We were lucky to catch up with Chancie Neal recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Chancie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
When I was 13, I walked on to Luke Bryan’s bus and told him that I wanted to be an artist. He told me to get his guitar to play for him, so I did. Being a kid, I didn’t even think to be nervous. I just played. He took a risk on me by asking me to tour with him for seven years. I moved to Nashville during that time and wasn’t sure what to expect. My career continues to go into different directions, but most recently, I became a Mom on the 4th of July. I’m still not sure exactly what to expect with being a traveling entertainer with a newborn, but with the help of my husband, family, friends and management, we are creating a new way of doing things. One of my first shows back was for the PBR (Professional Bull Riders) in Nashville. I invited all my friends out to play with me before the Nashville Stampede Days at Bridgestone Arena, which unfortunately was cancelled due to rain (stay tuned for a make-up show!). Playing to hundreds and even thousands of people is easy. Singing the National Anthem not so much. The PBR asked me to sing for the Nashville Stampede Days, and I almost said no because I do get so nervous. It’s such a special song to me, that I don’t want to make a mistake. But I thought about my daughter, Suede, and the example I want to set for her. As soon as I walked on the stage to sing, all of my nerves went away. It was a proud moment for so many reasons, but my Dad was a professional bull rider and I am a world champion barrel racer so having my first big event back from maternity leave be with the PBR was truly amazing.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
Below is my bio, which includes what I’m most proud of and what I’ve accomplished in my career.
Nashville-based country artist from Calhoun, Louisiana, Chancie Neal, is a platinum- selling songwriter and the current record holder as the youngest World Champion Barrel Racer. One of her most popular singles on Spotify with 110,000 streams, “Rodeo Money”, tells the story of her winning ways on the rodeo circuit as a kid while showcasing her musical talent as an adult. That same kid met Luke Bryan after his show at a rodeo in Mississippi where he invited her on tour after hearing her play a few songs at 13 years old. She held that opening spot for the next seven years joining Luke for his Farm Tour, Tailgates & Tanlines Tour and Spring Break Tour where she played for large crowds, including over 100,000 people on some nights. During her seven years on the road with Luke, she was the only female artist in the lineup.
She landed a deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing in 2012, wrote “Ducks in a Row” for the show Duck Dynasty in 2013 and her song “Hairy Christmas” recorded by Luke Bryan went platinum in 2014. Chancie has opened for numerous artists, including Jake Owen, Chris Janson, Florida Georgia Line and Pat Green, was part of the official CMA Fest lineup from 2013-16 and was featured at Tin Pan South from 2015-17.
In 2020, Chancie was reunited with Luke to put down background vocals on his song “Where Are We Goin’”, which is featured on his latest album, “Born Here, Live Here, Die Here”, that was nominated for an ACM Award for Album of the Year. She also went back to her rodeo roots by playing several shows at the National Rodeo Finals in Fort Worth, Texas and released “Hell Mary”, which became her second single to amass 110,000 streams.
It was 2019 when she released her first single in six years, “Over You”, which notched over 25,000 streams on Spotify in less than six weeks. The song debuted on WSM Radio, home of the Grand Ole Opry, which kept the momentum going with over 60,000 streams to date. A few months later, she began releasing singles from her Thank Ya, Hank EP, including “Neighbors”, “Rodeo Money”, “Flowers Can’t Fix” and “Hell Mary.”
Also in 2019, Chancie was a featured performer at WSM Radio’s CMA Fest events, played the Fiddler’s Grove Opry Stage at Wilson County Fair, was one of three female artists who played the Wild & Wonderful Country Fest and performed at WSM Radio’s Inaugural Songwriters Night hosted by Devon O’Day and featuring Bobby Tomberlin and Erin Enderlin.
She returned to her rodeo roots in October when she played at The All American Quarter Horse Congress in Columbus and in December when she played two shows at the National Finals Rodeo in Vegas.
In 2021, she was one of the top ticket sellers for the inaugural Nashville Nights International Songwriters Festival
in Denmark, as well as the number-one requested artist for the Nashville Road Show events that included NASCAR,
college football, college soccer, private events, interactive games and more. In 2022, she was asked to program a full day of music with her friends for the PBR Nashville Stampede Days outside Bridgestone Arena before singing the National Anthem before the competition inside Bridgestone.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
“Big Magic” by Elizabeth Gilbert continues to have a huge impact on my career. When I read this, I had more clarity for the path I needed to take at that time, as well as navigating my career as things grow and change. She encourages people to find our “strange jewels”, overcoming fear and just generally figuring out how to be happy along the way.
With the competitiveness of the music industry, it would be easy to give up or to see everyone as competition, but instead, I’ve got a great network of people who have come together to help each other. We know we can do more together than we can alone.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
People assume that you need to give money to artists in order to support their careers, but really it makes a huge difference to presave new music, stream music, like and comment on social posts, join our email lists, attend free shows, etc. Of course, buying tickets, tipping and purchasing merch is amazing, but it really can just be some words of encouragement on our social media posts.
Contact Info:
- Website: chancieneal.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chancieneal/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chancienealmusic/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chancie-neal-a86aa116/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/chancieneal
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/chancieneal
- Other: https://linktr.ee/chancieneal https://www.patreon.com/Chancieneal https://www.tiktok.com/@chancienealmusic https://open.spotify.com/artist/5n5lzFwIYUxYlX09UUZAGT?si=ADKDA53VQ8-T6VDnmi9y5g&nd=1
Image Credits
Tracie Hitz Logan Christopher