Kimberly Perry Flourishes with “Bloom”
Kimberly Perry releases the most personal project of her career titled "Bloom." As she begins her solo career, she looks back at the journey here through "If I Die Young Part II," a beautiful ode to her award-winning single that sold over five million copies during her stance as lead singer for The Band Perry. We'll dive into "Bloom" and revisit the monumental time period when we were first introduced to Kimberly Perry at country radio.
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Welcome to the Across the Country with Amanda Podcast. I’m your host Amanda – you can listen to me daily on 101 Country WBDC. In this episode – it's all about Kimberly Perry’s first solo release! We’ll talk about her departure from The Band Perry and what to expect from this new album
Across the Country starts now!
Thank you so much for being here!
A few months ago, the CMA listed Kimberly Perry as a performer on one of their stages for CMA Fest. Noticing it I was like “is that the Kimberly Perry from The Band Perry?” and then the rollout came on social media for her latest project Bloom.
The title of her lead single is “If I Die Young Part II.” Was I skeptical. Oh sure – reimagining or sampling another popular song is very trendy within country and pop music right now.
It could be easy to eyeroll the thought of another singer remixing a song that was already a big hit, much less, their own hit.
But I heard it and it instantly made sense to me. It’s a bridge. It’s not necessarily closing a chapter. But continuing the story and recognizing where you were and the growth you’ve experienced. You can look back at experiences and still honor, love, and be thankful for those times even if you are no longer in that same place.
Kimberly Perry’s Bloom collection met me where I am in life.
Seasons of change. Wanting to grow, but not lose sight of who you are. That theme is played out through her first solo release.
The Band Perry hit radio in 2010. Country music had just come out of a run of religious themes and the soccer mom period at radio. There was a youthful revival to country music in 2010 and a new era was ushered in – while Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, Toby Keith, and Tim McGraw continued to reign, artists like The Band Perry were among the promising new acts.
Taylor Swift had her Fearless record out and was becoming an international superstar.
Lady A’s Need You Now swept the Grammy’s, and their “American Honey” single had a very rootsy feel.
Sarah Buxton was opening shows for Martina McBride and with songs like “Space” and “Outside My Window” she found a spot on radio.
Sunny Sweeny’s “From a Table away” was a big top ten hit.
Miranda Lambert showed an artistic leap with her Revolution record.
Zac Brown Band brought a jam band element.
Dierks Bentley who was ruling radio surprised everyone by returning to his bluegrass roots.
Looking back, it was at this precious time when songwriting, the instruments had a very authentic feel – but were well received in a contemporary manner. These were the artists that brought country music to a new audience.
I remember when The Band Perry opened the Rascal Flatts tour in 2013 and they signed autographs at Walmart near me, I sat on the floor of the ceiling fan aisle for like hours to meet them. I always thought they were very well spoken and very gracious.
“Gentle on My Mind” was one of the best releases of 2014 – coinciding with the release of Glen Campbell’s I’ll Be Me documentary. They would go on to win a Grammy for that one.
The Band Perry was told by their record label to adapt to the mainstream changes once the bro-country dominance emerged around 2012. I think they tried to find a place, tried to explore. Over time, the question became “what ever happened to the Band Perry” vs recognizing their musical output from that time.
Unfortunately, I think because of the creative exploration, it tends to overshadow their legacy. Because we need to recognize their contributions.
They had 9 consecutive top twenty hits on radio between 2010-2014 and sold over 10 million singles.
The band stepped away from the music scene. They lived life. Evolved.
And now Kimberly Perry is giving us her first solo release. It’s a beautiful time in her life. Marriage, a baby on the way...and this collection gives us a snapshot of where she’s at.
Because the band always encompassed such a unique sound, blending in many influences, I was curious how this record would sound...and it’s simply beautiful. The lyrics are wrapped up in these fiddles, guitars and warm layered background vocals.
It’s folksy, but not too folksy. It’s a country vibe. It’s completely Kimberly Perry.
The songwriting is very intimate and revealing – the moving forward but honoring the past theme is continued in “Cry at your funeral.”
“Ghosts” is gorgeous – Burn the House Down brings that energy that we’ve known in her live shows.
I love everything about this record and I’m very hopeful that we will see country radio embrace this – we need more females played on country radio. This week, there are only 8 country females in the Top 50 – Kimberly Perry is giving us fantastic music and it deserves to be played on radio.
I’m going to go ahead and put this on my best of list for 2023 – I'm really enjoying it. And I think you will, too!
I hope you check out this album – let me know what you think of it! It’s called Bloom and you find it on all streaming platforms.
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