The Highway Sisters Love to RRRROOOOAAARRR!

"This modern day Thelma and Louise duo is taking the nation by storm with their funny antics alongside songwriting.  It's safe to say these ladies are a fire burning with gasoline and it will be damn near impossible to put them out." -Texas Local Live  

"Sometimes you can’t help but wonder how kindred spirits find each other and connect on a level that fires on all cylinders. The importance of chemistry in a musical partnership cannot be overstated, and for the Highway Sisters, they have it in spades. Whether it was divine intervention, the universe’s magnetic pull, or just plain old coincidence, Amelia Presley and KK Bodiford found each other, and the rest of us can go to sleep at night knowing miracles do exist." -Music Mecca  

The duo consists of Amelia Presley and KK Bodiford.  Amelia is a soulful distant cousin to Elvis Presley.  Luke Bryan was quoted saying “I think Elvis would be proud” about her televised performance of “Heartbreak Hotel”.  She is also a U.S. Coast Guard Veteran.  KK is a raspy Outlaw-style vocalist who was a 1st-season Nashville Star finalist with Texas Artist/Judge, Charlie Robison.  She writes children’s books and participates in musical therapy for hospitalized children and schools.  

In April 2018, the Highway Sisters’ EP, "Smoke & Mirrors," became available for Pre-Release.  It was released on June 13th.  The EP is produced by Texas Producer, Eric McKinney.  

In 2018, The Highway Sisters were guests on the "Great Day Festive Friday" Fox 26 morning show in Fresno, California.  They performed 5 segments live on-air. The Highway Sisters were guests on the CBS morning show, "Great Day Houston."  They have performed at The Grand Ole Opry and have opened for Red Dirt Artists, Stoney Larue and Brandon Rhyder as well as Willie Nelson’s granddaughter, Raelyn Nelson.  

Together, Highway Sisters endured obstacles in a previous band when their styles and authenticity were challenged by a financier who worried more about appearance and “Smoke and Mirrors” (thus the EP name) than actually creating authentic music and staying genuine.  The story found within this duo is deep, comical and inspiring.  More than the story, the connection between these two “sisters” is nothing short of what legends are made of, thus coining their nicknames; “Thelma and Louise”.

I photographed and talked to the Highway Sisters during a monsoon style rainstorm after dark on a tiny street corner. This is something I have never imagined doing and even wondered if we should postpone due to circumstances, but the girls were so ready to do this, I thought if a pregnant KK can do it, so can I. I enjoyed every minute of my time with them. They are cheerful and filled with laughter. They often answered questions together saying the exact same thing at the same time, true friendship and comradery not to mention beauty and talent.

Amelia and KK: Thank you.

KK:  We both write. On our EP, Amelia wrote ‘Gold Digger’ by herself and I wrote ‘Papa’ by myself and collectively we wrote the other three songs.

KK:  We wrote the songs based on our experiences over the past year. We have definitely come across the industry hiccups. There are a lot of dirty rats out there!

KK:  We learned to trust our gut. We’ve learned that if something doesn’t feel right, just go with that. It’s easy to get swept away with the smoke and mirrors. We are not looking to be rich and famous. It would be great, but it’s not what we care about. Whatever opportunities come by are good, but this is a forever thing.

KK:  I can tell you that regarding what women can and cannot do, the moment I was pregnant everyone started telling me that it was too bad because you and Amelia really built something special and now you have to give it up.

Amelia:  We were told that’s the end of touring.

KK:  We were like, WHAT!?! I have to ask if they would quit their job to have a baby. My husband isn’t quitting his job because I’m pregnant.

KK:  We knew each other from being in a different band together. We had known each other two years before becoming the Highway Sisters.

KK:  They had several girls and a different vision than what we had. Amelia and I think alike. We have different styles, but they mesh well together. Out humor is alike. We are both ADD and we both love our children and our families and God is the most important thing. This is a common bond.

KK:  We thought, let’s just run with this. Just the two of us. We’ve had so many cool experiences already.

Amelia and KK:  It really is!

Amelia: We are both so weird and we get to be weird and people like it. We realized we can just be ourselves and be strange. (Both Highway Sisters are laughing)

Amelia Presley:  Thank you.

KK:  The first song I recorded is called ‘Dance Right Through The Storm’ and that’s dedicated to a little girl named Parker. A high school friend had a little girl who lost her battle with DIPG (Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma) that is a form of brain cancer with no cure yet.

KK:  Basically, we are trying to raise awareness in her honor. The song is about her being a dancer and she did dance right through the storm that was in front of her.

KK:  I never want to perform alone for the rest of my life. Amelia inspires and motivates me. She has pulled out the “It’s OK to be me” quality. I hate the idea of performing without her.

Amelia: I hate the idea of performing without KK too. We just have so much fun. A good example is when we have to drive somewhere and leave at 4:00 in the morning, we can be weird together. That’s just how we are all the time.

KK and Amelia:   (Laughing) We love that word!

Amelia:  Yes, definitely. We have been trying to decide what songs we are going to put on our next EP or album. We are constantly writing and sending ideas back and forth. It’s so hard to pick the right ones, but next year after KK has her baby, we will look at what’s next.

KK:  I’m taking the normal 8 weeks off, but we’ll be writing songs during that time. We will be deciding if it will be an EP or album.

KK:  That’s the funny thing. What Amelia does really well, I don’t and what I do well, she doesn’t. We compliment each other. We do all our management and booking.

Amelia:  Yes, we are. We’ve worked with managers and we learned that it sounds fancy, but it’s really not. That’s what we mean by smoke and mirrors. We learned you can do that stuff yourself. You just have to have a mind for business.

KK:  When you do this work, you get to keep the profits yourself and there’s not a lot of money in this. Also, you get to stay true to yourself. You don’t have somebody telling you what you can and can’t do.

Amelia:  They told me I had to wear a dress.

KK:  And I was told I couldn’t wear my bandana. I always wear my bandana and Amelia never wears dresses.

KK and Amelia:  Oh my gosh! Absolutely 100%. We were both victims of bullying when we were younger. We have that common denominator.

KK:  We’ve always been on the road and often Amelia might be in Mississippi and I’d be here, and we would say to each other, “I miss my highway sister.” Then it just stuck.

KK and Amelia: That’s the best compliment we can get.

KK and Amelia:  RRRRROOOAAARRR! Our favorite thing to do is RRRRROOOAAARRR! (Laughter)