Here and Now with The Wilkinsons
Interview/Photos by Rick Cohoon

Hehe!

Don't try to convince Steve, Amanda and Tyler Wilkinson that they are anything special just because their faces and music are becoming household names for country music fans. Above all, The Wilkinsons are a family. It just happens that this family draws crowds of thousands to their shows, with fan club members and autograph-seekers waiting in long lines for a quick "hello" and the swoosh of three Sharpie Markers across CDs, tees, and photos.

Stepping onto The Wilkinsons' tour bus before their show in Georgetown, IL was like having a visit with a neighbor who just
moved in to the neighborhood. Fresh from the ball field behind the stage, Tyler Wilkinson, 16, has traded his cap and jeans
for a tie-dye tee shirt and leather pants for tonight's show. Steve, recently awakened from a nap, has been helping his youngest
daughter, Kiaya, with her math homework. Eighteen-year-old Amanda is ready for the show, looking lovely in her fresh make-up, pink sleeveless blouse, and leather pants. We are greeted with warm smiles, handshakes, and first-name introductions
as we settle in one of the face-to-face couches. Clearly, the bus is home away from home for Steve, wife Chris, Amanda,
Tyler, and Kiaya. Funny, how during our chat, I never for a moment felt as if I was in the awkward presence of fame. The Wilkinsons wouldn't have it any other way.

With their second album, Here and Now, currently in stores, the Canadian dad-daughter-son trio has built a faithful following from all parts of the world. In fact, a trip to Japan is scheduled for The Wilkinsons this October. Each Wilkinson contributes something vital to the chemistry of the group. Amanda's powerhouse vocals have hit the mark with hits such as "26 cents", "Fly", "The Yodelin' Blues", and "Shame On Me". Add to that, Tyler's energy and impressive vocal abilities in songs like "Jimmy's Got a Girlfriend", "Don't I Have A Heart", and "Hypothetically", not to mention his boyish handsomeness that makes young girls swoon. But the group's foundation seems to be dad, Steve, whose uncanny songwriting ability continually delivers touching music with his co-writers. Steve's harmony adds the final ingredient to make The Wilkinsons a driving force in country music.

Being a Wilkinson is clearly all about the fun of making music and of being a family. Laughter is a huge part of what keeps this family going on long road trips, like their current fair and festival tour. The best part is that the audience shares that fun with an exciting and energetic Wilkinsons show. During their set, Amanda is all over the stage, waving at fans and jumping up and down, but never misses a beat with that siren-like voice. Tyler seems to overcome his shyness quickly on stage, shaking his tambourine and dancing to the beat. The Wilkinsons treat their fans to a night of hits from both Here and Now and Nothing But Love. Peppered between their most notable songs are hidden jewels like Here and Now's "1999", a heart-tugger about a woman's agony in knowing that her man is still caught up in last year's relationship. Amanda's delivery and the band's on-the-mark arrangement are enough to choke up even the most hardened of hearts.

Here is the transcript of our chat with The Wilkinsons:

Rick: Steve, Tyler, and Amanda, thanks for being here with us. I appreciate you taking the time with us. We've had a lot of e-mail coming in from all over the world — not just The United States but places like the U.K., Australia, Northern British Columbia — since people knew that we were going to be talking to you.

Amanda Wilkinson: Cool!

Rick: They wanted to know when you guys were going to come to their territory. We realize that's a hard question to answer individually, so what's the best way they can find that out?

Steve Wilkinson: The best way they can find any sort of tour information, as far as what The Wilkinsons are doing, is to go to www.pollstar.com.

Amanda Wilkinson: And it's also posted on our own website, too.

Steve Wilkinson: Yes.

Rick: And that's Wilkinsonsonline.com, right?

Amanda Wilkinson: Yes.

Rick: Right now, you guys are in the middle of a big fair and festival tour. Is this called "The Here and Now Tour" or do you have a name for it?

Steve Wilkinson: I think it's [laughs] like "The Corn Dog Tour".

Amanda Wilkinson: [Laughing] That's what it should be!

Rick: And why is that?

Steve Wilkinson: Boy, I tell ya, 'cause we're doing a lot of fairs and festivals — state fairs, stuff like that, and corn dogs.

Amanda Wilkinson: That's where it's at, man!

Tyler Wilkinson: We are no strangers to the corn dog! Corn dogs are our friends!

Amanda Wilkinson: [Laughing] We love them all too much!

Tyler Wilkinson: Corn dogs and elephant ears and uh...

Steve Wilkinson: Pork chop on a stick!

Amanda Wilkinson: We got it all goin' on!

Rick: What is it like on this bus going down the road on tour? Can you describe what goes on here?
Give us a little insight.

Tyler Wilkinson: It's crazy.

Amanda Wilkinson: It is!

Tyler Wilkinson: We're always pulling pranks on each other.

Amanda Wilkinson: It's kinda like summer camp on wheels! That's the best way to describe it. We did a lot of traveling before, you know, it got as crazy on this level, so it's kinda like an extended summer vacation.

Tyler Wilkinson: When we make stops, we play sports a lot.

Amanda Wilkinson: Yeah, baseball.

Rick: I just saw you [Tyler] come in a minute ago [with his ball glove and cap].

Tyler Wilkinson: Yeah, we play baseball and, uh, dad and I are archers. We ATTEMPT archery!

Amanda Wilkinson: [Laughs]

Steve Wilkinson: Actually, one of the practical jokes that just happened today involved that deer silhouette target that we're using. I mean, it's the size of a lifesize, male deer, but it all comes apart, so we took the deer head and stuck it in various band members' bunks.

Rick: [Laughs]

Amanda Wilkinson: Just to see their reaction!

Tyler Wilkinson: And then we watched when they'd come in.

Amanda Wilkinson: Aaaagh!

Tyler Wilkinson: Our drummer just jumped like two feet!

Rick: People are going to get scared working for you.

Steve Wilkinson: I know! They're terrified.

Rick: But that's OK, you've got to keep them on their toes.

Amanda Wilkinson: We're evil.

Rick: Amanda, you get a chance to meet a lot of folks. One of our readers by the name of Kristen, she's 15 from Texas, wanted me to ask you what is it like to always have your dad and brother around, especially when you're talking to a hot guy?

Amanda Wilkinson: [Laughs] Well. Ooooh.

Tyler Wilkinson: A "beeb".

Amanda Wilkinson: A babe [laughs]. They're really funny, they tease me a lot, you know. For the most part, they're really goofy about it. It's nice to have not only my dad and my brother, but also the band. They're sort of like big brothers as well, and stuff like that. But, we have a good time.

Rick: Now, there are two other Wilkinsons, and one of them is sitting right here.

Steve Wilkinson: There's one right there [points to wife, Chris, who is sitting at the bus table. Daughter Kiaya (11) is somewhere in the back of the bus].

Rick: Does the whole family usually tour together?

Amanda Wilkinson: Mmm hmm.

Steve Wilkinson: Normally. We're really big about doing this together as a family.

Amanda Wilkinson: The only time that we don't go out together is if we're flying somewhere, and it gets to be kinda crazy. But like 95% of the time, we're together.

Rick: Tyler, you've also had your share of attention from the young ladies. [Amanda laughs, while Tyler
immediately begins to blush.] Back at the beginning of June, I was at the TNN Awards, and I remember
that, right before the cameras went on, these teenage girls from the top of the rafters were screaming your name. How do you react to all of that?

Tyler Wilkinson: [Still blushing says quietly], I guess I'm shy. [Amanda touches his hair, and he pulls away.] What are you doing?

Amanda Wilkinson: [Inconspicuously] You had a small fly in your hair.

Tyler Wilkinson: So I kinda get embarrassed by it, red faced.

Steve Wilkinson: Especially when the bikini bras come up!

Rick: That happened somewhere in Missouri, didn't it? I read somewhere that somebody hit him in the face with a bikini bra.

Amanda Wilkinson: Yeah, at another big festival.

Steve Wilkinson: And it just happened this
past weekend again. We were up in North Bay [Ontario].
There were undergarments thrown up on stage.

Amanda Wilkinson: The poor kid! We're going
to have to, like, work a Tom Jones song in there!

Steve Wilkinson: [Begins to sing] "What's
new, pussycat..."

Amanda Wilkinson: [Joins in the singing] Whoa, whoa, whoa!

Rick: Are you starting a collection?

Amanda Wilkinson: He won't even touch them. He's scared of them [laughs].

Steve Wilkinson: It was like somebody'd thrown a poisonous snake onstage!

Amanda Wilkinson: [Laughs]

Rick: Another young lady named Tatiana, from Wyoming, wants to know what the weirdest thing is about being famous and getting all this notoriety?

Amanda Wilkinson: The weirdest thing is...

Steve Wilkinson: We're still the same people.

Tyler Wilkinson: Getting a bra thrown at you! [Everyone laughs]

Amanda Wilkinson: It's still kinda weird to
be walking around the mall and somebody comes up and goes, "Can I have your autograph?" And we just feel like we're just total people. And the good thing is our fans, I think, still treat us like normal people. They know that we're a family. It's more like having your relatives out there. Really, they're cool about it.

Rick: What about meeting all these famous people that you have access to? Are you guys kind of starstruck on certain people, too?

Steve Wilkinson: Certain ones. There are a number of them that are very personable, down-to-earth and nice, just like talking to you. And some other ones we're just like gaga! Dolly Parton's one of them.

Amanda Wilkinson: You can't help but be.

Steve Wilkinson: Well, you could have your
head turned and not even see her walk in the room, and you would know she came in.

Amanda Wilkinson: There's this presence, like this huge presence.

Steve Wilkinson: Yeah, there's something magic about it.

Amanda Wilkinson: We're still just like tourists. We love it. We love the whole thing.

Rick: Let's talk about the new CD Here and Now. It's your so-called "sophomore album", and, when it
first came out, I remember reading a comment from you, Steve, that said, if this album is not better than our first one, I'll give you your money back.

Steve Wilkinson: I told that guy that, yeah, on a radio station. I just said if you didn't like it better than our first one. I just think there was growth, something new, something to be said about stretching styles. I wish that radio was as open as artists are about stretching music genres, but they weren't so . . . But I thought there were certain aspects, "Jimmy's Got A Girlfriend",. I'm still convinced it was a monster hit.

Rick: It's a great song.

Steve Wilkinson: Thank you.

Heather (Rick's fiancee): He sings it at home all the time.

Rick: I do.

Steve Wilkinson: I thought that thing was a huge hit.

Rick: How satisfied are you, overall, with the final effect of that album?

Steve Wilkinson: I'm still satisfied with the album. I would have liked to have seen it to get a little
more acceptance within the radio community, but I don't know what radio will play, and I don't think radio knows what it will play.

Amanda Wilkinson: I think that's what growing is all about, you know what I mean? Who's to say
what the next few projects are going to hold. We're just excited about the prospect of making music,
and we're still really young, Tyler and I, and we've been doing this for a long time together. But just to see where we're gonna go in the next few years.

Rick: What are your favorite songs so far
from the two CDs? I guess we could ask that question individually.

Amanda Wilkinson: That's really hard.

Steve Wilkinson: I think my favorite song
that I've written off of the albums is "Williamstown". That was off the first one, [Nothing But Love],
that's my favorite one. But I think that "26 Cents" will always be a good friend to us. It's one of those universal songs that we keep getting feedback every week from.

Rick: What about you, Tyler. Do you have a favorite?

Tyler Wilkinson: Ummmmm. I'd probably have
to say "Hypothetically".

Rick: Off of Here And Now.

Tyler Wilkinson: Off of Here And Now. It's just such a really cool song.

Rick: And that features you on lead vocals. You're starting to take a little bit more of a role now in the lead. Sounding really good.

Tyler Wilkinson: Thank you.

Rick: Amanda, what's your favorite?

Amanda Wilkinson: I have a lot of them. You
get so attached to the songs, it's kinda hard to decide which one you like the most. Of course, "26
Cents". I loved "Fly", the energy that that song had, and
the soul about it, and the way that it was
delivered by all of us. Also, "Shame On Me" from Here And
Now. It just had a lot of heart to it. More
than anything, without getting on a soap box, it sort of told
people that if you haven't told people around you, that you love them to just take that opportunity and
grasp it, and to just let them know what they mean to you while you have them.

Rick: We received a question about a song that you sang once at a show in Rhode Island.

Steve Wilkinson: "Outside Providence".

Rick: That's the one.

Steve Wilkinson: If you hang around tonight, you'll hear it. I think it's definitely gonna be on the third album. It's got great energy, and it was a cool idea, man. From that movie, "Outside Providence", [Amanda] loved the sound of it. It has a wonderful double meaning to it. Somebody who steps outside providence, they step outside of their safe zone, and they try something new, something they've never done before.

Rick: The young lady that wrote me about that said that it was the coolest thing she'd ever heard and wanted to know if that was written especially for that show. It was a benefit for St. Jude's.

Amanda Wilkinson: It wasn't written especially for that, but it fit so well!

Steve Wilkinson: It was the first time we ever performed it 'cause we'd only had it written for about a week. It was a nice coincidence.

Rick: A few years back you made the decision to pick up and move from Ontario to Nashville. Tell me about that. Was that a hard decision to make?

Steve Wilkinson: It was a pretty difficult decision to make. In fact, I probably got cold feet about it. Thanks to a family that was very much together in our goals and our energies, and thanks to her [wife, Chris] because we certainly wouldn't have moved if it hadn't been for her. She was a real motivator.

Amanda Wilkinson: Still is.

Chris Wilkinson [sticks out her Nike shoe]: Size 7.

Amanda Wilkinson: [Laughs]

Steve Wilkinson: Yeah, right up the backside.

That'll move anybody.

Rick: One of our readers was asking about citizenship, wondering if you are citizens, if you're going to apply for citizenship, and so forth.

Steve Wilkinson: Right now, according to immigration, we are here under what they call an 01 Visa, which is a performance visa. I love this, we're considered "Aliens with extraordinary ability". How do you like that?

Amanda Wilkinson: [Laughing] Woo hoo!

Rick: And what planet does that qualify you
from?
Steve Wilkinson: Tyler and I are from the Planet Dave.

Tyler: I thought I was from Bob.

Steve Wilkinson: Planet Bob.

Amanda Wilkinson: We still go back to Canada and visit our relatives. They all still live there. We're pretty close to having Green Card status right now.

Steve Wilkinson: Actually, we've been approved for it, and all the paperwork has gone in, and it's just a matter of...

Amanda Wilkinson: Waiting for what we need.

Steve Wilkinson: Yeah, formalities, all the pictures have been taken.

Rick: Well, I think they should just waive
it. [Amanda laughs] You've earned it, you've made the good music.
One of your major hobbies is scuba diving down in the Caymans. You're going to be making a
trip in October. How'd you get started scuba diving?

Amanda Wilkinson: Actually, a friend of ours introduced us to it. We were actually huge fans of the water. We've always done a lot of water stuff -- fishing, and we go to The Florida Keys every year, and we do a lot of stuff in the water. We just fell in love with it. He got us out there, he actually flew us to The Caymans for the first time, to try it out. We were hooked! We're all advanced divers right now, and Tyler's actually getting a rebreather course the next time we're down there, so he'll actually have an extra leg up. It's really cool.

Rick: And you're going to be doing a dive with Jacques Cousteau's son?

Amanda Wilkinson: Jean-Michel. He's taking over his father's legacy and his work, and he's doing wonderful things for his Project Ocean Future.

Rick: Fantastic. What about school for Amanda and Tyler?

Amanda Wilkinson: I'm graduated. I just graduated. I went back to Canada in June and graduated with all my friends from our hometown.

Steve Wilkinson: Tyler's going into Grade 11.

Rick: Will you be in a public school? Home school? Tutor type thing?

Steve Wilkinson: They're home schooled. In fact, we were just in back with Kiaya, our youngest, going over less than, greater than, and equal to fractions. It was funny, the whole family was involved in it, plus our lead guitar player.

Chris Wilkinson: Everybody has their own point of view on how you need to do this.

Rick: Back when I was in school, the sign was called The Greedy Mouth.

Amanda Wilkinson: Yeah, like the crocodile!

Heather (Rick's fiancee) [to Amanda]: I had
the crocodile, too.

Rick: We put teeth on it and everything.

Amanda Wilkinson: Yeah!

Rick: So what's your next project? Are we recording a new album?

Amanda Wilkinson: We're in the process of getting that together right now.

Steve Wilkinson: There's actually a bunch of things on The Wilkinsons' horizons. We're flying to Japan and doing a tour over there. We're going to start cutting our new album, with Mac MacAnally producing. We're involved in an IMAX movie that we'll be shooting in October. October 4, I believe. And we're going to be doing a special for Canadian television, a one-hour special. So there's a lot of stuff goin' on.

Rick: Great. And, in the middle of it all, you [Steve] have a birthday coming up next Friday, [August 18].

Steve Wilkinson: Thank you sooo much for reminding me! [Everyone laughs]

Rick: Well, we had a Happy Birthday wish from Heather in Virginia.

Steve and Amanda Wilkinson: Awwww.

Steve Wilkinson: That's very sweet. Very sweet. It's funny that, when you're Tyler's age, you look
forward to them, and when you're my age, you hide from them.

Rick: And how old will you be?

Steve Wilkinson: I will be 45.

Heather (Rick's fiancee): I would have guessed maybe 26.

Steve Wilkinson [to wife, Chris]: Get my wallet! Let's give her some money! [Everyone laughs]
Amanda Wilkinson: DT [David Taylor, The Wilkinsons Road Manager], will be turning...

Steve Wilkinson: Three days after I do! Actually, we're 29 again aren't we, DT?

Rick: It's all in how young you feel.

Steve Wilkinson: I always said that. I said
to Chris, I hope I die young at a very old age. I think
you're exactly right.

Chris Wilkinson: He's immature.

Rick: Why grow up, there's no point.

Amanda Wilkinson: There is none.

Rick: Thank you for answering our questions and sitting down with us.

Amanda Wilkinson: No problem!

Steve Wilkinson: Well, thank you, and I hope if you're staying around for the show that you enjoy it.

Rick: We wouldn't miss it.

A fine Time was had by all
By FISH GRIWKOWSKY -- Edmonton Sun

I just pasted the Wilkinson parts...

Even so, a TV broadcast is a far cry from an actual concert. For one
thing, long commercial breaks were dead time, and the
7,000-plus assembled had to jump from paying attention amongst
whispering to themselves, which they were pretty polite
about not doing. Besides when they were screaming for various boys stars, of course, like Tyler Wilkinson.

Asked if country music is too incestuous, he responded, "We're a bunch of hillbillies, what did you expect?"

Speaking of which, Amanda Wilkinson, who got to kiss Brandt, was calm
about it. "The women out there drool all the time, so I don't have to say anything."

Steve Wilkinson described his son as looking like Ricky Martin after
taxes, and Amanda rolled her eyes at winning so many
awards. "By the third one I was like, we are the biggest nerds. These
people are the ones who make the difference. They vote
with their wallet and we appreciate it."

Steve Wilkinson had a few words about Julian Austin. "He's been giving
country music a texture it's sorely needed, so you'll see him nominated again."

"We're actually not related, the label put us together," Steve joked
about his kids, Tyler yelling "I HATE YOU!" for laughs.

"I just don't get it," Tyler continued, talking about his sex appeal.

Tell that to the truckloads of screaming girls. The CCMAs came and
went once again, and it was nice to have them. Now if I
can just get some of those balloons ...