Long before her younger brothers Reid and Neil worked as roadies for her first teenage band, Kimberly Perry recalled the three siblings driving nearly 200 miles with their parents from their hometown of Mobile, Alabama, to Jackson, Mississippi, every February to the Mississippi State Fairgrounds for the annual rodeo.
The road trip was a yearly adventure.
“The bull riding was always my favorite event,” said Kimberly, “I’ve never actually been to a (PBR) event, but we’re excited to be the soundtrack for the one coming up in a few weeks.”
Years later, Kimberly and her brothers are still on the road only now they’re the Grammy-winning group The Band Perry and they’ll be in Las Vegas to perform at this year’s Cowboy Spring Break.
The trio has performed at a few memorable venues, including the pregame show prior to Super Bowl XLVIII, in February 2014, and now they can add the MGM Resorts Village to the list.
They will headline Sunday, May 24, with Clay Walker opening the show.
“That sounds like some of our other shows all put together,” said Kimberly, of the event that takes place along the Vegas strip at a casino on the final day of competition for the Last Cowboy Standing event overlooking the pool. “We love to play and have giant singalongs and get on stage.
“Vegas is always a good time for us.”
It’s been nearly a year since the band has been to Las Vegas.
In fact, the last time they were in town was this time last year when they took home the top honors at the Academy of Country Music Awards for Vocal Group of the Year. It was the fifth consecutive year they had been nominated.
This year’s ACM’s are slated for April 19 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
“We’ve kind of been having Vegas withdrawals,” Kimberly said, “so we’re excited to come back. Yeah, that was the last time. It’s already been a whole year.”
That’s not the only time The Band Perry went from nominee to winner.
In February of this year the band won its first Grammy Award.
The award was for Best Country Duo/Group Performance at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards for their most recent single, a remake of Glen Campbell’s classic “Gentle on My Mind.”
“The three of us were actually in route to the red carpet when we got the good news,” Kimberly said. “We definitely created a scene.”
It was a special moment for the Perry family.
As kids they used to sit in front of the TV as a family and make a night of watching the Grammys. Those memories that have lasted a lifetime, but winning was a “life-shaping experience” for the group.
And the fact that it was Campbell’s song that resulted in the win made it all the more special.
Three years ago, Campbell received a Lifetime Achievement Award and television producers had reached out the band to ask if they would perform the song as part of a tribute. That was when the siblings fell in love with the Campbell family.
A year later, during the filming of the documentary “I’ll be Me,” the family asked if the Perry’s would contribute a song for the soundtrack.
“We were like, we have to do ‘Gentle on My Mind,’” Kimberly said. “We have a special connection to Glen through that song, so here we are the whole story has come full circle and we got to take home our very first Grammy for it.”
Their self-titled debut album was certified platinum by the RIAA with sales of more than 1 million copies and the follow up, “Pioneer,” has reached gold status selling more than 500,000 copies.
They’ve had four No. 1 singles—“If I Die Young,” “All Your Life,” “Better Dig Two” and “DONE,” which was co-written by Reid and Neil. Five of those songs have sold in excess of million units each, including “If I Die Young,” which sold 6 million.
They are currently in the studio working on their third album.
According to Kimberly, the group is not likely to play any of the new material in Las Vegas, but “you never know what we’ll play on stage.”
However, coming off the Grammy win two months ago, the band is motivated to focus on the future and looking forward to being part of the pyro, explosions, laser lights and loud music that has defined PBR events for the past 22 years.
“My brothers and I, we love a great rock and roll show,” Kimberly said. “We cut our teeth on country music and rock. We love any chance we get to be on stage, but especially when we get to do it in front of our core audience.”
Kimberly concluded, “Bring your dancing shoes. We love to have a sweaty very interactive show … and pair that with bull riding and it’s going to be a great night in Vegas.”
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