New Orleans trio Chapel Hart has been on a 60-plus city tour since January
New Orleans country trio Chapel Hart reacts to the news that they’re advancing to the ‘America’s Got Talent’ finals last summer.
Staff writer
New Orleans trio Chapel Hart has been on a 60-plus city tour since January
Leaving Washington state and traveling through Oregon en route to California on Monday, Chapel Hart agreed it might be time for a sign.
Specifically, this would be what’s a given for many touring entertainers — something posted on stage to remind the performers where they are on any given night, so as not to give a shout-out to the incorrect city. When in the whirl of their 60-plus-city tour in support of their third album, “Glory Days,” out Friday, it’s easy to forget where you’re playing.
“We’ve had a name slip twice,” admitted Danica Hart, 33, one-third of the Mississippi-Louisiana trio whose big break came on last summer’s “America’s Got Talent” TV competition series. “… so it’s about time for a paper, I would say … a little sticky note.”
Just a little drawback of life on the road where, for the country harmonizers, the plusses far outweigh the minuses.
Take for instance, “the magic seat.”
“So whenever you need some quiet time, you can go and sit up by the bus driver in the pull-down seat in the front and just really get to take in the beauty of what God created by hand,” Danica Hart said. “It’s so breathtaking, and it’s unlike anything else that can reset you, that can recharge you. And so we are beyond grateful for that.”
She and her fellow Chapel Hart members, sister Devynn Hart, 25, and their cousin, Trea Swindle, 32, use their tour bus hours to rest and take an interview here and there.
How do you decompress after a show? What is your go-to for relaxation?
Danica: I am still trying to figure out what that is because it takes me forever to come down off of that adrenaline. Usually, it means that I don’t go to sleep until about 5 or 6 (a.m.). And then wake up around 12:00, 12:30 (p.m.), start preparing for sound check in the next city or wherever we go next.
How is it being away from your friends and family all this time?
Trea: I have to say we’re thankful that we’re able to be on the road now, right now because we have like all of the advances of everything from Facebook to FaceTime and everything in between. So we can still stay connected with our families while we’re on the road. And, you know, we come from a really big family, so luckily we have cousins scattered all over the country, so we’re always gonna have a little bit of family with us everywhere we go.
Tell us about “Welcome to Fist City” (a song from the new album released as a single March 31).
New Orleans country trio Chapel Hart reacts to the news that they’re advancing to the ‘America’s Got Talent’ finals last summer.
Devynn: Dolly (Parton) shared “You Can Have Him, Jolene” (their tribute song to her original, “Jolene”) and then about 50 minutes later, Loretta Lynn was tweeting us about the song. She said, “You know, I really love what you guys did with Dolly’s song. I would love if you ladies could do something like that with one of my songs. But as we were going through Loretta’s catalog, it was hard to find a song that we could do that to because Loretta pretty much said everything exactly how Chapel Heart would say it. Then we had the idea that maybe we can just extend one of her songs. In the song “Fist City,” Loretta tried to warn the girl, “Hey, you better stop messing with my man.” And so since she didn’t listen to Loretta, that’s why we just went on and extended the song. And so now we’re gonna welcome her to Fist City.
The three of you have helped write every song on this new album. Walk us through your songwriting process.
Danica: We tell people all the time, our writing process is that there is no process. So like we just kind of write how it hits us, and I love that about us, is that we leave the way for the song to yield whatever it needs to be.
Does “Glory Days” pretty much stick to your country roots?
Trea: That is exactly what this album is. This album is a dig back into our roots. This third album is almost like inviting the rest of the Chapel Hart fans and the listeners home to meet our family, take ’em down those dirt roads and kind of show ’em all the places that really make us the women we are today.
You guys have such beautiful voices, but you sound a little hoarse right now. How are you taking care of your voices while performing so much right now?
Danica: We’re just trying to get as much rest as we can when we can, and get teas and stuff after shows at night and just doing our best to get vocal rest.
Dolly Parton’s first rock album, “Rockstar,” is set for release on Nov. 17. Do you think you have a rock album in you at any point?
Danica: I feel like we’ve got a lot more country songs to write first. But I just love what music is doing. I think that people are just getting to where, you know, they just listen to what’s good. And so I’m hoping that there’s a lot of Chapel Hart collaborations in the future and you know, I hope that maybe we show up in a lot of other genres as well. I think we’re moving to a generation that just loves music and so we’re excited to just be a part of that, be in music in this time, and we’re excited to see what the future brings.
Email Judy Bergeron at jbergeron@theadvocate.com.
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