Early faves
Whitney & Shannon, sisters who grew up in Houston, are finding success on 'The Voice'.
Shannon Bates lives in Houston. Whitney Sim lives in Austin. But the sister act hasn’t let distance keep them from making music together.
The duo, whose sound draws from country and pop, earned chair turns from all four coaches on the current season of “The Voice.” It’s one of just six acts who inspired pleas from Adam Levine, Alicia Keys, Blake Shelton and Miley Cyrus to join their teams.
“We don’t perform together as much as we have in the past. But for us, whenever we do come together, it’s almost like we’ve never been apart,” Bates, 23, says. “It’s so natural for us to sing together. It just doesn’t go away.”
“We’re not that far away,” Sim, 25, says with a laugh. “We can make it happen.”
Before the audition, the sisters planned to go with Shelton, if he was interested, because of the country influence. Keys was the last coach to turn around but persuaded the pair to join her team with a heartfelt plea.
“There is no box for you of where you’re gonna fit in. I’d love to help you get everywhere,” Keys said. “The world needs the two of you. You represent the future. Let’s bust down those stereotypes and break down those walls together, forging through major sisterhood.”
Bates, who calls Keys “so perfect,” says it was an impossible offer to resist.
“We kept telling ourselves, ‘Even when we get up there, if Alicia Keys turns around, because we love her so much, it doesn’t mean we have to pick her. We can’t be charmed by Alicia Keys.’ And then we were,” Bates says.
The sisters’ parents are missionaries. Sim was born in Scotland, and Bates was born in England. They moved to Houston as children and attended Twin Creeks Middle School in Spring. They were teenagers when their parents divorced. Sim attended Spring High School, and Bates spent time at Magnolia High School.
Amid so much movement and upheaval, music was a constant in their lives. They released an original single, “Stars,” in 2013 and uploaded covers to YouTube. But nothing ever seemed to click with a substantial audience.
“Our parents really tried to help us launch a music career, but nothing ever really took off,” Bates says. She currently works at Second Baptist Church in Kingwood as a pastor’s assistant. “We took a break and didn’t necessarily pursue music as much because we had to, like, eat and survive. We just were working regular jobs, trying to pay the bills and just learn how to be grownups.”
The pair, who performs as Whitney & Shannon, moves into this week’s battle rounds as an early favorite amid the remaining 48 acts. Each coach pits two team members against one another for a single performance. Coaches must then choose one act to advance to the knockout rounds.
Guest advisers include Joan Jett with Cyrus, Bette Midler with Shelton, Charlie Puth with Keys and Sammy Hagar with Levine.
Regardless of the outcome, Bates and Sim now have the momentum of a highly rated TV show — and a muchneeded boost of confidence.
“Your parents will tell you, ‘Oh, you’re so talented.’ It’s what parents do. They think you’re the best thing that ever walked the Earth. But I think, honestly, we didn’t get that validation until we were on ‘The Voice’ stage,” Bates says. “It’s weird to say we haven’t believed in ourselves, but I think we just never really knew that we were capable of something that huge.”