Imagine if Simon and Garfunkle were a couple of really hot, young, talented women with Southern accents that melted you every time they opened their mouth...
Well, get ready to meet The Pierces.
The Pierces are a pair of sisters (Alison and Catherine) from Alabama who currently live in New York City. Whether you like folk music or not, chances are their harmonies will seduce you like the Sirens faced by Odysseus.
After several delays, their second record is finally being released this January. If their name doesn't ring a bell with you chances are it's because the first record didn't get much support at all. In fact, they fell victim to a story heard zillions of times by musicians around the world.
"The guy that signed us left the company right before our record came out," explained Catherine. "So, we were just sort of shuffled along. It happens so often. Labels will just sign bands just in case something's going to happen. Sometimes they'll be a couple of labels interested in you, so they get greedy and want to keep you just in case. But they don't really love your music."
Her sister disagreed with her a little. "I think in this case, they really did love us and love our music," said Allison. "They just didn't know what to do with us. It was in 2000, Britney Spears was huge, the Backstreet Boys, NSYNC - all that stuff was massive and we made an Americana record."
Although they regularly perform as a duo, the records were both recorded with a full band and full production behind them. The Pierces will also begin touring with a full band on select dates this month.
The level of production behind each song was a constant battle during the recording of Light of The Moon, their upcoming release. The sisters explained the difficulties faced in the studio.
"The guy we worked with had a vision," explained Allison. "He was like 'it's got to be this way'. He had very specific ideas. The record may be a little bigger than we wanted it to be."
"We fought with him a lot," added Catherine. "But I think he may have won."
"He definitely won," agreed Allison.
"I love the record for what it is, but I think, in the future, the records will definitely be more stripped down like our live show," said Catherine.
The Pierces are having a record release party at the Saint in Asbury Park on January 25th and one with a full band at The Living Room in New York City on the next night. Asbury Park has been one of the places to take to the Pierces early on. In addition to several shows at the Saint (including residences in December and January), they were the first duo to perform during the Writers In The Raw series and they took part in the Light of Day show at the Stone Pony.
"It's so important to get responses from people," said Catherine. "It's disheartening if you play one club after another and nobody's there. That's kill you."
Outside of this area, The Pierces made many new friends in the South in the last couple of months as they played a string of successful shows, including the Austin City Limits Festival where they sang to a crowd of 75,000 people. Their performance was broadcast and streamed live on Yahoo. The broadcast received 90,000 hits over the weekend.
The sisters are not scared of playing anywhere and they come from a very artistic family. Their father is a musician and their mother is a painter. They grew up in Birmingham in a very loose and free setting. Both were home schooled, which allowed them more time to pursue ballet and music. And both danced professionally for several years. When they got tired of dancing around the country, they decided to pursue their dream of music together.
Catherine believes that being sisters makes going after the dream a little easier. "We fight like sisters, but we can be completely honest with each other. Maybe if she was just my friend and I was in a band with her I'd be like, 'yeah, that song's great' and I wouldn't really like it. But we can be totally honest and open with each other. I mean, we've known each other all of our lives."
The pair have already seen a glimpse of how difficult it can be to be successful in the music industry with the shelving of their first record; yet, they approached this new record with high spirits and confidence as well as a healthy dose of reality.
"I think that you always hope that you can support yourself and do what you love," said Allison. "It would be amazing if we sold millions of records and became huge or whatever, but as long as we can just keep doing what we love that'll work for me."
Catch the Pierces live this month:
Jan. 12 The Living Room, NYC
Join us for McCarter at the Museum - renowned performing artists in one-night only events at the Princeton University Art Museum.
Jason Robert Brown is a four-time Tony Award-winning composer and lyricist of The Last Five Years, Parade, Songs for a New World, 13, The Bridges of Madison County, Honeymoon In Vegas and The Connector, has performed as a soloist or with his band in venues around the world, including sold-out shows at the London Palladium and Carnegie Hall. His albums as a singer-songwriter include Wearing Someone Else’s Clothes and How We React and How We Recover on Ghostlight, and Coming From Inside the House and Live In Concert with Stephen Sondheim on Concord.
With Special Guest Tony nominee Betsy Wolfe. Tony Award-nominated actress Betsy Wolfe is currently starring as Audrey in the acclaimed Off-Broadway production of Little Shop of Horrors, following her recent Broadway run as Madeline Ashton in the hit musical Death Becomes Her. She previously originated the title role in Joy, the new musical inspired by inventor Joy Mangano, and earned a 2023 Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her celebrated performance as Anne Hathaway in & Juliet. Other Broadway credits include starring as Jenna in Waitress, Cordelia in the acclaimed revival of Falsettos, Bullets Over Broadway, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Everyday Rapture, and 110 in the Shade, as well as her critically acclaimed performance as Cathy in the Off-Broadway revival of The Last Five Years. Wolfe made her Metropolitan Opera debut in Die Fledermaus and has appeared as a guest artist with more than 65 symphony, pops, and philharmonic orchestras worldwide, including the New York Philharmonic and BBC Symphony Orchestra, with performances at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. Her screen credits include First One In, Estella Scrooge, CBS’s Instinct, and the film adaptation of The Last Five Years. Wolfe is also the co-founder of BroadwayEvolved, the acclaimed musical theatre training program she launched in 2018 to train and mentor the next generation of theatre artists.
A limited number of early access tickets for McCarter Director’s Circle members and members of the Museum’s Partner Circle are available, on sale Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at 12:00 PM. General public on sale begins Friday, September 18, 2026 at 12:00 PM.
Please be aware there is no public drop-off or parking at the Museum. For visitors with mobility needs, please contact the Museum at least three business days in advance of your visit to request special access to the Museum via Elm Drive. Call 609-258-3788 and select option 1 to speak to a visitor services staff member, or email Louise Barrett at [email protected].
