The Price I Pay With Haley & Michaels

Your recent single “The Price I Pay” is amazing. What is the story behind this song? Thank you so much! It is actually the first song we ever wrote together. It was one of those songwriting sessions where the music and lyrics both fell out simultaneously and very quickly like they were moving right through us. We never actually had a conversation about what the song meant, we just wrote it and looked at each other afterward and shared this moment of knowing that we wanted to make our duo official.

In your opinion, what sets your music apart from other duos? There are a lot of really great duos out there and we try not to focus as much on what sets us apart as we do we on capturing that which is authentically “us”. We are always trying hone in on what the two of us have that is unique and honest, and that is a never-ending process and part of our growth. Right from the beginning we felt an intense vocal chemistry and knew that we wanted our vocal blend to be featured in a lot of our songs. We have always approached our songs as a pure duo, where we both share leads, but in our new music we are experimenting more with the way we arrange our vocals and the types of conversations we are having with songs, and that has been really fun.

In 2015, you performed on the TODAY show. What was that experience like? What show would you like to perform on next? Playing on the Today Show was absolutely unreal. When Hoda discovered our song, “Giving It All (To You)”, which we had written for our wedding vows, and then asked us to come perform it live on a show that we have watched our whole lives, it was truly overwhelming in the best of ways. Everyone, there was so incredibly welcoming and they made it so much fun. The biggest “pinch me” moment was when we were on stage singing the song live and we could see Hoda in the corner singing along with us to all of the words. What are you currently working on? We are working on finishing our full-length album which is such an exciting process! We can’t wait to get it out there! FUN QUESTION! Do you have any superstitious rituals before a performance? Ryan has a great one. He has to brush his teeth before going on stage, no matter where we are. He will find a way. The two of always put our hands together with anyone we’re playing with and say, “Madison Square Garden”. It’s been so many shows of doing that, that we don’t really remember how it got started, we just do it.

What’s your favorite part of being on stage? Recently, the biggest thrill has been looking out into the audience and seeing people sing along to the words of our songs. It’s the biggest rush in the world and such an overwhelming feeling. Even if it’s only one person singing along, it feels so good to connect to someone in that way.

Who is your dream collaboration with? Little Big Town!