(SOUNDBITE OF CAR HORN HONKING)
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
A lot of musicians have a day job or two to help make ends meet. For BG Womack, it was driving ride-share.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE WOMACK SISTERS SONG, "CHAUFFEUR")
BG WOMACK: When you're getting your money, there is no shame in your game.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CHAUFFEUR")
THE WOMACK SISTERS: (Singing) Baby, I got you.
RASCOE: She's one of the Womack sisters, along with her siblings Zeimani and Kucha.
ZEIMANI WOMACK: You got to have a side hustle or something so you can always be in control of how you look, how you sound, what the direction is.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CHAUFFEUR")
THE WOMACK SISTERS: (Singing) Driving all across town - drive, drive - to get you who knows where, who knows where. Take another...
RASCOE: Their debut album is called "The Womack Sisters." They developed their tenacious attitude toward making music from their family.
KUCHA WOMACK: We were born into this experience. As young people growing up on the road, music was everywhere.
Z WOMACK: And when it comes to our sound, I would say that gospel music is the backdrop to everything. We're five generations of gospel singers.
RASCOE: Those five generations include some of the most venerated voices and soul music. Their parents are Cecil and Linda of Womack & Womack. Their uncle - Bobby Womack. And their grandfather was the legendary king of soul, Sam Cooke. Cooke was killed in 1964, at the height of his fame and in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement.
K WOMACK: I feel like our story is very human, but a lot of people lost their lives in the movement, you know, same as our grandfather, and that really impacted a lot on our mother and the people around them. You know, the Womack brothers were young, and their mentor was gone. So both sides of the family were hurting, and I think it was a loss for all of America.
RASCOE: Yeah. He was shot and killed in 1964.
Z WOMACK: Yeah, it was very tragic and it was way too early, and he was very much so cut short. He had planned to do so many amazing, great things in the industry.
BG WOMACK: Speaking up for Black people is dangerous.
K WOMACK: Yeah, it was...
Z WOMACK: It can be.
K WOMACK: ...At the time, and so many people died that same year. You know, so we just have to - we just have to remind ourselves that change doesn't come without sacrifice.
Z WOMACK: I don't even think he realized it at the time, how what he was doing, even with a change going to come, like, what that would mean to the world.
RASCOE: Yeah, what that song would mean.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "A CHANGE IS GONNA COME")
SAM COOKE: (Singing) It's been a long, a long time coming. But I know a change gonna come. Oh, yes, it will.
RASCOE: You capture that '60s soul sound throughout the album. And one of my favorites is "I Just Don't Want You (To Say Goodbye)."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I JUST DON'T WANT YOU (TO SAY GOODBYE)")
THE WOMACK SISTERS: (Singing) I'm wrapped up in this love of ours. But I'm free in so many ways. Wait a minute. What you trying to tell me? I just don't want you. I just don't want you. I just don't want you. To say goodbye to me.
RASCOE: And BG, we hear you call it out before belting it all out. I feel like these songs - they capture this raw emotion, whether it's yearning or anger or just, like, vulnerability. I don't want you to leave me. What's it like being that raw on a record?
K WOMACK: It's tender. The kind of...
RASCOE: Tender.
K WOMACK: It's tender.
RASCOE: Tender.
K WOMACK: You know?
RASCOE: That's a good word for it.
K WOMACK: Because we all have been made a fool, and sometimes we take too long to walk, you know? And I think that that little voice inside your head that's saying, yo, that's not right. You know that's a red flag. You know, like, we're ignoring flags all the time. So that song is just for anybody who outstayed their welcome in a relationship.
Z WOMACK: I love that - outstayed their welcome.
(LAUGHTER)
RASCOE: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
RASCOE: But you're - but she's begging him to stay. She's like, I think we can fix it. Right?
BG WOMACK: I think you have two voices in your head when it comes...
RASCOE: Yes.
BG WOMACK: ...To breakups.
Z WOMACK: Yeah, the logical and the stupid one.
RASCOE: (Laughter) Exactly. I love this part of the song, the end.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I JUST DON'T WANT YOU (TO SAY GOODBYE)")
THE WOMACK SISTERS: (Singing) I just don't want you, want you, want you to say goodbye. I just don't want you, no, want you, no, to say goodbye, no. I just, no, don't want you, want you, no...
K WOMACK: Right?
BG WOMACK: That's when the spirit's hitting you.
RASCOE: Yeah, well...
BG WOMACK: See you in church.
RASCOE: That's what I'm saying.
(LAUGHTER)
K WOMACK: That's when the loving was good (ph).
RASCOE: Yeah, it takes you to church, and it's like, how do you choose when to do that on a song?
BG WOMACK: We work with a live band.
RASCOE: Yeah.
BG WOMACK: And it was a point where it was like, OK, this is an expense that people are trying to eliminate, you know? So we had to step back and be like, this won't work unless we work with all live musicians.
K WOMACK: Yeah, there's got to be vibration in the music.
Z WOMACK: Yeah. Frequency.
RASCOE: Also there's this kind of crispiness, record sound to it, you know?
K WOMACK: Yes, yes.
BG WOMACK: Analog.
Z WOMACK: Yes, we...
BG WOMACK: We run the tape.
Z WOMACK: Run the tape, yeah.
K WOMACK: Yeah.
BG WOMACK: We used all analog, and musically, we'd like to be able to move around the scale.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ALL AROUND")
THE WOMACK SISTERS: (Singing) I see your shadow leaning cross my door. I hear your footsteps in the creaking of the floor.
RASCOE: Now, that was your song "All Around," which features more of those powerful vocals, just kind of belting it out.
BG WOMACK: Yeah.
K WOMACK: This song is about channeling...
BG WOMACK: Loss.
K WOMACK: ...Loss.
BG WOMACK: Yeah.
K WOMACK: ...And grief...
BG WOMACK: Chaos.
K WOMACK: ...And always having your loved one that's passed on in your heart and mind and how they can be there when you need them. It's kind of like, their spirit will be with you forever, even if they're not. And we really wanted to bring that to the forefront in this song because we've all experienced loss, and it definitely follows you, even if you heal from it. The pain you feel with loss, the anger and you feel out of control...
Z WOMACK: Yeah.
K WOMACK: ...Because, you know, you might not have been ready to let that particular person go.
Z WOMACK: Yeah.
K WOMACK: You know, it probably wasn't their time.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ALL AROUND")
THE WOMACK SISTERS: (Singing) Even though you're gone. Even though you're gone. Even though you're gone, gone, gone. Even though you're gone. I can feel you. Even though you're gone. Oh. Even though you're gone. Oh. Even though you're gone.
RASCOE: This is a throwback style that draws you to it. I mean, it has gained some resurgence in recent years in the pop sound. You know, I'm thinking, like, Bruno Mars does a lot with that.
Z WOMACK: This is original.
BG WOMACK: Yeah.
Z WOMACK: This is where music started. And I think before it got overly processed and commercialized...
K WOMACK: Repackaged.
Z WOMACK: ...And repackaged, profited off of.
BG WOMACK: And when you think about it - right? - this is the sound that our family shared - you know what I mean? - with people. So it never changed in our household.
RASCOE: And now, this album, it does have a bit of everything, and it's this journey into your lives, but the album ends with "My Sisters And Me."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MY SISTERS AND ME")
THE WOMACK SISTERS: (Singing) My sisters and me. Oh, my sisters and me. People come and go. But baby, this I know. It will always be my sisters and me.
BG WOMACK: Our bond is something very special. We've been through things that we'll probably never talk about together. When I tell you the traumas that we've held each other through and held each other down through, you know, we have proof that our relationship is unbreakable, and that song is the embodiment of how hard things can be to keep your friendships together, but you'll always come back to the ones that really love you.
K WOMACK: Home is wherever these ladies is at.
BG WOMACK: Exactly.
Z WOMACK: Yeah.
BG WOMACK: And we can do anything together...
K WOMACK: Yes.
BG WOMACK: ...You know? But, like, your sisters - they're going to accept the little quirks about you, and they're going to also uplift you. So our relationship is special, and that song is just a reminder.
RASCOE: That was the Womack Sisters. Their self-titled debut is out now, and they're currently on tour across the country. BG, Zeimani and Kucha, thank you so much for joining me today.
K WOMACK: Thank you for having us.
Z WOMACK: Thank you.
BG WOMACK: Thank you for having us.
K WOMACK: You're amazing.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MY SISTERS AND ME")
THE WOMACK SISTERS: (Singing) Oh, my sisters and me. People come and go. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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