A modern duo rooted in the old-school twang of the country singers, outlaws, and roots-rockers who came before them, The Jensen Sisters are torchbearers of a sound they proudly call “new wave retro country.” It’s a timeless sound built for honky-tonks, highways, and all places in between, and it’s taken the harmony-singing siblings from their small hometown of Goodridge, Minnesota — population: 132 — to stages across the Midwest. Armed with original songs that navigate the ins and outs of new love, old habits, and the uneasy tug-of-war between the lure of the open road and the comforts of home, Kendra and Kansas Jensen have built their audience song-by-song, show-by-show, story-by-story. They begin a new chapter of that story with Yellow Frames, a debut album that arrives on the heels of the duo being crowned “New Artist of the Year” at the 2020 Midwest CMAs.
Born three years apart and raised in northern Minnesota, Kendra and Kansas began singing together in 2015, when a high-school talent showcase gave the sisters a chance to swap harmonies during a cover of Waylon Jennings’ “Good Hearted Woman.” The chemistry was immediate. Discovering a unique sound anchored by Kansas’ lead vocals, Kendra’s self-taught guitar skills, and the pair’s interlocked “blood harmonies,” they began writing their own songs and playing a steady stream of shows, quickly graduating from local church events and regional festivals to bucket-list venues like the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, TN. As their recognition grew, the Jensens refused to chase after the fleeting trends of country-pop, sticking instead to a more vintage-leaning brand of country music that felt as raw and as natural as their small-town roots.
Those Minnesotan roots play an integral role in Yellow Frames. Written while touring across Middle America in support of their 2019 EP, Highway Hippie, the album finds the Jensen Sisters in personal and physical transit, singing songs that nod to the siblings’ past even as they chase down a bigger, brighter future. “
Glide is proud to premiere “Lightning Rods” from The Jensen Sisters, an anthemic single that purrs and growls and stings and wails. The sibling duo offers shades of Tom Petty, The Who, Lucinda Williams and Lynyrd Skynyrd in this whirlwind package of retro rock and country.
