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An Interview With Kendra Chantelle
We recently had a chat with nashville artist Kendra Chantelle! Known for arranging, composing, vocal coaching and even yoga, how does she have time for it all? Let's find out!
TSWS: We are SO excited to be chatting with YOU! Your new song "I Still Believe" is incredible! Please tell us the story behind the song!
Kendra: I am so excited to be chatting with YOU! Thank you so much for listening to my single and thanks for the kind words! I wrote "I still believe" with my friend, fellow artist and producer of the single and my upcoming record Brad Sample. The day we wrote it, we were both just feeling pretty battered about our music careers and discussing how frustrating it was to still have unshakeable, stubborn faith in what can seem so far fetched at times. The writing of the song was therapeutic because by the time we had it finished, we decided we should make a record! It's been really amazing to have people reach out since the release and tell me how much they relate to the message.
TSWS: Most memorable career moment?
Kendra: I think the most memorable moment in my career, so far, was performing "Georgia on my Mind" on Season 10 of American Idol for the Wildcard round ( I got sent home right after that performance!) It was an out of body experience. I woke up feeling pretty certain I was going home that day- I was super careful not to speak that or focus on it, because I didn't want to attract that energy, but I remember clearly praying "Please, just let me sing on that stage one more time before I go" and when I went to sing that song, I felt like I left my body and watched the performance from somewhere above. It was just a really full circle moment- my first concert was Ray Charles at the Tennessee Theater when I was 5 years old and I vividly remember grabbing my dad's arm in the show and saying "THAT! I wanna do THAT!" and I spent most of the time since that concert dreaming of performing on huge stages, so to sing a song of his on the huge American Idol stage with 25 million people watching, I felt very at home and very at peace. Even though I didn't go through to the next round, I am super proud of the performance and people still tell me pretty often they watched it and remember it. So cool!
TSWS: What advice would you give a new artist?
Kendra: I would advise all new artists to define their "why" before taking any further steps. If you don't know why you're doing this, it's going to be impossible to know how and when and where and what to do. Your why is your home base- everything else will probably change and you'll learn to adapt and find your resilience, but your why realllllly matters. Know it, and know it well.
TSWS: What is the most exciting thing about show business? What’s the hardest?
Kendra: I think the most exciting part of the music business is that it is anything but boring! No two days are alike, I don't really get bored or stagnant and it's centered around creativity and I love that! The most challenging part is a + b rarely = c and it can be nearly impossible to project how anything will land, so you're always just kinda flying by the seat of your pants and taking chance after chance. It's also exhilarating for the same reasons, but I certainly don't feel like I have a clear cut "5 year plan" or ever really know how to predict my income farther out than a quarter at a time, like my friends in more certain fields can do.
TSWS: Where can our audience find you and support all your current and new projects!!
Kendra: You can follow me on instagram.com/kendrachantelle twitter.com/kendrachantelle and I also keep my website up to date- www.kendrachantellemusic.com thanks so much for following along!!
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