Getting to Know 2Steel Girls

How does a mother and daughter duo go from singing in church to a blind audition on The Voice and being signed to PCG Nashville? You’re about to find out!

Allison (the mom) and Krystal (the daughter) Steel have been on a whirlwind these past few years as they chase their dream of country music stardom. They recently sat down with New England Country Music and chatted with us about their past, present, and future.

The both grew up in Jackson County, Ohio and have been singing since they both started to speak; seems like this great attribute runs in the family. Allison gives credit to musical influences such as Michael Jackson, Elvis and Willie Nelson, while Krystal grew up listening to Etta James and Hank Sr. “There wasn’t ever a day I decided I wanted to be a musician, it just came naturally.” When asked why country music, both ladies had the same answer, “We are country….we fish, hunt, listen to country music, love bonfires, love our boots and jeans. All of that came pretty natural.”

After singing in church they decided to try their hand as a group and formed 2Steel Girls in 2011, playing their first show at the famed Bluebird Café in Nashville, TN. This performance would have more of an effect on their career than they could have been imagined. The duo was found by talent scouts for NBC’s The Voice after seeing the girls on YouTube. In 2012, they appeared on season three of The Voice and selected by country superstar, Blake Shelton, during the blind auditions. They didn’t make it past this round but it added another notch in an ever growing belt of success as they would later record with Blake. Speaking about this and their experience on the show, “It was awesome! We were treated like stars but we were also very nervous as it was only our 5th time performing outside of church. Recording with Blake was unforgettable as he’s such an incredible person. He’s kind, supportive and just real. A good ol’ country boy who always made us feel important.”

The experience only helped in opening more doors for the dynamic duo. In 2013, the ladies got to perform their debut single ‘Train Wreck’ on The Today Show. This was made possible by an overwhelming fan campaign to get 2Steel Girls on the show to perform. Then in the beginning of 2014 they were signed by Bernard Porter to PCG Nashville. Porter was instrumental in the signing of another artist that fans may be familiar with: Jason Aldean.

Now all of this success has not come without certain drawbacks as the duo sometimes have to fight a stereotype:

“Our biggest disadvantage is that people who hear we are a mother/daughter duo, immediately think we’re cheesy or think we’re like the Judds. Neither of those are true. But there is a big advantage in that we’re stronger together. We encourage each other and we both are very driven…our entire family is. We’re going for this and we won’t let anything stop us!”

Not lost amongst all of the milestones is the effect that social media and their fans has had on their careers, “We’ve been able to build quite a large fan base pretty quickly and as independent artists been able to get our music out to people who would have never heard us without social media.”

Allison & Krystal both would love to play The Opry one day as it would be a dream come true but also play the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville because that would signal the cumulation of their success as artists. And if they could choose their own touring partner, well they’d choose their television coach’s wife, Miranda Lambert.

So what can we expect from 2Steel Girls in the future? “Big things! We are only getting started and getting ready to record at Blackbird Studios with Emmy Award Winning Producer, Trey Bruce. We are very excited! This new CD will be pitched to major record labels in hopes of getting a recording contract.”

We want to thank both Allison & Krystal for taking the time to talk with us here at New England Country Music. This will certainly be the first of many times you see them on our site as we’re all in on this exciting ride with them.

Make sure to follow 2Steel Girls on Twitter, on Facebook, and on their website. Also, you can download their music on iTunes!

This article was written by NECM contributing writer Mike Sullivan. You can follow me on Twitter.