Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Charly Reynolds. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Charly, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. 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.

Early this year on January 12, 2023 I went to Vanderbilt Medical Center and had vocal cord surgery. This was something I tried to avoid for months considering my worry was the slim chance I wouldn’t be able to ever sing again or sing the same as I could after surgery.

Starting April 2022, I noticed some voice issues, that it was weak and felt tired quickly, but I just ignored them because I was super busy during that time and thought I was probably just run down. I went through the summer after getting a bad case of bronchitis that lasted 6 weeks and continued singing with that which really pushed me over the edge. I didn’t want to cancel shows because I hated cancelling and disappointing people, when in the end I should’ve listened to my body. I never considered that there was possible damage done to my vocal cords until early August 2022.

When I went into the Voice clinic at Vanderbilt, we looked at my vocal cords and the doctor told me I needed to cancel everything I had for the next week and go on complete vocal rest, no talking or singing. My vocal cords were inflamed, bloody and had some hemorrhaging which is not what I had hoped to see. That week of vocal rest turned into almost a full month (September) but we did see great progress! But once I started singing again, I was having the same issue of losing my voice and it feeling weak and that’s when it was really up to me to decide on having surgery or not.

I decided early December that this was the route I wanted to take. Instead of constantly wondering if I would be able to sing at shows, or having to cancel so much, I wanted to go ahead and hit this issue head on. So we planned the surgery and I had it Jan. 12th. The first week was the hardest, no talking, singing, coughing, clearing your throat or any noises at all. There wasn’t much pain, but it was very tricky, especially not clearing my throat. I started talking a week after with just 10 minutes a day and that would increase everyday that week until 2 weeks later being able to talk as much as I want, but limiting it when I need to which is where I am at now. When I went into the doctor and they had me talk for the first time after surgery, there was barely any voice there to talk. I immediately broke down because it felt like I had made a huge mistake and that my voice was gone. But they assured me it was very normal to sound like that and that it would get stronger and it has. Doing my vocal therapy each week and exercises everyday has really helped.

I think having this surgery will be the best thing in the end. I am hoping that I come out of this roughly 3 month recovery with a brand new set of vocal cords that are stronger and healthier than ever before. I am sure I will be very happy that I went ahead and got it taken care of so I can go back to doing what I love!

Charly, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I have been singing my whole life. Growing up I would sing anything from broadway musicals, Hilary Duff, Taylor Swift, Adele, I loved singing it all! But there was something about country music that really grabbed me. I remember watching Carrie Underwood win american idol thinking, “That is what I want to do”. I knew singing, performing and touring was always a big dream of mine, I just wasn’t sure how to pursue it or if it was actually achievable.

In high school you are so pressured about college and going to college and it made the decision pretty hard. It felt like if I took a risk and didn’t do what everyone else was doing that it was wrong in a way. But ultimately, I decided that I only get the chance to do this once, and college is always there. So I moved to Nashville, TN 2 weeks after graduating high school and tried to figure out how this town worked. At 18, I couldn’t really go to any shows since I was under 21. It was hard to make friends not being in school and I worked at Chick-Fil-A full time. For a while, music was on the back burner and one day it just hit me that I didn’t move all the way to Nashville to work at Chick-Fil-A, as much as I loved it. I soon started used social media to reach out to people about writing or getting coffee which was so out of my comfort zone and then I started finally making friends and some progress in music!

I have now been here almost 5 years which seems crazy. So much has happened and it doesn’t feel like that long at all. 2022 was a big year for me. I started playing every weekend at Miranda Lamberts Casa Rosa in June 2021 and it became like home to me. It was my favorite place to play, eat and just hang out! I played there up until my vocal issues needed to be solved in August. Playing there was a huge help to growing my fan base, sharing my music and practicing entertaining a crowd every weekend. I also signed a booking deal with Wasserman Music in September after they came to a few shows there, so I can also thank Casa Rosa for that! I am so grateful for the time I played there. I released my song “Rodeo” in 2022 and it was my most successful song to date because of those shows and the help of TikTok. We really marketed the song everywhere we went and it did so good. After that, I followed up with “Tonight in Texas” in September during my vocal rest.

Besides the vocal issues, 2022 was a great year for me! I finally built a team around me that really truly believes in me, and that can be hard to find. Ryan Hofstetter (manager) and I started working together in March 2022, and Tiffany Bearden (publicist) joined the team in May 2022. I feel so blessed to have them both.

Currently during my recovery from surgery I am still releasing music! I just released my song “Out Of My Hands – Demo” on February 3rd. I didn’t want to disappear from the scene and stop sharing music just because I can’t sing right now. I felt the title of this song really captures my life right now and my situation being my vocal issues and surgery are “Out Of My Hands”. I have put God in control and trust him completely.

After this song, I have one coming in March, one in April and then a full EP project set to release in May that I am SO excited about! I can’t wait.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Back when I first moved to town in 2018, I didn’t have much going on and decided to really study social media and how it worked. I tried to learn it and I feel I learned a lot about it even though it is always changing. Advice I would give for someone just starting out is to BE YOURSELF! People don’t want to always see the picture perfect version of you. They want to know you. Who you really are and show your personality on your platform. Secondly, be consistent. You can’t post once a week or once a month and expect to grow. Look up what different social media’s look for, TikTok I would post at least once a day if not twice, Instagram I would say 3x a week, but stories everyday. Each platform is different, but if you research about it, you will find out just how to do it!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of doing what I do is connecting to my audience through songwriting. I love hearing that my songs have helped people through tough times or has made them smile in a time of hardship. I feel that music can connect us more than anything, and if I can be that light for someone through my songs, I always want to be. I also want to be an example of following your dreams. I think today it can be so easy to convince yourself that dreams aren’t reality, but if you want something hard enough and you put in the work, it can work out. It will not be easy, but if you never try, you will never know. I hope that people look at my journey and maybe it inspires them to chase their dreams and have faith that it could become reality.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.charlyreynolds.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/charlyreynoldsmusic
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/charlyreynoldsmusic
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/charly_reynolsd
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/charlyreynolds
• Other: www.tiktok.com/@charlyreynoldsmusic

Image Credits
Image 1: Justin Hammond Image 2: Logen Christopher Image 3: No credit Image 4: Annie Lauren Image 5: Nicole Croteau Image 6: Annie Lauren Image 7: Nicole Croteau