Check out the shoes you see when Lorrie Morgan and Pam Tillis take the stage together tonight.

The singers, who sprung from country music families, share more than a love of singing. They share a passion for shoes.

"She'll never win," Morgan says of Tillis. "I have got the shoe department covered. I am a shoe freak."

So much do these two women have in common — single mothers, award winners and entertainers — that it seems only natural that they are now sharing a stage in a format that lets them tell some stories before they launch into their hits, such as Morgan's "Something in Red, "What Part of No" and "Watch Me," and Tillis' "Maybe It Was Memphis," "Don't Tell Me What To Do" and "Shake the Sugar Tree."

Tillis actually wrote and recorded "Five Minutes" before Morgan recorded it — and earned her first No. 1 song back in 1990. So these women share some history.

"We toured together in the late 1990s, and we like to say we had the all-female tour before the Lilith Fair," Tillis says. "We played some pretty big places, and it was a wonderful time in our career."

Both singers have played arenas and amphitheaters in the past, along with bars and theaters like the Lumière, where they will do two shows.

"There's something wonderful about an intimate venue. If you have a chance to see James Taylor in an arena or a smaller venue, what would you do?" Tillis says. "It just depends on the material."

And while Morgan enjoys the rush from big auditoriums, she adds: "I like the intimate feel because I feed off of people and getting to know them. I like to feel like I'm in my living room, and talking about real life situations."

The only downside, Morgan says, is she sometimes gets too comfortable.

"Unfortunately, we have to cut our talking down. One time we did two hours and 30 minutes, and we forget we are on a time schedule," she says.

The promoters did not forget and told the singers they had to rein in the chit-chat.

The singers generally stick to a planned set list, in part because the band working with them is a hybrid — some musicians from Morgan's band and some from Tillis'.

"There's a method to the madness and the songs sort of play off each other," Tillis says.

Regardless of which songs they sing and in what order, Morgan says, the storytelling format is fun for both of them.

"It's not a challenge so much as it's something we are looking forward to," she says.

žœ 7 and 9 p.m. today • Lumière Theatre at Lumière Place, 999 North Second Street • $35 • Ticketmaster