Premiere: Kerry + Donna Herrick = Herrick

Do you long for a simpler time? Visit Sunderland Road

Successful bands know that the relationship between band members works—for better or for worse—much like a marriage. Kerry and Donna Herrick’s partnership in music and marriage began in Spokane, in junior high school, when they fell in love.

Kerry grew up surrounded by professional musicians, including The Herrick Family Gospel Singers, but, as a girl, Donna was too shy to sing. When she finally joined in at one of Kerry and his brother’s jam sessions, Kerry could not believe his ears, and the seeds of a musical partnership were sown. Marriage and the band Herrick followed.

The two released some songs online, and their “If You Don’t Have Love” hit the Top 20 on the Christian Country Music Association Chart. After traveling to Nashville to perform at the CCMA Awards show, the couple moved to Music City, and more records and awards followed, including “Best Folk/Bluegrass/Americana,” “Group of the Year,“ “Entertainer of the Year,” “Female Vocalist of the Year,” a Bronze Telly Award plus two Americana Music Award nominations.

Their new album, Sunderland Road, out September 10, will likely continue their winning streak. As Donna Herrick told Elmore, “The title track, ‘Sunderland Road,’ is a real place in the Spokane Valley in Washington State where Kerry grew up with his family, and where we met in junior high. The song is something we feel everyone can relate to. We all at one time or another want to go back to a time or place when our lives were simple and free of the fast pace. We all have our own ‘Sunderland Road’.”