We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Chesney Claire. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Chesney below.
Chesney, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
I took a risk when my mother and I decided to leave our hometown to follow my dream.
I was born and raised in southwest Louisiana and I graduated high school in 2019. Following high school, I was awarded with an academic scholarship to LSU…but after all of those years of work in academics, I chose to focus on making myself happy. In the years prior to graduation, (2012-2019 to be exact), my parents divorced and I had mourned the loss of my brother, my grandmother, my biological grandfather, and my mother’s stepfather. Going through a tremendous amount of loss made me feel like I had to start anew. I was not emotionally ready to move away and go to college. It was a time of need for me and I needed my mom… just like she needed me. We packed up all of our belongings a couple of months after I had gotten my diploma and we drove a U-haul to Branson, MI – a place we were familiar with. I was spending all of my time there either in a recording studio, writing, or performing for 6 months until we decided to bring the party to Vegas. Taking this risk has definitely been worth it so far for both my happiness and my career in the industry.
Chesney, 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?
Pop Singer/Songwriter Chesney Claire was born July 10, 2001 in Lake Charles, Louisiana. She was named after country Music icon, kenny chesney. First vocal lesson was at the age of 9 with Tony Orlando’s Band in Branson, MO. At age 11 she was taking vocal lessons from Chubby Checker and his band. She graduated from Bell City High School in Bell City, Louisiana in 2019. Right after graduation, Chesney moved to Branson, Missouri to work and ultimately begin her music career.
With the help of Music Producer Rich Brown and Atlantis Recording, Chesney would successfully record and release 6 cover singles. While in Branson, Chesney’s talents caught the eye (and ears) of several Las Vegas producers and songwriters. In March of 2020, Chesney and her “Momager” Kim Hebert found themselves moving across the country to “Sin City”, (Las Vegas) in order to be closer to more industry professionals. Immediately upon moving to Vegas, Chesney provided vocals for two original songs that were recorded and released. Mid 2020 (amongst COVID) proved to be the perfect opportunity to write music. With 47 original songs under her belt, she flew to Orlando, FL with a local Vegas producer and had her 1st original single, “15 Candles” perfected by Producer Tim Coons (Pres. of Cheiron Music Group/Original Producer of The Backstreet Boys). “15 Candles” was released June 12, 2020.
Soon after “15 Candles” was released, Chesney began working on her next release, “Moving On”.
By September of 2020 Chesney started making preparations to release “Moving On”, but Industry Awards poured in and demanded her attention. In 2020 alone, Chesney was nominated for an Independent Music Award for her Michael Jackson cover of “BAD”. She was also nominated for Best Upcoming Artist at the Las Vegas Music Awards, and she won Female Artist of The Year at Indie Star Radio in Hollywood, California.
Chesney chose December 18, 2020 to release “Moving On” (to acknowledge both Brad Pitt’s and Billie Eilish’s birthdays).
Chesney’s single “Hours” was released February 1, 2021 and “Come Alive” was properly released right after the pandemic (May 14th 2021). Chesney released “Distracted” in 2021. Chesney started 2022 out right by the release of a song she wrote herself, produced herself, and directed her Official Music Video, “Not In The Mood”.
She continues to write music to add to her “Magic Book of Spells” (as she calls it). She NOW has a catalog of over 200 songs.
You can be expecting MORE NEW ORIGINAL RELEASES in the very near future. As of December 2021, Chesney was nominated for (25) music Industry awards and has become a TOP 5 charting artist with thousands and thousands of FM radio spins! 2021 has brought many surprises. (3) WORLD-WIDE songwriting awards, a coveted Josie Award nomination and a 2021 ISSA GOLD WIN for Female Vocalist of the Year! In 2021 Chesney was a prestigious nominee for the 2021 Hollywood Music in Media Awards as an Independent Musician along side huge names associated with Sony Pictures, Walt Disney and others and continues her quest for music placement in feature films, documentaries, and other media sources. She has worked with Asia Brands for sync placement in a New York City Hulu series and Mac N Me- a Las Vegas Comedy Sitcom. Chesney purchased Zeiss Records (an independent record label producing Independent charting hits such as “Come Alive”- 2021 and “Distracted”- 2021). Chesney’s released “The Problem” on August 26, 2022 and “Cruisin” (a duet with Korean K-Pop star Holynn) in the first week of January 2023 and “Out Of Love” (The theme song for the feature film “The Sand Runner- 2023) was released January 27th, 2023. Chesney also released her single, “Dirty Lil Secret” in 2023 and it’s in consideration for (3) Grammy® Nominations this season. Her last release of 2023 was “Giving Tree”. It was released November 10th, 2023. Chesney was the songwriter, the Producer & The Engineer on this record. “Giving Tree” is Chesney’s 19th record release to date.
Chesney considers her music her business. She owns her own Publishing Company (CC Publishing), and is a BMI Publisher who works hard every day making new contacts and fostering new business relationships. Chesney is working with other artist/producers daily and still writing! Chesney ‘s last tour in October 2021 was with the “Break The Silence Extravaganza” featuring actor Danny Glover, The Amazing Howard Hewett, JonJon from Troop, Juanita Wynn, Rodney Allen Rippy and more. Chesney continued touring with the Break The Silence Extravaganza in Stockton, California in 2022. In August of 2022 Chesney was a PRESENTER @ The LaJolla, CA International Film and Fashion Festival where she presented “Best Set Design” and walked the red carpet. Right after, she flew out to Atlanta where she walked another red carpet and was a PRESENTER @ The International Singer Songwriter’s Association. Chesney is the Josie Awards “Female Rising Star of the Year” in 2022. Chesney has also just been asked to STAR in several feature films (along side several A-listers) that will begin filming in 2023. She will be the subject of a Film documentary in 2023 called “Recording In Progress II”. She stays busy making soundtracks for film and was in Consideration for (5) Grammy® Nominations in 2022. In 2023 Chesney is in consideration for (3) Grammy® Nominations.
Chesney has worked with NPA Management Limited in the UK. She has worked with Producer Tim Coons (Backstreet Boys, N’Sync, JoJo, etc), Producer Rich Brown, Producer Luis “The LP” Pacheo (Jason Derulo, 50 Cent, Alicia Keys, Five Finger Death Punch, Lady GaGa), David Davidian (Tour Manager for Alice Cooper and The Hollywood Vampires), Nashville Producer Ryan Lau, Award-winning songwriter Keegan Bost, (NBC’s Songland), Producer Mikheil Rusishvili (the Country Georgia), Ron Lawrence (www.thisisRon.com), Grammy winning Producer Raphael “RJ2” Johnson ( Flo Rida, Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, Chris, Lil Snupe, Master P, Lil Romeo, Juvenile and more). Producer “NOMAD” The Career Musician, David “Rain” Banta, (A multi- platinum recording/mixing engineer producer/composer/pianist) and so many more .
More recently Chesney was cast in a lead role in a major feature film (“The Dark Side”) 2023 with a-list actors including: Sean Patrick Flanery (Boondock Saints), Cynthia Rothrock (Martial arts expert), Judy Norton (Mary Ellen Walton/”The Waltons”) and more. Executive producer- Steve Howey- Emmy® Award nominated actor, series “Shameless”.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
I always have a goal of being a better version of me every time I wake up. My goal is simple. I want to walk into a room of music executives and not have to introduce myself.
Results drive me. I need to see results as an effect of my hard work. It’s just like working out. If you are 300 lbs and you don’t want to weigh 300 lbs, you need to do something different. If weight is not dropping off the scale, you aren’t doing things right. In the music business, the same can apply. If you feel “stuck” or if your music isn’t pleasing to you, or if you have the wrong producer, you have to stop crying about it and make it happen. I would suggest not being afraid of change. I would suggest evaluating yourself often and changing the things that aren’t working for you. I started with a goal of becoming a voting member of The Recording Academy. Just checked that off my bucket list so I made a new goal. I want to win a Grammy. In 2022-2023 I was in Consideration for 8 Grammy® Nominations. It’s not a win, but it’s pretty dang close and I’m ok with that. I realize there are so many artists that have never won a Grammy® and I do understand that not getting a Grammy® doesn’t mean you aren’t worthy of one.
A lot of people won’t understand my goals and dreams, and they probably aren’t meant to. I do what I do for lots of personal reasons…and I’ll share them with you.
I chose music as my career when I was 15 years old. I was very smart in school and with that came invitations to prestigious colleges. I earned an academic scholarship to LSU when I graduated and I chose not to go. Smart choice? Who knows? But my entire life was always filled with music and I couldn’t wait to dive into my career. I wanted to do it early for a better chance at being that “triple threat”. Another reason is that music and writing has always “saved me” and right about the time I was graduating from high school (2019), my life was literally falling apart. My dad was physically abusive to my mom and hurt her badly. After 20+ years, she left and I went with her. He stopped talking to me and that was a really hurtful time in my life. Music saved me. During my parent’s divorce, my big brother died of an accidental drug overdose. Once again, I listened to our songs non-stop. I no longer had a dad or a brother. Six weeks later, my grandfather (that helped raise me) died and six weeks after that, my grandmother died. At this point, all I could think about was music. My heart needed some relief and although I was ordered by the court to have therapy, the only therapy that helped was making music. That’s still the way things are today. Of course, I make music to help heal others but what I’m doing is giving the world a “through the glass view” into my life by using music to numb the hurt and by doing that, other’s can surely relate. I find that being real is key to writing music and I don’t mind who knows when I feel broken and I’m super excited to share songs with people as well when I’m seeing the bright side of life. I’m not an emotional eater, but an emotional songwriter. So much so that when someone asks me if I write love songs, the answer is always a quick “No!” I mean, I would write them if I really believed in such things, but at this point in my life I just don’t. I guess you can say music picked me so I picked it right back. For God’s sake, my mom named me after the iconic Kenny Chesney! Guess she knew even before I was born.
My goal is to keep using music as therapy. Music to me is like a service animal. It guards me. It protects me. It lets me spill my thoughts and I feel really good when I’m in company of other artist and amazing lyrics. It’s said that “One can become dependent on favorite comfort songs in times of distress and anxiety, but equally, music provides a vital sanctuary for mood regulation and can even help with stress and ease insomnia. For the moment it seems if music addiction is possible, it is not likely to harm us more than it is to help us.” I like that.
My mission is to be the best Chesney I can be. Music helps, so that’s where you’ll find me.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
When you are a creative, It’s a “gurse” (a gift and a curse all in one). You can never hear things the same as other people. Anytime you hear something, there’s music in it. The rain, hammering on rusty pipes, car horn honking (key of F), babies crying…. it’s all music to me. Sometimes when I’m producing music, I add a random sound in the mix. Wind chimes, a door closing, screeching of tires- We are constantly surrounded by a symphony of beautiful music in the most odd places. Sometimes we have to just be still and listen. The most rewarding aspect of being a real artist is realizing God chose you.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.chesneyclaire.com
- Instagram: @CHESNEYCLAIRE
- Facebook: @CHESNEYCLAIREMUSIC
- Linkedin: @CHESNEYCLAIREMUSIC
- Youtube: Chesney Claire
- Other: ***I submitted a photo of me and my brother, Matthew. This was not long before his death. He loved me more than anyone in this world. He got me started on my music journey!
Image Credits
ALL Photo Credits: Kim Hébert