Rebuilding and Reuniting: Kimberly Perry leads family band back home

The river Kimberly Perry says you can sink her in at dawn in the hit song "If I Die Young" might have just been the Nolichucky River.Like much of her hometown of Greeneville, the Nolichucky was once a source of inspiration for Kimberly. But in September, when Hurricane Helene ravaged the region, it was a force no person could stop.Now, the banks of that same river have called the Grammy winning group, The Band Perry, home, where they will reunite as the people of Greene County look to rebuild."Greeneville is sacred turf for The Band Perry," Kimberly said. "Every song that was important to us we wrote right here in Greene County. It just always felt like our sanctuary. For our sanctuary to get flooded and so destroyed the way it was … It's heartbreaking. But our community is resilient and caring."The Band Perry will reunite in the name of helping Greeneville rebuild with a sold-out benefit show supporting AIDNET Of Greene County on Saturday, Jan. 25. The show is set for The Niswonger Performing Arts Center, located at 212 Tusculum Blvd., Greeneville."Our parents live closer to the Nolichucky than we do," Kimberly said, referencing her 100-year-old Greeneville home she shares with her husband and young son. "They are on top of a hill. Thank God their place was secure. Our place had some tree and wind damage, but nothing compared to others who live closer to that body of water."The river proved unpredictable, deadly and destructive in Greene County."My husband and I were on tour on the West Coast when Helene hit," she said. "The first thing we did when we got home was drive through the county to some of our favorite places along the Nolichucky. I could not believe just how the scene had completely changed with those waters coming in and the destruction.""It's been really inspiring to see how everyone has pitched in with whatever they can bring to the table to help these residents in Greene County get back on their feet.""Greeneville is sacred turf for The Band Perry. Every song that was important to us we wrote right here in Greene County. It just always felt like our sanctuary. For our sanctuary to get flooded and so destroyed the way it was … It's heartbreaking. But our community is resilient and caring."— Kimberly PerryHelping the band's hometown, Kimberly says, is one of the few magnets that could pull the band out of its hiatus."We knew that if there was ever any reason for us to come back, a catalyst to really get us together and come off hiatus and work on music again," Kimberly said, "it was going to be to support our hometown who has supported us."That's not to say it's the one and only time fans can ever again hear The Band Perry."As far as what the future holds, we're having conversations, thinking through where we go from here," Kimberly said. "This show feels like the right place to start. We will see where it goes in the next few months."The Band Perry, made up of Kimberly and her brothers, Neil and Reid, shot to fame with their debut album, released in 2010. It seemed they were strapped to the rocket that was the massive country hit "If I Die Young," which went No. 1 on the Billboard Charts, was nine-times certified platinum and earned the band Single of the Year and Song of the Year at the 2011 Country Music Association Awards.Pretty good for a tune Kimberly penned along the Nolichucky with no co-writers."'If I Die Young' was written in a couple little spots," Kimberly recalled. "There definitely was a space that I would always love to go and sit beside (the river) when I was writing. I would say half of that song probably got written there, the other half at my parents' piano at their house in Greene County."Fifteen years later, a song about the end that ironically started it all for the band still resonates."That song has truly been a gift from God himself," Kimberly said. "It's been fascinating for me to see all the different meanings it has held for those who have needed it in a season of their own life."Now, Reid and Kimberly will return to Greeneville for the benefit show. (Neil has a show that night in Nashville, as he continues working on solo music.) On Jan. 25th, Johnny Costello, Kimberly's husband and an artist in his own right, will serve as the third part to the trio."The Band Perry has always been a family band," Kimberly said. "It's always been a trio. We decided we'd ask Johnny, who has his Texas music pedigree and quite a music pedigree of his own, if he would join. He agreed to it so he will be on acoustic, mandolin and vocals on the 25th."For those who don't have a ticket to the sold-out show, Kimberly said the band looks to appear at a pop-up shop on Friday in Greeneville (look for more information on the band's social media accounts). There, fans can snag merchandise with proceeds also going back to AIDNET of Greene County."That's just a little thing we wanted to do," she said. "Because we are sold out, not everyone can get a ticket. We did want to come out to that pop-up shop and support Greene County.""That song has truly been a gift from God himself. It's been fascinating for me to see all the different meanings it has held for those who have needed it in a season of their own life."— Kimberly Perry on "If I Die Young"The Jan. 25th show seems to be less of another date on a calendar for Kimberly and the band, and more like a project in itself, including a setlist she reconstructed a few times."Oh, I have definitely built it — and I rebuilt it this morning," Kimberly said, laughing. "We have a good friend in Nashville helping us build the show. I told him, 'Well, in the middle of the night, I rethought everything.'"The band will perform hit songs like "If I Die Young," Better Dig Two," and "DONE." Listeners will also find a trove of other Band Perry songs — and you can bet the ode to the bold and the band's title track for their second album, "Pioneer" will make the list."We basically are going to pull from our first two albums a collection of songs that were our favorites," she said, "Of course all the hits, a few deeper cuts. We are definitely playing 'Pioneer.' I love that song so much. I definitely felt like it was the right spirit to add to this benefit show."Then we have some new songs the three of us have written together we wanted to try out right here on the home turf."All that old Band Perry music brings back memories and milestone Greeneville shows the band hosted along the way — like the debut album release show the trio decided to host within 24 hours in a trailer set up in downtown Greeneville."We promoted it through our friends," Kimberly recalled, "just word of mouth. Five thousand community members showed up for the first album release."An even larger crowd gathered for the band's "Pioneer" album release in downtown Greeneville in 2013."This community has always been such a huge part of our journey and it's a great memory maker with those career milestones," Kimberly said. "Getting to come back for this benefit show and it pulling us out of hiatus, it just felt like another one of those mile markers that we get to enjoy right here in our home territory. It's just really sweet."In classic Band Perry fashion, their upcoming hometown show could be yet again a start of a new chapter for the band."In 2025, we are celebrating our 15th anniversary since our first album," Kimberly said. "We looked at the calendar and said, 'Woah it's been 15 years this year!' That feels like a special milestone."During the band's hiatus in 2023, Kimberly Perry ventured into the solo world with her albums "Bloom" and "Superbloom" in what she calls her reintroduction to country music, finding what felt like a familiar river but with all new paths cutting through the country music landscape."There was so much of just the function of country music and music in general that was incredibly different from the first time," Kimberly said. "There was a wild reeducation that happened for me. It's about what I'm putting out on the internet and putting out on socials as much as it is writing new music and touring. … I got to learn that in my 'Superbloom' era and now I'll be bringing that forward with The Band Perry."You could say Greeneville and the Nolichucky helped forge a start for The Band Perry. In recent years, it's called the group home. Who knows, now, it might once again offer a new start for the family band."It was the right time for us to come back home in 2020," Kimberly said. "That was when we started to make that return back. The world had a crazy diversion with COVID, but it was a good time to just get back to East Tennessee, with guitars in hand and to make some life choices for ourselves."It's been a sweet handful of years, but it feels like it's culminated into this homecoming. And we're really excited to do it."