Exclusive:Rankin Twins-Two For One
April and Amy form the duo The Rankin Twins. The gals grew up in a sweet southern Texas town outside of Corpus Christi where everyone is like family. Amy says,"Well,at least all of our family grew up there.This is a town with sidewalks...I never knew there were towns out there without them,and by the time college came we moved all over Texas by the time we went off to college." They have lived in East Texas,South Texas,West Texas,and Central Texas. "I'd like to think that we have enough material to write about with all the people we've met and places we've been,"Amy said.
Growing up they were tomboys.The girls enjoyed playing sports and the great outdoors,but their mom made sure that they had a girly side of them to,by putting on talent shows for the family.
"Our parents put us in front of crowds as much as they could so we wouldn't be shy and that definitely worked because we love performing for people",April says.
With no brothers and sisters the girls say it was nice having someone who was your age and that you could relate to and do everything with."We were all we had,"states April.
Were they ever rebellious? We never got in to trouble seperately...it was always a two for one deal and as our punishments we were sent to the same room...filled with toys...haha.Their room was a place of entertainment where they would record themselves singing and making scary noises for Halloween.
The girls say that they always had a love for the same things which made it easier for their parents.
The girls picked country music as their genre of choice because "Country is our roots." Growing up they listened to artists like Reba,Shania Twain,The Judds,and Madonna,but their influences came later during high school. The cite the Dixie Chicks,Sheryl Crow,Rascal Flatts,Sara Evans,and Jessica Andrews as their musical influences.Through their years at Texas A&M they listened to artists like The Wreckers, Cory Morrow,Randy Rogers,Cross Canadian Ragweed,Reckless Kelly....and many others Texas artists.
Amy thinks that they have broadened their musical knoweledge since their college days.
"I think we've broadened our musical knowledge by like 100%...since after college...always waiting to hear the next "unheard of" band...but I still fill in the dark sometimes..especially old Rock and Roll," states Amy.
Though they always knew that they would go out and try to make a career of singing.That had to be put on the back burner,because education came first.
April says,"We always knew one day we would go out and try to make a career from singing and performing but college was something we wanted to finish first." They both attended Texas A&M(whoop!)As soon as they finished they tried living in different towns but that didn't last long until they moved back in with each other.They currently reside in Dallas,Texas.
And you ask why don't they just up and move to Music City USA? "People always ask us why we don't just get up and move to Nashville...Texas is such a great state for the music scene and until we HAVE to go somewhere else to further our career I'm sure we'll stick to the roots.We'd like to get to Austin soon though",Amy says.
And you ask how did they form the Rankin Twins?
April says that they love to karoke and would always wrote down "The Rankin Twins" instead of saying their own first names when they would sign up to sing and that just kind of stuck with them.In sports and school many couldn't tell them apart so they would just group the girls together and say,'Hey,Rankin Twin',haha.So,they felt it was only natural to go with what many already know them by.Amy created a band site on Myspace.
Amy wrote her first song in November. She got the inspiration by a recent breakup and they decided that this was it..They were going to go for it.So they wrote a couple more songs and recorded them in Austin in March,and got their band a month later and have been practicing and playing since.Amy is also learning to play the guitar.
What are they doing right now?
"We are currently writing new songs whenever we can and booking shows at local venues here around Texas but hoping to venture out soon as we can,"says April.
Adds Amy,"This is what we love to do and we hope everyone else jumps on the RANKIN Twin's train so that we can play FULL TIME for you!
Check out the girls at their Myspace page
