Baton Rouge residents will get a chance to judge if two Louisiana singers have what it takes to be the best country duo in the nation. Steve Hagan and Heidi Jackson, or HaganJackson, will play tonight at 8:30 p.m at Boudreaux and Thibodeaux’s. The Lafayette natives are competing in “Can You Duet,” a new CMT reality show produced by the creators of American Idol. The show is looking for the next great country duo to follow in the footsteps of greats like Johnny Cash and June Carter or Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. HaganJackson submitted a video tape to the show in December and were asked to perform for the judges in Nashville. They are currently waiting to hear if they will be asked back to Nashville for the third stage of competition. Meanwhile, they are playing gigs to pay the bills and build a fan base in their home state, Hagan said. “We’re really excited about getting into the Baton Rouge market,” Jackson said. “Baton Rouge is kind of new for both of us, but we’re both LSU fans so we thought Tiger town would be fun to play.” This will be the duo’s first performance outside of Nashville, where they were taping the show. The two have a previous history of singing together. Six years ago they performed in the band Cross Country, where they often sang duets. “We had a duet set, and that was the crowd pleaser. The whole show everyone was talking about it,” Jackson said. Jackson moved to California for four years but returned to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, where she has been acting and singing professionally. Hagan started a band called Hard Whiskey, which is still in full swing and will play at Boudreaux and Thibodeaux’s on Feb. 22. “It’s just a bunch of guys having a good time, playing honky-tonk music and partying,” he said. The high- energy, boot-stomping Hard Whiskey shows are quite a contrast to the more low-key vocal and acoustic duet, Hagan said. “I’ve always liked to sing with a duet partner. It’s just a different feel than with a bunch of guys just honky-tonkyin’ it out,” he said. Hagan said the song selection is also night and day from his band. “There’s a lot more variety,” he said. He said they sing everything from Billy Joel to soft rock to country standards. “I have more of a Garth [Brooks] style attitude and she probably has more of a Faith [Hill] style attitude,” he said. As far as musical influences go, Hagan said he was strictly high-energy rock ”n’ roll until Garth Brooks came along. “I was a huge Garth fan. He was the one that kind of got me into the country arena,” he said. Jackson balances Hagan out with an affinity for older country and a variety of other music. “Heidi likes a lot of the older songs like Patsy Kline, Dolly Parton, even Marilyn Monroe and Barbara Streisand,” Hagan said. Jackson said one of her biggest influences is The Beatles. “That’s how I learned to sing harmony,” she said. Jackson said she used to idolize Parton and Rogers growing up. In today’s contemporary country scene though, duets are not so common. “I think there’s a really big market out there for duets that is pretty much untapped,” she said. A male and female duet creates a unique kind of energy with the different vocal ranges and the audience’s perception of the possibility of love between the two, Jackson said. “I think there’s a lot to be said for the power of two. And you can always blame the other person if something goes wrong,” she said with a laugh.
—-Contact Lauren Walck at [email protected].