Tayla Lynn and Tre Twitty are an unusual duo who need country music.
“We’re kind of stuck together,” Twitty tells PEOPLE with a laugh. “This is kind of our destiny.”
It’s a fate neither necessarily saw coming, despite growing up under the spotlight of their famous ancestors — Tre’s late grandfather Conway Twitty and Tayla’s late grandmother Loretta Lynn. Certainly, these two icons went on to change the course of country music forever when they paired up back then, amassing 12 Top 10 hits, five No. 1 singles, and four No. 1 albums. But since 2016, they’ve combined their voices and their infectious personalities as country music duo Tayla Lynn and Tre Twitty say they feel more and more lately that fate has played a role in theirs story too.
“We just wanted to see if people would care about this kind of show,” Twitty explains. “We just wanted to tell some stories and invite them into our little family. But now we just kept building steam. I had no idea it would turn into what it turned into.”
Indeed, with nearly 120 dates booked across the country in 2024, Twitty and Lynn are doing a lot more than just spending time on stage singing their grandparents’ covers. Instead, the country duo recently began focusing on their new music, which now finds a home on their first full-length album, Cooking, lovea 12-song compilation that began helping the duo write their own own history and ultimately cement theirs own legacy.
“It was so exciting to do our own thing but stay in the same vein as Conway and Loretta,” Lynn says of making the album, which includes three covers of duets made famous by her “Memaw” and Tre’s “Poppy.” “We can be keepers of the past and we can carry the banner for our grandparents and their music and their legacy, but we can also write our own chapters and kind of serve as a continuation of what they started.”
And while this new chapter is filled with new music like the ultra soulful “I Hate Me (For Lovin’ You),” the satisfying songs are still influenced by a certain Miss Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty.
“I’m a fan of Conway Twitty,” says Twitty, who will join Tayla for the highly anticipated Twitty and Lynn Salute Conway and Loretta concert at the Loretta Lynn Ranch on July 6. “He was a big influence on me, just like Tayla is a fan of Loretta Lynn and a big influence on her, so I get a lot of my style from Conway not only because he’s my grandfather, but because I love him so much as an artist .”
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The new album also allowed both artists to stretch their writing muscles a little more than ever before.
“Tayla is an amazing songwriter,” Twitty says. “She’s the voice of this group in terms of what she writes about and how she thinks it will appeal to our target audience. She does that more than I do because I’m more of a rock ‘n’ roll guy. So her input and her lyrics and what she wants to write about will resonate better with our audience than what I would write about. She’s a songwriting veteran.”
“And I learned what an amazing singer Tre is,” adds Lynn. “His vocals really shine on this record. I was listening to ‘Need Your Love (Give It Up)’ and I got chills and tears came down my eyes. I was so proud to be a part of this musical journey with him. He used to be a little timid, but now he blew those vocals.”
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Tayla Lynn and Tre Twitty. Courtesy of MPR
In some ways, it seems like this duo is just getting started.
“I’m excited to see what the future holds and what our next album will be,” Lynn tells PEOPLE. “And I’m excited for us to move forward and make our own music.”
Just don’t ever call them copycats.
I’ll wear a ball gown and pretend I’m ‘Memaw,’ but we’re not copycats,” Lynn concludes. “We’re two completely different people—Tre and me. And if the fans don’t like what we’re doing, they’re sure to leave. We wouldn’t be anywhere without the fans.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education