80s country stars Girls Next Door are back together sharing the message of Christ’s love

By John Herndon, KentuckySings.com

WILLIAMSTOWN, Ky. – The history of country music might note that the group, Girls Next Door disbanded in 1991 but their performance during 40 Days and 40 Nights of Christian Music at the Ark Encounter indicated they had only been on a sabbatical.

A 31-year sabbatical.

The tight harmonies and innovative arrangements that had made Girls Next Door one of country music’s most popular acts were still there on Aug. 23. The energy created by their music had never left as they delivered a set featuring some of their country hits along with a heavy dose of heart-pumping gospel.

And even though country music fans might not expect it, the 2023 version – Girls Next Door 2.0 proclaims their new CD and website – is remarkably like the one that last sang in 1991. 

Even with the gospel music. Especially with the gospel music. It’s who Girls Next Door are and always have been.

“We were on a record label,” Diane Williams Austin remembered shortly after their powerhouse performance on the Noah’s Village stage. “They signed us as a country artist so anything that was released to the public was going to be mainstream country. But we were always doing church things. We were in churches. We were always singing gospel music. We have always loved it and now, we have a choice in the matter and we are our own record label.”

The 30-minute concert featured perhaps their two biggest country hits from the 1980s, “Slow Boat To China” and “Love Will Get You Through Times of No Money,” which received some airplay on Christian radio in the ‘80s. But they also fired up the audience with energetic renditions of classics like “Sweet, Sweet Spirit” and “Power In The Blood.”   They opened with a cover of the Oak Ridge Boys’ “Every Day” and closed with The Gaither Vocal Band’s “Singing With the Saints.”

Whatever the song or dialogue, Girls Next Door live and breathe joy. And they try to encourage and uplift those who hear their music just as they did at The Ark Encounter.

“We have been in awe of all the blessings from God,” Doris King Merritt said. “We said, ‘We are going to trust you, God, in every step of the way. In every work, He has given more than we would think to ask for.

“He has opened so many doors for us.”

And God’s providence might have played a role in Girls Next Door reuniting last summer for the Dewdrop Jamboree in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

You see, back in the 1980s, Girls Next Door were at their peak. “Slow Boat to China” climbed to a spot in the Billboard Top 10 country songs. They were touring with the Oak Ridge Boys and Statler Brothers. Everything seemed to be going right.

But by 1991, Girls Next Door decided that being on the road with nearly 300 dates a year was not conducive to raising families. “It was about the timing,” Tammy Stephens Smith recalled. “We had been touring nine years. The music business had gotten tough. Diane had a 5-year-old son. Cindy had a 16-month-old daughter. The politics with the label, and the like, we really had no say in our career…. We were ready to leave the business and the mess.

“We were ready to focus on what was really important.”

There was a one-show reunion in 2011, but that second reunion show in Murfreesboro got things rolling for a more substantive second helping. It has certainly not been a mess.

“It was kind of a group decision,” Psanos said of the events leading to a Girls Next Door revival. “It just kind of happened actually. We decided to do that reunion show in Murfreesboro last year. Some producers were there. It was for family and friends and band members, but we had a couple of producers who came to the show and approached us about recording.

“I don’t think we ever felt like we were totally finished. It was just never the right time.”

Their old country fans and new gospel fans are glad that 2022 was the right time. 

However, the music business is much different today than it was in 1991. “One thing we are really trying to get a grasp of, and Diane does a great job of this, is the social media aspect,” Smith said. “We have been getting some traction in Europe. We would love to do that, some touring over there. And touring will be different than it used to be, obviously. We don’t want to do 300 and some dates. I don’t know, maybe we will. 

“And one other thing is different: We are usually in bed by 10 o’clock now!”

Smith and her singing friends all broke into laughter.

The Girls Next Door’s next single, “When the Water’s Low,” will be released to mainstream country soon and a song about the abundant blessings of God, “Living in the Rain,” should be on Christian radio stations this fall.

“We would like to cross the genres,” Merritt said. “We would like to go to Christian country, to southern gospel, to positive country. There are so many different genres and we just want to get our message out there.”

And that message is the power of the blood of Jesus to change lives.

Even though Girls Next Door had been off the road for more than 30 years, their individual lives had been filled with getting that message out.

Smith serves as corporate treasurer for Christopher Ministries, founded in memory of her brother-in-law and nephew who were killed by a drunk driver in 1996. “It is about helping hurting people,” she said.

(More information about Christopher Ministries can be found at the end of this article.)

Merritt has been involved in several ministries, including the Cowboy Church in Hugo, Oklahoma, where her husband served as pastor for 16 years until recently stepping down.

“We reach people that probably would never set foot in a traditional church,” she said. “I have been very touched. I was raised a very traditional Southern Baptist.  My husband is a great testimony. He was a rough-and-tumble cowboy but God turned him around and he gave his life to the Lord.”

With her husband stepping down from his pastorate, Merritt says she and her husband are waiting on God’s direction.

Psanos has worked in many areas of music ministry at her church in Franklin, Tenn., while Austin served as a worship leader in her congregation in Murfreesboro for over 10 years. She says she still sings and leads worship from time-to-time. 

And now that Girls Next Door have gotten back together, they truly believe that God isn’t finished with them. They might be singing at a decidedly Christian event like the Ark Encounter’s music festival, at churches or in mainstream country settings. Regardless of the venue, the message is one of hope in Christ.

There might be even more. 

“One thing we have talked about is doing women’s retreats,” Merritt said. “We would love to empower women. Diane and I have battled cancer. There are so many things we think we can really share with women and encourage them.”

CHRISTOPHER MINISTRIES

Girls Next Door fully support the mission of Christopher Ministries, located in Chapel Hill, Tenn. The ministry was founded by Tammy Smith’s sister, Traci Hughes Jungkurth, Ph.D., in response to a tragedy in her own life.

“Twenty-seven years ago, my brother-in-law and my nephew were killed by a drunk driver,” Smith says. “My sister went to Christian counseling for her grief and she decided to become a counselor. She now has her doctorate, a Ph.D. in counseling so she started a ministry to the hurting.

“She does a lot of pro bono work for parents who have lost children. It’s about helping hurting people.”

Christopher Ministries was named for Traci’s 8-year-old son. The organization’s website says it is a 501(c)3 non-profit “founded on biblical principles. The organization’s mission is to share the God of comfort with hurting people by providing individual, group and grief counseling along with mission related health care, health care materials, supplies and education to people of all races and religions in the United States and internationally that otherwise would not be able to afford these services.”

Girls Next Door fully support the work of Christopher Ministries.

“If that is something that touches your heart, we have our our webpage, www.girlsnextdoormusic.com, we have Christopher Ministries connected to our page. You can find Tammy’s family cookbooks and Traci actually wrote a book (“Lord, Why Am I Still Here?”) about what happened and how she healed through that.”

One can also make an online donation through the Christopher Ministries site. www.christopherministries.com.

*Follow Girls Next Door on Facebook or check out their website at www.girlsnextdoormusic.com.