Biography
The Jenkins, a country family trio made up of Nancy Jenkins and her daughters Kacie Jenkins and Brodie Jenkins, began with Nancy’s upbringing in Anchorage, Kentucky, as the daughter of a concert pianist. Rather than entering music herself, she completed a master’s degree in physical therapy and spent time treating head injury and stroke patients in Texas and California. In 1981 she married Bob Jenkins of Texas; the couple established their home in Sebastopol, California, where Nancy devoted herself to raising the family full time after the births of Kacie on November 1, 1984, and Brodie on March 1, 1987. They lived in a farmhouse on a vineyard. Musical talent first surfaced publicly when Nancy organized talent shows at Twin Hills Junior High School, the same setting where Kacie and Brodie performed from first through eighth grades. The sisters began playing guitar when Kacie reached eleven and Brodie nine. While Kacie was in sixth grade and Brodie in fourth, the three sang together for an audience in the school gymnasium, harmonizing on the Judds’ “Guardian Angels,” with Kacie on lead, Brodie on the high part, and Nancy supplying the low harmony. Songwriter Dennis Hysom then encouraged them to turn professional. Nancy began writing songs and cutting demos with Hysom and his wife Chris Walker; those recordings reached Los Angeles producer Peter Bunetta, who spent the next two years working with the trio. Capitol Records Nashville signed them in 2003 and placed them in the studio with Rodney Crowell at the helm. The resulting debut album, The Jenkins, contained ten tracks, six co-written by Nancy and one, “Tame Little Heart,” co-written by the sisters with Hysom and Walker. Advance single “Blame It on Mama” arrived on March 29, 2004, and entered the country charts, followed by the full album on August 24, 2004. That summer the Jenkins toured as opening act for LeAnn Rimes.
Singles
