunate enough to start out on a good foot, with our first single bein’ a Top Ten record.
“At first, it was a real whirlwind, so now, we’re starting to slow down a little bit and appreciate the things that are happening, and where we are in our careers, and the fact that we’re still here.”
The 1991 rowdy hit “Men” earned The Forester Sisters their second Grammy nomination. The Forester’s have finished recording their 11th album for Warner Bros. This project will be a joint release by Warner Bros. and Warner Alliance to the “positive country” audience. They’re now poised to take a stronger position in the industry: savvy veterans with reborn enthusiasm, reminiscent of a new artist.
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