Today we’d like to introduce you to The Band Kris
Hi The Band Kris , can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
It all began back in 2014 when we officially put a name on our collaboration. We are sisters so we grew up sharing the same bedroom, and sharing the same dream of being singer-songwriters like Taylor Swift one day. We would transform our room into ‘arena stages’ and play pretend like we were singing for big crowds at our own concert. Ultimately, that vision never shifted for us and we are still those little girls who have huge dreams with a bit of a stubborn attitude when necessary: Never make a plan B for anyone who doubts you!
In 2014, there was this one specific song that we wrote together called, “Dear Kris” and it was really just us updating our older brother in heaven on what life has been like down here lately. That night we decided to make this sister collaboration a permanent thing and name ourselves, The Band Kris. It was our way of keeping our brother’s name and spirit alive through our music and chasing this dream for more than just ourselves, but for him too!
Once we had the band name, we went ALL in. We were determined to do whatever it took to make our dreams come true. We emailed every venue in our area to try and convince them to let us, two teenage girls, play at their venue. But oh boy, did we learn the hard way about the importance of a gig history! So, we adopted the ‘fake it till you make it mindset, and voila! Our first gig was in the bag. And we felt unstoppable.
We started booking shows four times a week, even on school nights. We were addicted. Four years later, we moved to Nashville, Tennessee, the holy grail of country music. Playing at the Bluebird Cafe was like hitting the jackpot of our childhood fantasies. For two years, we lived in the heart of music city, which allowed us to learn the ins and outs of the music industry and helped us craft our sound and develop as musicians. Fast forward to today, that same determination we had when we were kids has only escalated and we have no plan on slowing down now!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Definitely not! But, we also never expected it to be smooth, so when we committed to this career choice, we committed in spite of that. When you intentionally choose to pursue a career that has no specific instruction manual that guarantees success, you go into it with a pre-understanding that this road is going to have a lot of ups and downs.
However, just because we knew that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt as bad…
Posting the wrong video and not realizing it until after we received comments, or performing in front of crowds, and yet somehow, your brain decides to go blank on a lyric that YOU WROTE! How does that even make sense!? Haha. But if we had to name the most difficult challenge, it’s those moments where you feel like you are putting in all of your energy, and time, and yet the progress is stagnant and you feel like you are stuck on a treadmill forever. Those moments are hard and painful but it usually means you’re so close, just 3ft. away from the next level. Hold out for just a little longer and every single time, an unexpected miracle comes, whether that’s in the form of a new opportunity or a spark of inspiration that leads to a new song.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Well, for those who don’t know us…
Heyyoo it’s Jami and Dani, better known as The Band Kris! We are a pop music sister duo usually writing 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴 about 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 because we are 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 dramatic & 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 sensitive! In other words, we are overly obsessed with songwriting, and we were never shy about opening up our songbook and sharing a song on our social media (@thebandkris) the same day we finished writing it. This led to our fans naming us the ‘Queens of Petty’ because our songs became so obviously specific; it was clearly about something that upset us the day before, haha.
And, of course, if you’re a Swiftie, you might recognize us for our ‘Guess the Taylor Swift song’ videos we post over on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. We love creating and performing new music for our YouTube community which is full of videos covering Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, and more, alongside our Original Songs and live performances!
How do you think about luck?
Back when we lived in Nashville, every single Monday, we would call the Bluebird Cafe to try and get a spot to play an original song for their Monday Open Mic Night. If you’re not familiar with the process, only the first lucky 25 callers get in. Sometimes, we would call 56 times to try and hopefully get a spot. When the short signup period would be getting closer to the last few minutes, one of us would literally be on our hands and knees saying a prayer out loud to God to please have the call go through and for us to get a spot to play. We felt like the luckiest kids on earth when the busy signal would finally go through on our 57th call. As Phil Knight said in his memoir, some might call that luck…but for us; that was an answered prayer.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thebandkris.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebandkris/
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/thebandkris/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/thebandkris
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/the-band-kris-567785184?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
- Other: https://linktr.ee/thebandkris
