Though 2011 is just getting started, it's already looking like a great year for Steel Magnolia. The talented duo have earned an Academy of Country Music Award nomination in the Top New Vocal Duo or Group category. They scored a coveted slot on the Country Radio Broadcaster's annual New Faces Show, and this week Meghan Linsey and Joshua Scott Jones' first full-length album is being released.

"It's having a great team around us," Josh modestly says when asked about the duo's success. "Big Machine is the hottest label in town and I think that the momentum of coming off the television show helped us out."

Josh and Meghan landed their record deal with Big Machine -- the same record label Taylor Swift calls home -- after winning first place on the CMT series, 'Can You Duet?' Meghan admits they were initially hesitant about doing a reality television show, but it turned out to be a great experience. They are particularly thankful for the fans they made during the competition. "They see you on a reality show and it's like they are starting this journey with you," Meghan tells The Boot. "They just continue on with you throughout your career and that's the best thing about country music -- the fans."

Shortly after winning 'Can You Duet?,' the duo entered the studio with acclaimed producer Dann Huff (Keith Urban, Faith Hill, Rascal Flatts) to work on their debut album. They made their bow on the country charts with the Top 5 hit 'Keep On Lovin' You' and hit the road last year opening for Brad Paisley on his H20 Tour.

The record company released an EP, which included the duo's second single, 'Just By Being You (Halo and Wings).' Though the full length album was originally going to release last year, the record company decided to move it because there were so many new albums releasing in 2010. "It was supposed to come out in September and it wasn't going to work because there were 15 superstar acts coming out with records and we're brand new," says Meghan.

"This is our debut," adds Josh, "and we wanted this to have a chance to see the light of day, for people to listen to it."

Moving the release date to January when there are fewer album coming out felt like the right strategy. "We're putting it out 1/11/11 and I think it's the right time," says Meghan. "It feels good. Sometimes it's better to just wait."

The couple enjoyed working with Dann and are happy with the project he helped them craft. "The continuity of the record is very important," says Josh. "It's all one full record, not just a bunch of singles. If you listen to it front to back, it's kind of cool."

"It takes you on a little journey," Meghan adds.

Josh says they had a very deliberate approach in making the record and Dann understood their vision. "We made it very clear that we wanted to create a new sound towards the front, but then we wanted to pay homage to our classic country roots towards the back half, and the middle of the record ties it all together," he says. "So that's the approach we [took in] making this record. Dann Huff really captured that and really executed it."

The couple wrote seven of the 12 tracks on their self-titled debut. The last track, 'Glass Houses,' is a song Josh penned solo. "It could be something that Merle Haggard would sing, which is very cool," Josh says of the classic-sounding tune. "We were very glad that that song got a chance to be on the record."

Keith Urban wrote 'Homespun Love.' "That was actually brought to us by [Big Machine VP of A&R] Allison Jones," says Josh. "We didn't know we had a void on the record until we recorded that song and realized we needed some of that boogie woogie in there, and it's so cool that Keith Urban wrote it."

Though it wasn't written as a duet, Steel Magnolia put their stamp on it. "Lyrically when you first hear it, you don't really think that it could be a duet," says Meghan, "but we put our spin on it. It is so sassy. It's one of my favorite tracks on the record. It's one that you can jam out in the car to."

Steel Magnolia's newest single is 'Last Night Again,' which is accompanied by a 'Grease'-inspired video filmed in a Nashville bowling alley. Meghan admits she's pretty proud of the fact that she bowled a strike while wearing heels.

'Edge of Goodbye' is the first song the young couple wrote together. "That was the one that really started this whole thing," says Meghan, who met Josh when she was working at a Nashville karaoke bar. "We were writing one night with Julie Moriva, one of my best friends in town. She was over and the three of us started writing that. [We had] no intentions of becoming a duo, but vocally it worked so well for us we started playing it at writer's nights in town and that's when people started taking notice of us, saying 'wow, you guys should really become a duo,' which was not in our minds at all. So it's interesting how that one song kind of changed our course and really brought us to where we were supposed to be musically."

"It's a break-up song," says Josh, "but it brought us together. It's kind of ironic."

As their career has taken off, has it had an impact on their relationship as a couple? "It definitely brought us closer together," says Meghan. "The cool thing with our relationship is we've been together for five years now and we've done everything together at this point. Josh has moved furniture and I've worked in a karaoke bar. Now to get to this point in our career, we're on the road and we're playing shows in front of thousands of people and seeing our dreams coming to life together. That definitely has brought us a lot closer."

"Being in a relationship and being together is a decision you make every day," Josh adds. "At the end of the day, we really get a long and like each other, and it has definitely made us stronger as people, as individuals. We realize what is important to us. It's nice to have somebody to share it with who understands."

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