Four siblings plus one first cousin, with ages ranging from 18 to 24, all living together in small town Alabama.

This is the story of pop-folk-rock group The Bridges, minus the jokes about Southern relatives.

But wait, there’s more.

The members are preacher’s children as well.

Natalie (piano and guitar), Stacey (guitar), Isaaca (bass) and Jeremy (drums) all share the last name Byrd.

Brittany Painter, their cousin, writes most of the lyrics and is the lead vocalist, with a voice that has been compared to folk artist Carole King and deep-toned Stevie Nicks.

All five share similar looks, with pale skin, dark eyes and edgy hair.

Natalie, the oldest member, said she cuts everyone’s hair, which explains the similarities.

Paste Magazine recognized the group as one of the “Best of What’s Next” in its August issue and described its youthful, sunshine-pop vibe as a “country-tinged sound that’s not specific to 2008.”

The Bridges first played in Athens in April with the Modern Skirts.

Stacey said the members of the two bands became friends after playing the same venues together.

This time around, Natalie said she is glad she will get to stay in town after the show.

“We couldn’t really party too hard last time because we had to get back in our van and finish out our Rooney tour,” she said. “This time we booked a hotel, and we’re gonna have a few glasses of wine.”

A Full-Time Family Affair

The Byrd family grew up harmonizing together in their father’s non-denominational church.

When not attending small private schools, they were home-schooled.

They played together growing up and didn’t know many children outside their family.

“We’ve always been best friends,” Stacey said about the quintet. “A lot of people say they couldn’t be in a band with their sister or brother, but it’s easier for us. Ask any of the other members and they’d say the same thing.”

Jeremy is only positive when asked about being in a group with his sisters and cousin.

“I can’t live without them,” he said.

As for being the only boy, he said he depends on male tour managers, roadies and the guys from other bands to survive all the girly-girl talk.

Natalie said she believes the group connects on the same level because they have always been so close.

“It’s great to be with people who musically evolved with you,” she said. “There are not so many different opinions. We don’t fight. We only get upset, and we get over that quickly.”

A Classical Music Foundation

Music has always been a big part of The Bridges’ holiday gatherings.

The two girls picked up the guitar from their mom, and Natalie took to piano after Stacey decided it was not for her.

Brittany lived in North Carolina, but would play self-penned songs over the phone for her cousins.

When she was a senior in high school, she came to Alabama and finished her senior year by home-schooling herself with assignments faxed from her small private school.

Stacey said their father knew someone with a studio and let the trio have a shot at recording.

Before Jeremy and Isaaca joined the band in 2005, the girls called themselves Long Story Short and played mostly for church outings.

Their Christian parents discouraged listening to secular music, Stacey said, so a lot of their melodies can be traced back to praise and worship songs.

The Byrd siblings discovered the ’60s and ’70s classic rock of groups, such as The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac and The Mamas & The Papas, by searching through their parents’ albums.

Stacey said the idea for a band sprung from the girls’ crush on a long-haired, ’90s boy band.

“We used to have a Hanson cover band in our living room,” she said.

Thinking back to the group’s beginning sound, Stacey can only laugh.

“We sounded so young. Not bad, just hilarious.”

Jeremy, for one, is glad that the group doesn’t sound like it did in the beginning.

“We’ve lost that poppy sound,” he said. “We’ve moved into a more complex musical notion.”

Looking Forward

During a phone interview on Halloween, the members relaxed at their house for a couple of hours with the other two Byrd siblings who are not part of the band.

Stacey said this would be the first Halloween that any of them had ever dressed up.

“We never got into it as children,” she said. “We just treated the holiday as a family night.”

Music and family are so intertwined with the lives of the band members that it’s hard for them to imagine them doing anything else.

“I could find a guy and get married,” Stacey said, laughing.

Natalie, who described herself as the mother of the group, said she wrote a high school paper about being a real estate agent, but would most likely be a nurse because she likes to take care of people.

Jeremy said he would be a chef if he wasn’t in a band.

No matter what they would be, the members of The Bridges plan to continue as long as someone will listen.

“It’s who we are,” she said.