A NAME like Suddenly, Tammy! is bound to draw attention and, not surprisingly, one of the first questions the alternative rock band gets asked is: 'How on earth did you come up with such a name?' And, the answer, believe it or not, is Tammy Bakker, wife of fallen United States evangelist, Jimmy. The three-person band - siblings Beth (piano, lead vocals) and Jay Sorrentino (drums), and Ken Heitmuller (bass) - were trying to think up a name when Mrs Bakker flashed across their television screen.
'She was crying and her make-up was streaming down her face and a friend teased Beth, who does not wear much make-up, that she should try using thick make-up like Tammy,' said Heitmuller, from New York.
'And, Beth laughed and said that if she did, she would be 'suddenly, Tammy'. We were looking for a name and thought that sounded quite good. We added the punctuation marks later.' The Pennsylvanian band has just released their second album We Get There When We Do, their first on a major label, and are still a little overwhelmed by their latest career development.
'Cool, it's not often that we get to speak to someone who is so far away in the world,' Heitmuller added, when told the call was from Hong Kong.
'That's the great part of being with a big label . . . to know that our albums are being sold in places like Japan, which to us is the most exotic place at the farthest corner of the world.' The members of Suddenly, Tammy! began their musical journey in Lancaster, which Heitmuller describes as a 'small country town'. Beth, 27, and Jay, 28, started playing to Ray Charles and Carole King at the age of five.
But it was not until 1989 that the trio got together to make the music they wanted to.