Smooth Jams Radio Artist Bio  SILK 1992 - Present Career They sang whenever and wherever they could ("I don't think there's a church in Atlanta we DIDN'T sing at," laughs Gary) at talent shows, clubs, churches and in the streets. Louise Ferguson, who is their manager today, was determined to get them a shot with Keith Sweat who didn't particularly want to audition the unknown wanna-be's. So when Keith came to a barbeque at Louise's house, she invited Silk to come over and they discreetly went down in the basement and started singing for the kids there. Keith heard them and liked what he heard enough to make Silk the first group signed to his Keia label in 1992 and they were featured on "two of Keith's tracks on his "Keep It Coming" album. Silk's first single, "Happy Days" was garnering radio play but then "Freak Me", another cut from their first album, starting generating radio play spontaneously and when released a single became a Number 1 R&B hit and Number 1 pop hit. They sang whenever and wherever they could ("I don't think there's a church in Atlanta we DIDN'T sing at," laughs Gary) at talent shows, clubs, churches and in the streets. Louise Ferguson, who is their manager today, was determined to get them a shot with Keith Sweat who didn't particularly want to audition the unknown wanna-be's. So when Keith came to a barbeque at Louise's house, she invited Silk to come over and they discreetly went down in the basement and started singing for the kids there. Keith heard them and liked what he heard enough to make Silk the first group signed to his Keia label in 1992 and they were featured on "two of Keith's tracks on his "Keep It Coming" album. Silk's first single, "Happy Days" was garnering radio play but then "Freak Me", another cut from their first album, starting generating radio play spontaneously and when released a single became a Number 1 R&B hit and Number 1 pop hit. Life's Work It was quickly followed by two Top Ten R&B
hits--"Lose Control" and "Girl U For Me, which grew into a string of
hits throughout the Nineties including "Hooked On You", "I Can Go Deep",
"If You ("Lovin' Me")and "Meeting In My Bedroom". Their signature sound
was dubbed "baby-making music." "At the time we came up,"
Gary Glenn notes, "producers were putting groups together but when Keith
met us we were already Silk. That may be part of the reason why we have
been able to stand the test of time. We didn't just get together to get
a deal; we got together to sing. We had to find our own niche. You had
Boyz II Men with their harmonies and Jodeci with their "from the gut"
sound, so we were kind of in the middle. We went from high school stages
to arenas very quickly--that was due to Keith." Silk's audience has grown up along with them and some of the children who were the result of "baby-making music" are now teenagers. "People are always telling us," John adds, "I made my first child to your music." That's just a blessing! That someone created a child with our music. We know what people are looking for from our music so as long as we honor and respect that we can keep going in that vein, like The Isley Brothers and Keith Sweat." It's a difficult challenge for
even a solo artist to survive in the cut-throat music industry and even
more so for a group to stay together. Fourteen years together since the
release of their first single, what's Silk's secret? "I think a
lot of prayer, patience and understanding," says Gary Glenn. "We don't
always realize how important our commitment to each other has been. It's
like being in a marriage that you REFUSE to leave. It's like "I got
this ring and I ain't going NOWHERE!" But we all bow down to what's
important to Silk. And in the end, we just love singing together."For More Information: SILK CHOOSE A MEDIA PLAYER       |