Girls Next Door take another shot

ASHEBORO — They made it big during the ’80s with hit songs on the Billboard country charts, took a break that lasted 31 years and have reunited as Girls Next Door 2.0.

Cindy Psanos, Diane Austin, Doris Merritt and Tammy Smith will bring their tight harmonies to the Sunset Theatre on Saturday, Sept. 28, beginning at 6:30 p.m. 

Jeff Smith, who was a regular on “Hee Haw” and is now the husband of Tammy, will emcee the program and add a bit of comedy. Eric Horner, a Christian singer/songwriter, is also on the program.

Jeff Smith grew up in the Archdale area and he and Tammy have returned to his roots. When Girls Next Door reunited a couple of years ago, they were looking at venues to perform, particularly small towns where the locals prefer to be entertained close to home instead of having to go to a big city.

Tammy Smith said she was speaking to a college class about the music industry when she learned that one of the students worked at the Sunset Theatre. “We contacted them and found a date that worked,” Smith said of booking with Asheboro’s showcase theatre. 

The four women were all singing in Nashville performing at Opryland USA in 1982 when Tommy West of MTM Records told Merritt that he wanted to form an all-female group to record. Soon they brought in Psanos, Austin and Smith and a contract was signed.

There are no stars with Girls Next Door, according to Smith. “We take turns on lead,” she said. On their harmonies, Cindy and Doris sing the low parts while Diane and Tammy are the high voices. 

“Love Will Get You Through Times of No Money” was their first release and reached No. 14 on Billboard. Then “Slowboat to China” made it to No. 8 and Girls Next Door was ready to take their talents on tour.

According to their website, www.girlsnextdoormusic.com, “they toured extensively with The Oak Ridge Boys and The Statler Brothers,” and opened for such country stars as Lee Greenwood, The Judds, Randy Travis and Reba McEntire. They were also headliners in their own right.

“Our fan base kept us performing,” Smith said. “We love to meet the people. We traveled and toured a lot.”

Then in 1991, MTM Records closed and Girls Next Door didn’t have the same cooperative relationship with their new label. “We were ready to do something else,” Smith said.

“Something else” included raising children, caring for elderly parents and fighting bouts with cancer for more than one of the group. But the four “stayed best of friends. We tried 15 years ago” to get back together, but another diagnosis made it clear that reassembling Girls Next Door was “not the right timing.”

But then two years ago the four met to sing together, inviting family and friends. “They encouraged us to do it again,” Smith said.

Girls Next Door used a crowdfunding platform to raise $24,000 to produce a new EP, or extended play, recording. The result is Girls Next Door 2.0 and their new album is called “Now or Never.”

“We believe we have something to say, to inspire young women to pursue their dream,” Smith said. 

More striking than the fact that Girls Next Door reunited after 31 years is that they stayed in touch all that time. 

“We tried to stay close, to talk on the phone,” Smith said. “We stayed great friends and that’s a rarity, a big part of our story.”

While Diane and Cindy have remained in the Nashville area, Smith now lives in Archdale and Doris lives on a ranch in Oklahoma. During their respite from recording, whenever two or three were together, they would always call those absent to include in the conversation. Their efforts to stay close led to their coming back as a female vocal group.

Smith said the two-hour concert at the Sunset Theatre will include a merchandise table in the lobby. After the music concludes, they look forward to meeting with the audience.

“We just want to perform and hope to do more,” she said. “We’re looking forward to the concert. It’s been a wonderful experience.”

Tickets are available at Brightside Gallery, 170 Worth St., Asheboro. Or they can be purchased on the website www.girlsnextdoormusic.com by going to EVENTS, scrolling down and clicking on “purchase tickets” under the Asheboro concert on Sept. 28. 

Unless there is a sellout, tickets will also be available at the door.