Tag: #Sunday Spotlight

#SundaySpotlight – Chaz Marie @chaz_marie

Published on by Jan Sikes35 Comments

Welcome to another SUNDAY SPOTLIGHT! Today’s feature is a no-holds barred rockin’ female artist with a sexy sultry voice that makes her a force to be reckoned with.

It is my pleasure to turn my blog over to Chaz Marie!

Thank you, Jan, for allowing me a space to share my music, my passion and my story!

In the early 2000’s,  I cut a record with my sister Kessie, entitled the Marie Sisters.  After being turned down by everyone on Music Row twice in a six year period, we moved back home to Dallas from Nashville, thinking that was it.  Three months later, we secured a record deal with Universal Music Group New York.  Things were amazing at the time.  We toured with legends and newbies just like us.  Our record was way before its time. (It’s still out there).

I was always told, “You’re too soulful for country music, pull it back.”  But how do I change what I am? How do I change the voice that God gave me? I’m not good enough, I’m gonna ruin everything.  Those were the thoughts going thru my young mind.  What it came down to is a label who didn’t know what to do with us. It may sound crazy, but I’m grateful.  We had a blast, we lived a dream not many get the chance to live. One day, we woke up to a hot fax (inside media news) that said we had been cut from the label.  We were devastated.  Life as we knew it was done…but you pick up the pieces and you move on. My sis and I decided to part ways musically, but we remain very close today.  

I couldn’t let the fire, or the passion for music leave my life.  It’s my first love.  I tried a couple of different music projects, that led nowhere.  So I decided to start a band in Dallas, Texas. I was tired of being the “female singer” in the band.  I knew I could offer a great show and great music all by myself – a standalone, female fronted original artist.  I started playing everywhere I could to promote myself.  It started building, and I knew it was getting better everyday.  I wanted so badly to record an original project. I made two attempts and the magic just wasn’t there. So, I kept booking and playing and have been consistently, for the last 15 years.  

Fast forward….I had been trying to get Quinten Hope on a gig for a couple years, with no luck.  Then one day, 30 mins before I called him, his gig canceled and he was able to play with me on May 2, 2015.  That’s when everything just clicked.  We got engaged in August and married in Sept.  Fast track for sure. Lol! We started writing and working toward this project and well, here it is!

We got our friends Will Lee, Rob Arthur, Dan Wojciehowski, David Deshazo, Carson Wagner,  Milo Deering, Paul Harrington and of course Quinten Hope to put their magic on it.  We cut it all right there in Dallas, except for Will’s vocals. He cut those at his studio in NY and sent them over to us.  It’s quite the mix, as far as sound.  To be honest, I got tired of trying to release music under a specific genre. It’s hard to put creatives in a box….so I just recorded the music that was in me.  I wrote what was in me – what I felt.  That’s what this EP is.  FINALLY a project, I had complete control over artistically.  It feels good.  Quentin and I are Independent Music Artists.  We write, produce, record, finance, promote, book, etc… all on our own.  It’s not easy sometimes, but if it’s your passion, it never feels like work.  At least not to me.  

Here’s a sample of what you’ll find on the EP we named, CHAZ MARIE!

You can find more music from Chaz Marie here:

https://www.chazmarie.com/music
https://music.apple.com/us/album/chaz-marie-ep/1530009074
https://music.amazon.com/albums/B08HCSDN1S?ref=dm_sh_d64d-3a16-dmcp-c4d6-d1c4e&musicTerritory=US&marketplaceId=ATVPDKIKX0DER
https://open.spotify.com/album/4sDNSEf3sl6Ram9ZIseln0?si=s8W33ieLSoeVj9RnVkrFxA

Social Media Links:
Website:  https://www.chazmarie.com
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/chazmariemusic/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chaz_marie_/
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/chaz_marie
YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/Chazzeroni/

Thank you for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed this introduction to CHAZ MARIE! Please feel free to leave a comment and share on all your Social Media platforms!

Sunday Spotlight – STEEL BLOSSOMS! @steel_blossoms

Published on by Jan Sikes39 Comments

I am SO excited to turn my blog site over to Hayley and Sara today, of the amazing duo, STEEL BLOSSOMS! I had the pleasure of hearing these girls live at Love & War in Texas when they were opening for the artist I went to see. I had never heard of them and they blew me away! So, I’ll turn it over to these multi-talented young ladies and let them tell you about themselves! Take it away, Sara and Hayley!

Hello! It’s nice to virtually meet all of you and I hope you’re surviving this strange time in the world. Let us first introduce ourselves. You’ll be hearing from us both, Hayley Amour and Sara Zebley, as we make up the female fronted, Nashville-based duo, Steel Blossoms.  

A LITTLE BACKSTORY:

We met about 12 years ago at a music festival in Pittsburgh, PA near where both of us grew up, but it wasn’t until 3 years later when we joined a band together that we actually became friends and started singing full time with each other. It was instant chemistry on stage and off. We were both on the path to being elementary teachers for life when we convinced each other to give it all up to move to Nashville in 2014. It’s been a hell of a ride ever since. 

Moving to Nashville was an opportunity to make music a full time career instead of a hobby and we quickly began performing regularly on Broadway 4 hours a day, 7 days a week. About a year in, we discovered that traveling the country was going to be key in expanding our following so we started performing “house concerts,” a unique experience that has gained us lifelong relationships with fans who have turned into friends. Seriously, you’ll question ever going to a regular concert again after attending an intimate house concert- it’s that fun!! 

Fast forward a few years later… In January 2019, we signed a record deal with emerging Americana label, Billy Jam Records, under the direction of hit songwriter Jerry Salley. That was huge for us, as it gave us a boost in the industry and a team to rely on for some of the legwork it takes to promote an album. We’ve been so lucky to have since hired a band of phenomenal musicians (who are literally our best friends now), buy a van (her name is Blonde Betty White), and tour the country telling the stories behind our original songs. 

AN EVEN BIGGER BREAK:

I remember us saying to each other “How in the world will 2020 ever top 2019? So many amazing things happened in 2019 and there’s no way we’ll outdo it!” And then we got a phone call that changed everything. We may have both blacked out during the conversation in disbelief, but at the end of that 5 minutes, we were the opening act for Alan Jackson’s 2020 tour. WHAT?! Crazy, right? We screamed, cried, called our families and swore them to secrecy, cried some more, questioned whether it was a dream, then got to work preparing for one of the biggest moments of our career. 

OUR FIRST STADIUM/ARENA TOUR:

January 10 and 11, 2020 was the first weekend of the Alan Jackson tour and we were beyond excited that the very first show was in Cincinnati, OH, equal distance between our Nashville friends and our Pennsylvania friends and family. It was one of those surreal weekends that we struggle to put into words. Let’s try though. 

First of all, we got to ride a tour bus for the very first time (not as glamorous as one would think- those bunks are tiny!!). We rode the bus with a lot of the sound engineers and techs from the show and that alone was such a neat experience to see what behind the scenes work goes into making the performance night run smoothly. Alan Jackson’s band was particularly welcoming and genuine, which was not taken for granted on our parts. We got to watch their sound check and hang out with some of the musicians throughout the evening. Alan’s fiddle player, Ryan, is from our hometown- small world! Hearing some of our favorite songs in person from AJ was also nothing short of amazing. Imagine hearing “Remember When” and “Little Bitty” from a few rows back in an empty arena before 13,000 people were on their way to fill the seats. PINCH ME MOMENT times infinity. 

We had the honor of performing 5 songs to start the night off and saying we were terrified and filled with adrenaline would be the understatement of the year. We were all pleasantly surprised that the butts were in the seats so early on and we had over 10k people watching our performance. The most amazing part of this experience was realizing that we belonged on that stage. I know it sounds crazy considering we’ve been working our way up to this moment consistently for years, but we really weren’t sure before that first performance if our usual stage show was going to translate to such a large atmosphere. When it did and we proudly finished our last original song of the night “You’re the Reason I Drink” with the whole audience singing the hook, we realized we had caught the bug. Both of us cried, hugged our band members, and decided that we NEVER wanna not be doing shows like that. Honestly, after feeling what we felt on that stage, I’m not sure why musicians do drugs. 

UNTIL NEXT TIME:

Thanks for getting to know us through these stories and we look forward to not only continuing the Alan Jackson tour once the world is in better shape, but we hope and pray that while you are reading this, you and your loved ones are safe, healthy and managing the uncertainty of these times. 

Follow The Steel Blossoms:
www.steelblossoms.com

www.steelblossoms.com/store

www.facebook.com/steelblossoms

www.instagram.com/steelblossoms

www.youtube.com/steelblossoms

Spotify link to SB latest album

https://open.spotify.com/artist/6c7CCsR0EwgZ81KHktNrhO