Budding Veg Celebs: PinkStrings & HotSauce
Sisters Catherine and Bo Fortney's cover of “Hanging Tree,” from The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay Part 1, put their musical duo at the top of the Music Audio Chart. Here's our Q&A with Catherine, 14, and Bo, 17, who taught themselves how to play guitar (and are both vegetarian).
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Catherine (left) and Bo (right) Fortney of PinkStrings & HotSauce
Sisters Catherine and Bo Fortney find harmony in the Greenville, S.C.–based musical duo PinkStrings & HotSauce. Their cover of “Hanging Tree,” from The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay Part 1, put them at the top of the Music Audio Chart. Catherine, 14, and Bo, 17, who taught themselves how to play guitar, are both vegetarian.
Why “PinkStrings & HotSauce”?
Catherine: PinkStrings and HotSauce are the names of our guitars. (Yes, we named our guitars!) Mine is PinkStrings, and Bo’s is HotSauce. We struggled for a long time to find the right band name to fit our music. One day, our mom came up with the idea of naming it after our guitars. It was the only name that felt right to us.
It’s great that your family is supportive of your music. Are they as supportive of your being vegetarian?
Bo: They are very supportive because they are vegetarian as well! Catherine and I have been vegetarian for most of our lives.
Catherine: Yes, I was around 6 when our family decided to be vegetarian. It’s been an amazing lifestyle!
How would you describe the veg scene in South Carolina?
Catherine: Actually, we moved to South Carolina several years ago. We thought it may be more difficult to be vegetarian in the South, but that’s not the case at all. We live in Greenville, which is known for its awesome dining scene, and most restaurants have at least some vegetarian options.
What’s your advice for working creatively with someone in your family?
Bo: The best advice I can give is to have fun. You can’t make everything about business. I think that’s something that we definitely try to do.
Catherine: We love working with each other, and as Bo said, I think that’s because we let ourselves have fun with it. When we have songwriting sessions, we always get more done when we don’t take it too seriously.