For King & Country singer/songwriter/co-frontman Joel Smallbone gives a lot of credit for both his own and the group’s success to his big sister, Rebecca St. James.
Now retired from her own singing career, these days Big Sis is happily at home in California, raising a family, but during her two decades of touring and performing, Smallbone was often right there with her. He worked as a tour manager, stagehand and backing singer, and he says the experience prepared him for his own career.
“I think I was closest to her, other than our parents, during her career,” he says. “If not for those formative years and walking through the journey and seeing the good, the bad and the ugly and falling in love with music and live show, I don’t think I could do this the right way.”
Smallbone, who carries a distinctive accent from his Australian birthplace, is joined in the Christian-based For King & Country by his younger brother, Luke, and band members. When he looks back at what his sister managed as a solo artist, he’s even more impressed.
“It’s like, as you grow and look at parents you realize, ‘Man, you had it harder than I thought.’ It’s the same with her. The load was heavier for her because she did it all. My respect for her as a woman and an artist has grown.”