Sister Act

With their timeless music and effortless melodies, the Vogts Sisters are capturing SEK's attention

R

uss Head has heard it all before. He’s been in the music business almost his whole life, after all – as an audio engineer, a musician and even an instructor of recording arts. But last spring, Head says he encountered something special. He watched from the crowd at Katy Days in Parsons as two young women – sisters from Erie – made their singing debut as a duo. He was amazed at what he heard. As he says, these girls could actually sing. “There was a whole different level of reality to what they were doing,” Head says. “Very few people nowadays sing in a manner that’s real, and they’re just real – real as dirt. So it was really refreshing to see the girls up there just singing and have something honest come out. It’s like – everybody needs to hear that.” Maggie and Abigail Vogts say they didn’t expect much out of that first competition performance; they knew they weren’t going to win. As it turns out, they got something much better. “Russ was there, and he contacted us afterward and asked if we’d be interested in recording,” Maggie says. “So that’s what we did.” The Vogts Sisters’ career has been in full swing since. Maggie, 22, and Abigail, 17, have played their bluegrass- and folk-inspired music at multiple concerts and competitions in Southeast Kansas and beyond, placing first in ensemble folk singing at the Kansas State Fiddling and Picking Championships in 2012 and winning grand prize at the Bluegrass & Chili 8 Photo courtesy of Angelyn Hobson, taken at Murphy's Landing in Stark

Right: Abigail Vogts, 17, and Maggie Vogts, 22, together make up the Vogts Sisters. Their first album, "Old Time Noise," was released in 2012 and featured eight covers and three original songs. Their next album, which they are recording at Hall of Fame Studio in Neodesha, will feature all original songs. 8

Southeast Kansas Living / Winter 2013

Southeast Kansas Living / Winter 2013

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Photo courtesy of Debbie Vogts

The Vogts Sisters perform at Fort Scott Good Ol' Days 2013. Information about past and future concerts is posted on the duo's website, www.vogtssisters.com.

n i t s h a e P m t s i r ark h C KatyPark in Chanute (East end of Main Street)

Make it a new holiday tradition! 10

Thousands of beautiful lights lit every night at dusk

Thanksgiving–New Year's Eve Everyone is welcome! Christmas in the Park is nonprofit and supported by volunteers. Donations are appreciated! Southeast Kansas Living / Winter 2013

Festival in Claremore, Okla., in 2013. One of their many performances included an auditorium concert with Jimmy Fortune/T Graham Brown in Parsons, and in late 2012 they released their debut album, “Old Time Noise,” with help from Head. “It was a lot of fun,” says Abigail, who, along with singing, plays guitar and mandolin. “We got to know Russ and his family, and he’s basically like our uncle now. Next, we’re going to do another CD with originals.” This second album, set to be released in spring 2014, will feature all original songs written by Maggie. “Old Time Noise” includes three of Maggie’s songs – “Cotton Waltz,” “Lila Jean” and “Rainy Days” – in addition to eight others, most of which are covers of one of the girls’ favorite artists, Gillian Welch. “I used to try to force myself (to write songs), and I didn’t like what came out,” says Maggie, who, in addition to singing and songwriting, plays guitar and fiddle. “But I’ve been able to sit down and do it recently. Ideas usually come at the inconvenient times, often when I’m driving, and they come in phases. I have a lot of home songs – homesick songs – and a lot of historical songs. They’re an attempt to go back in time with music, I think.” 8

Up Next for The Vogts Sisters

Photo courtesy of Debbie Vogts

The Vogts Sisters are recording their second album at Hall of Fame Studio in Neodesha.

Recording A New Album Recording sessions for the Vogts Sisters' second album are in development at Hall of Fame Studio in Neodesha. Larry Brockway, producer/engineer at Hall of Fame Studio, says he has high hopes for the duo. "For what it's worth, I think those girls are great. They have tremendous potential – on a major national scale, if things go right," he says. The Vogts Sisters expect the album to be released in spring 2014. For more information about Hall of Fame Studio and its history, see a future issue of Southeast Kansas Living!

Touring in 2014 · Jan. 3: 7:30-9:30 p.m. at Homer's Coffee Shop in Overland Park · Jan. 25: 7-9 p.m. at Ground House Coffee in Gardner · Feb. 7: 7:30-9:30 p.m. at Cutter's Smokehouse in Eudora · March 21: 7:30-9:30 p.m. at The Woodshed in Carthage, Mo. · March 29: 5:30 p.m. at the LWML (Lutheran Women's Missionary League) Kansas District Convention in Wichita · April 25: 7-9 p.m. at Mead's Corner in Wichita The Vogts Sisters are adding 2014 concert dates every day. Check www.vogtssisters.com and www.facebook.com/ vogtssisters for more information and to stay up to date! Southeast Kansas Living / Winter 2013

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Photo courtesy of Angelyn Hobson, taken at Murphy's Landing in Stark

Abigail plays the guitar and mandolin, while Maggie plays the guitar and fiddle. Maggie also wrote all of the songs that will be featured on the Vogts Sisters' new album, set to be released in spring 2014.

The new album, Maggie says, will include a few more modern songs and will have less of an “overall old sound.” She often collaborates with Abigail on the melody and harmony of her original songs, and though the sisters just started singing harmony two years ago, it’s something that comes naturally to them, says Debbie Vogts, their mom and manager. “The whole family sings and does harmony – just at family gatherings, at church,” Debbie says. “You get us all together, and it’s pretty crazy. The voices are just really strong.” But it wasn’t simply that raw talent that inspired Head to work with the Vogts Sisters, he says. It was also their attitudes. “They would like to enjoy success doing something that they love to do and that God has given them the gift to do, but I don’t think their hearts are the type that are willing to sell their morals in the effort to achieve that,” says Head, who until this year was the head of the nowclosed recording arts department at Labette Community College. “That’s one of the things I really love about them … and I’m going to do anything I can for them because they’re good people and they deserve a break.” 12

Maggie and Abigail, who are recording their second album at Hall of Fame Studio in Neodesha, will take time away from performing in December. But 2014 is already filling up quickly for the sisters: They have concerts scheduled through April in Wichita, Overland Park and Gardner, among other places. Even so, Maggie and Abigail are about as humble as they come, often insisting that they need to practice more (sessions were few and far between while Maggie attended Pittsburg State University) and noting that they don’t like to hear themselves sing. Abigail even maintains that their music “is more of a family thing. It’s not really about us.” But if you ask Head – or just about anyone else who’s heard them sing – you’ll learn that the Vogts Sisters are pretty extraordinary. “When you’ve heard a lot of people sing and you’ve dealt with a lot of professionals, you recognize what’s genuine and what’s honest in a person’s voice, in their delivery, things like that,” Head says. “The girls have that. And it’s not a premeditated thing – it’s just that what comes out of their mouths is real. Voices like theirs are the kinds of things that deserve to be recorded.” g Southeast Kansas Living / Winter 2013