The Harters were an American country music trio based in

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. It was composed of lead singer Leslie Harter and her brothers,

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...

and Scott. The trio released its debut single, "Jenny," in early 2010 and charted with it on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

Biography

Brothers Michael and Scott Harter, and their sister Leslie, were involved in various other musical endeavors before forming the band together. Michael had moved to

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

to become a country songwriter/performer, recording one album for

Broken Bow Records BBR Music Group (formerly Broken Bow Records) is an American record label based in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in July 1999 by Benny Brown, the label specializes in country music. The label's executive vice president is Jon Loba. Craig Morgan ...

in 2002 under the name

J. Michael Harter James "J." Michael Harter (born January 7, 1979) is an American country music artist. Signed to the independent Broken Bow Records in 2002, Harter released his debut album ''Unexpected Change'' that year. It produced one single on the ''Billboar ...

. Scott went to school in San Diego where he played in

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

bands. Leslie remained in Arizona where she decided at age 18 that she was going to pursue a career in music. In 2005, the Harters recorded one single, "Drunk Chick," under the name SEVEN, with

David Malloy David Ernest Malloy is an American country music and pop songwriter, record producer and A&R executive with 41 number one hits. He had received multiple Grammy nominations, as writer and/or producer, and has worked with many artists and proj ...

as producer. After deciding that they would begin performing together, they began recording videos of themselves on

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. They were discovered by producer

Keith Stegall Robert Keith Stegall (born November 1, 1955) is an American country music recording artist and record producer. Active since 1980, Stegall has recorded two major-label studio albums: 1985's ''Keith Stegall'' and 1996's ''Passages'', although he ...

, best known for his work as

Alan Jackson Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for blending traditional honky-tonk and mainstream country pop sounds (for a style widely regarded as "neotraditional country"), as well as penning many o ...

's producer. The Harters also caught the attention of

Adam Gregory Adam Gregory (born July 12, 1985) is a Canadian country music singer-songwriter and actor. Active since 2000, he has recorded four studio albums to date, including '' The Way I'm Made'' (2000) and ''Workin' on It'' (2002), both on Epic Records, ...

, with whom they collaborated when the two acts shared the stage for a children's charity show. The band was subsequently asked to open a series of shows for

Josh Turner Joshua Otis Turner (born November 20, 1977) is an American country and gospel singer and songwriter. In 2003, he signed to MCA Nashville Records. That same year, his debut album's title track, "Long Black Train", was his breakthrough single r ...

. The Harters were also featured in

People.com ''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''People'' had the l ...

's July 2009 Photo Special. The Harters made two songs available for free download on its website, including the debut single "Jenny." Scott and Michael began writing the song five years before its release, and completed it with assistance from Malloy and Brad Irby. This song debuted at number 54 on the ''

charts dated for the week ending March 20, 2010 and peaked at number 53. The album's second single "If I Run" released to country radio in 2011. That same year, the trio toured with

Critical reception

Karlie Justus of Engine 145 gave "If I Run" a "thumbs up", comparing Leslie's voice to that of

Trisha Yearwood Patricia Lynn Yearwood (born September 19, 1964) is an American singer, actress, author and television personality. She rose to fame with her 1991 debut single " She's in Love with the Boy," which became a number one hit on the ''Billboard'' c ...

and praising the lyrics. Giving favorable singles to both singles, Bobby Peacock of Roughstock praised the "clever turns of phrase" and melody of "Jenny", and the "uncluttered" production of "If I Run". He compared the latter song to

The Band Perry The Band Perry are an American band composed of siblings Kimberly Perry (lead vocals, guitar), Reid Perry (bass guitar, background vocals), and Neil Perry (mandolin, bouzouki, background vocals). They signed to Republic Nashville in August 2009 ...

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

Music videos

References

External links

The Harters
at CMT {{DEFAULTSORT:Harters, The Country music groups from Arizona Sibling musical trios Bigger Picture Music Group artists Musical groups established in 2005 Musical groups disestablished in 2011