October | 2021 | Country Music Success Stories

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 44:25 — 40.7MB) | Embed

We love it so much. We love our fans, we love what we do, and it is exhausting, but I think it’s a calling on our lives where, we have to do this. This is part of our blood. It’s our calling. – Lily Isaacs

In this interview, we settle into the living room of Lily Isaacs, co-founder & matriarch of The Isaacs, a multi-award-winning family group whose music is described as Southern Gospel, bluegrass and Americana. But no matter how you describe their music, the magic is in the harmonies which are so tight, so ethereal, they are a religious experience. Born in Germany after World War II, Lily is the child of holocaust survivors. Her parents were Polish Jews who were forced out of their homes by the Nazis at gunpoint and sent to concentration camps where they nearly starved to death. A proud immigrant to the United States, Lily grew up in the Bronx, New York where she loved to sing and was by her own admission, a bit of a hippy. She and her singing partner landed a recording contract with Columbia Records at only 19! Soon after, Lily married musician Joe Isaac, she converted to Christianity. The couple had 3 children: Ben, Sonya & Becky and it wasn’t long before they realized that their children had incredible musical gifts. The Isaacs family band was formed 35 years ago and continues to pack audiences worldwide with their own brand of deeply moving, faith-based music. For an inspiring story of faith, perseverance and success in the music business, just hit that download button!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 44:05 — 40.4MB) | Embed

The appeal of music for me was playing the music. When you start playing, and that music is blowing by you, around you. It is the most amazing, glorious feeling. – Sonny LeMaire

In this episode, we sit down with Sonny LeMaire, bass player, singer/songwriter for the iconic group Exile. Taped in Sonny’s cozy living room outside of Nashville, we learn all about what it takes to succeed in rock, pop and country music because this is a man who has experienced it all. With one of his rescue dogs napping in his lap, Sonny led us through the incredible ladder of his career, including the story of his first bass guitar, purchased at a pawn shop, which he played (youguessed it) “til his fingers bled”. Like so many teenagers growing up in the 60’s, Sonny was forever changed when he saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. At that moment, Sonny knew he was wired to play music and Paul McCartney on bass became his first role model. From playing high school dances to touring the country with major acts, to a bowling alley lounge in Lexington, Kentucky, Sonny had seen it all very quickly. With a wife and 6 year old child to care for, Sonny decided it would be okay if he didn’t hit the big time. Enter an offer in 1977 from Exile keyboard player Marlon Hargis who recruited Sonny after founding member J.P. Pennington sat in with him at the bowling alley lounge! To find out how much the band was going to pay him, and what happened next, just hit that download button. This is one of those interviews you just can’t stop listening to.

Country Music Success Stories

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Monthly Archives: October 2021

Lily Isaacs of The Isaacs

Sonny LeMaire of Exile