Miranda Adkins | So Salem

Chuck Love (left), Zipporah Bird and Sherry K of Seneca.

It wasn't too long after 25-year-old Zipporah Bird started singing karaoke at Hilltop Restaurant on Shenendoah Avenue when kindred "music celebrity in waiting" spirit Chuck Love, a fellow singer-songwriter with real dreams of making it to the big time, noticed her talent and asked her to join his band, Seneca.

"Sherry K" Harmon, the other female lead and harmony in the group, grew up singing with her two sisters. She started at age 6. Her great uncle had some connections with a radio station and the girls made a few "appearances" on his show. She stopped singing when she was a teenager and for some of her adulthood, but her sister just so happened to refer her to Love as a singer. Sherry, who has an affinity for singing harmony, auditioned and ended up becoming an integral part of the group in 1996.

Love has dedicated over 50 years of his life to music and toward being a country music star, but he also made sure that his family was well taken care of. He worked at Yokohama in Salem. Family is what really matters to him, and even though he sacrificed a lot for that, he still hasn't given up on his dream.

What makes Love who he really is, however, is how he wants to help other singers reach their goals.

While Harmon is content with staying on stage and doesn't have a burning desire to make it to the big time, she loves to push her cohort Bird into bigger and better venues, and so does Chuck Love.

Bird sings at various voice competitions in Raleigh, and she's even auditioned for "American Idol" twice.

"You take what you can get," Harmon said, as she and Bird explained their strategy and what went wrong when Bird waited in line so long and then wasn't herself at auditions. They're planning on her auditioning for a 2010 show, too.

Even though she isn't quite mainstream yet, a deejay in Louisiana, a friend of her brothers' bandmate, picked up her song "Leavin' in the Morning" after hearing it on her Myspace account. The song was written by Love.

It might take a while for them to get signed to a label, or it could happen overnight for any of them. No matter how long it takes, though, the trio enjoys one another's company and the therapeutic aspect of their music.

"If we could sing five days a week we would do it," Harmon said.

"She'll make it. I've seen how people react when she sings," Love said.

Over the years of striving toward a label, Love says he's met quite a few people in Nashville. He's written a lot of original songs for his two friends to sing.

Bird has even recorded a CD and a music video with the instrument tracks laid down in Nashville and the voice tracks recorded in Roanoke.

Bird also has a music video on You Tube that was produced by Mark Hutchins with Alexander Productions.