A few things generally come to mind when one thinks of Louisiana: food, fun and music.
Shane and Blane Gaspard fully encompass the last two.
The twins grew up in Marksville, but have been pounding the Music City pavement for the past three years.
Their producer, Greg Archilla, is a big name in the music biz, having worked with pop acts Matchbox 20, Edwin McCain and Collective Soul.
Archilla described the duo as "heavy metal boys gone country."
"The first time I heard the Alan Jackson song 'Here in the Real World,' I stopped in my tracks," Blane said in a press release. "I knew I had to pursue country music."
But the boys retain the rock-n-roll attitude.
They recently cut three singles in a Nashville recording studio, and soon they'll begin record label shopping.
Right now, the only song available for radio play is a rip-roaring, good-timing song the twins wrote themselves. The other two songs were written by outside writers and won't be available for airplay until the act, simply called Shane and Blane, signs to a record label.
Archilla said he and the duo will hit all the major labels in town (Nashville), including Sony, Curb, Universal, RCA, Warner Bros., Mercury and Lyricstreet.
And, in the cookie-cutter land of country music, Archilla believes the duo's attitude will set the apart.
"The music definitely resembles the attitude of the act. That's what's unique about them -- the attitude they bring to the table.
Current country stars like Gretchen Wilson and Big and Rich have opened the door to the kind of attitude Shane and Blane possess," said Archilla.
Wilson's first hit, "Redneck Woman" paid homage to Bocephus, Tanya Tucker and Charlie Daniels, and her current single, "All Jacked Up," puts the whiskey back in country music. Big and Rich made waves with their first hit, "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy."
And Shane and Blane's themes and lyrics are right in line.
Locally, country radio stations 100.3 KRRV in Alexandria and 97.7 KAPB in Marksville have put the duo's first single into rotation. The song, "Good Girls Are Bad Girls that Never Got Caught," is a fast-paced good ol' boy anthem about what's most important to Shane and Blane: girls.
"The girls. The girls. The girls," they alternately repeated during a telephone conference call.
"We definitely expose our personality" in our music, Blane said. "Our material is who we are."
Shane agreed, saying, "I think that's what will bring us success."
And Blane followed with "We're authentic."
That's the way much of the interview went. Shane doing most of the talking, and Blane sneaking in his two cents whenever he could.
However, on stage, and in the recording studio, the brothers do everything in unison.
"Pretty much throughout our lives we sang harmony throughout the songs," Shane said. But he admitted to going through a stage where he and his brother tried to change their persona and stopped harmonizing in the way that came natural to them.
That stage is behind them now, and the brothers are back to their old ways, which includes singing as a true duo. Not just harmonizing for chorus or the bridge. Not and alternating verses. They sing together for the entirety of the song.
If their attitude doesn't set them apart, the harmonizing just might.
And that's all they really want. A way in.
It's been a long, difficult road for the brothers, but to them it's worth it.
"I don't get to spend much time in Louisiana, you have to sacrifice a lot," Blane said.
"My ultimate goal is to be a superstar."
Jodi Belgard- The Town Talk
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