CMT nominee Steel Magnolia finds love and video inspiration at the karaoke bar

Last year at this time, the members of the country duo Steel Magnolia — Meghan Linsey and Joshua Scott Jones — were contestants on the CMT reality show Can You Duet. The twosome went to the 2009 CMT Awards and watched the likes of Brad Paisley and other Nashville royalty from the audience. This year, however, the group’s on the road with Paisley and they play a much bigger part in this year’s award festivities on June 9: Steel Magnolia’s video for Keep On Lovin’ You is nominated in two categories, for Duo Video of the Year and USA WEEKEND Breakthrough Video of the Year. From winning the reality show to prepping a full-length debut album, Jones says this year’s been “like a frog in a blender.” Jones and Linsey, who are a couple offstage as well, took the time to chat about finding love at the karaoke bar, their dream touring partners and their favorite country videos, so read below for the lively conversation. Also, check out the video for Keep On Lovin’ You and if you dig it — or any of the other CMT nominees — vote for them at cmt.com by June 8.

Photos by Justin Key

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In the video, you two fall in love on a karaoke stage, which is a little bit of art imitating life.
Linsey: But in real life now, I was the karaoke host. [Laughs] We actually won the show on a Saturday and then literally that Monday we filmed the video for the song. We wanted to work with Trey Fanjoy, she’s so amazing, and she had this treatment written up about a couple who meet at karaoke, which is kind of ironic because that’s how we met. The bar I was working in when we got on the show, we used that for the setting, and we got to have a lot of our friends in it. It’s a really cool first video, to be able to keep it real like that.

That’s a pretty cool way of meeting each other.
Linsey: We didn’t think twice about it really till we got on the show and everybody thought it was a really cool story.
Jones: I think the only cooler way would have been if she was a game-show host and I walked up and I won big or something. Maybe The Price is Right.

Do you remember what you sang that day?
Linsey: Josh says I was singing Susan Tedeschi’s It Hurt So Bad, which is like this bluesy number.
Jones: She was showing off.
Linsey: I was. I was trying to make the money, you know. I had to work for tips so I had to show off.

Josh, what’s your karaoke staple?
Linsey: His has always been the Rolling Stones.
Jones: Yeah. Any good old-fashioned rock song or country song, anything traditional that everybody can sing along to, is fun to do.

Will you smile a little bit when Keep On Lovin’ You starts showing up in karaoke bars?
Linsey: It has! It’s in the place where I used to work. All my friends text me all the time and say they sing it. It’s pretty cool. I’ll have to come check that out one day.

What’s your favorite country music video of all time?
Linsey: That’s a good question.
Jones: I’d say Wink by Neal McCoy.

Why’s that?
Jones: I don’t know, man. There are so many colors going on.
Linsey: [Laughs] He likes the cutoff shorts, that’s why. You know what’s a really good video actually is Big & Rich’s Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy). That’s a cool video.

Do you envision some big and over-the-top video like that for you guys one day?
Linsey: That’d be fun, man! I hope so. We have a song called Ooh La La, and if that was ever a single, we’d have to do a video like that.

Your six-song EP came out earlier this year. Have you guys finished the full-length album yet?
Jones: We have. It comes out Sept. 21 and it’s going to be a 12-song record. From the front to the back, we truly give everybody a little something to chew on. The first song and the last song are completely different – you wouldn’t even think it’s the same record if you played them back-to-back. We have seven of our own songs that we’d written on the record, so those are real close to home for us. To be able to release a song you’ve written and have people connect with them, that’s our ultimate goal.

How has your songwriting changed since you first got together?
Linsey: I think it’s pretty much the same. People are trying to hook us up with hit writers and stuff now, which is cool. We just stick to our system, though, because it works.
Jones: We don’t have any set way to do it. We’re usually just fooling around and something good will come out of it.
Linsey: Or we fight it out until we get something good. [Laughs]

Who usually wins?
Linsey: I think when we can finally agree is when it appeals to more people. We both have different ideas about things. When we can find common ground, that’s the key to any success we’ve had as writers.

You’re with Paisley now. Do you have big touring plans in the fall?
Linsey: We’re booked for the rest of our lives, if that’s what you’re asking.

Do you have a dream touring partner?
Jones: Yeah. Faith Hill. [Laughs]
Linsey: Uh huh. Awesome. Tim McGraw! No, I’m just kidding. [Laughs] Honestly, the Brad Paisley tour is awesome, man. We’re pretty thrilled to be on the tour we’re on now.
Jones: The catering that Brad has out there, oh my gosh it’s good.

I would imagine he gets the best food of anybody.
Jones: I’m just trying not to gain 100 pounds.
Linsey: You know, I think we might be spoiled by the end of this.

Anything else going on?
Jones: Yeah, I just want to say, do you know why alligators are so angry? Because they got all them teeth and no toothbrush.
Linsey: Oh my God. Be sure you print that and put Josh’s name next to it.