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This podcast is to help YOU, our listeners, become more familiar with the Northeast Tennessee community. From the perspective of folks who work and live here, we invite you to come explore all NeTN has to offer and to protect these places we love!
0:00:00 - (Lara Potter): We're returning for season three of Meet Me in Tennessee, your go to podcast for all things east in the Volunteer State. Join us as we explore the stories and people behind the hidden gems, vibrant cities and breathtaking landscapes. We've got you covered. I'm Lara.
0:00:15 - (Jenna Lafever): And I'm Jenna. As always, we're recording at May Pop Studio in the beautiful downtown Johnson City, and we can't wait to explore this region with you today. Get ready for a backstage pass to the world of Chapel Heart. In this podcast, we're going to be learning about their journey, their songwriting process, and their passion for country music.
0:00:37 - (Lara Potter): I could tell as soon as these ladies came on, I was excited to talk to them. So just a little bit of background on chapel heart. In 2021, Chapel Heart was inducted into CMT's Next Women of Country, the institution that has been known to help up and coming female country artists such as Kelsey Ballarini, Ashley McBride, and Gabby Barrett, just to name a few. This Mississippi trio's music has reached fans around the globe, earning them the title of International Group of the Year, as well as.
0:01:12 - (Lara Potter): As well as international Song of the Year for the single that I love. Yes, you can have him, Jolene in Scotland. They were also nominated in multiple categories by the British cmas, including Group of the Year and Album of the Year for their sophomore release, the Girls Are Back in Town.
0:01:32 - (Jenna Lafever): And I already told her that might need to be our new intro song.
0:01:36 - (Chapel Hart): Yes.
0:01:39 - (Jenna Lafever): Baby, that's right. Competing on season 17 of America's Got Talent and returning for Simon Cowell's fantasy team, this trio also received a golden buzzer, sending them directly to the semifinals of the show.
0:01:51 - (Lara Potter): That's right. That's right. And they've been making music and touring throughout the south and beyond with performances recently at Dollywood, which we all know and love, and of course, right here in the heart of Johnson City earlier this year. We're going to try something different today. As you can see, they are joining us via Zoom because these ladies are out on the road. So welcome Chapel Heart. We are thrilled to have you ladies here.
0:02:18 - (Lara Potter): So let's begin with, first of all, where are you? You're on the road.
0:02:21 - (Chapel Hart): So where are you right now? We're in South Mississippi. We had a. We had a concert at the Shucker Stadium, and we're getting ready to hit the road, and then we'll be right back up in Nashville for the Opry this weekend.
0:02:36 - (Jenna Lafever): That's exciting. Have you guys played there before?
0:02:39 - (Chapel Hart): Oh, yes.
0:02:40 - (Chapel Hart): Yes.
0:02:40 - (Chapel Hart): They can't get rid of us at this point, I feel like I love it. Knocking on number 20 something.
0:02:47 - (Chapel Hart): I think we're going up there, and I love it. I said. I said the other day to somebody, and I think it was the perfect description. I said, we're like. We're like the grandchildren of the Grand. The spoiled grandchildren of the Grand Ole Opry. I was like, we've always got an idea about something. And they're like, well, let's hear it. Come on. You should do it here. You should. And so they've just been so. They. They welcomed us with open arms, and we just jumped in. Was like, Paw Paul.
0:03:13 - (Jenna Lafever): I mean, I say, as an artist, that. That's a huge, like, compliment to you guys to have that kind of relationship with the Grand Ole Opry, like a legendary venue.
0:03:22 - (Chapel Hart): As such, it is received on our end as well. Like, you know, we just use. As a country music artist, you all, like, that's always the dream. You dream that one day you'll play the Grand Ole Opry. And the fact that we've been back time and time again, and we walk in and people are like. And, you know, and it's just like, from. From security to the concessions to, you know, all the people. The Opry shop, we just. We're just. We there.
0:03:49 - (Chapel Hart): When people say it, you walk in and it feels like family. That is exactly there. There is. There's no truer line that I've heard about the Grand Ole Opry. And so we love it, and we just. We take it. We take it in. When.
0:04:01 - (Lara Potter): When you're on the stage at the Opry, do you. Can you just feel, like the direction that you've been given and the people that have influenced you that, you know, have probably also stood and played on.
0:04:11 - (Chapel Hart): That stage, you know, from the very first time, from the time we made our debut, you know, of course, you get those jitters. Like, you step on the stage, and just like you say, you. You can feel all of the people who've come before you. But the crazy and amazingly beautiful thing is, is that feeling never goes away. I feel like whenever. When we're like Jeannie Seeley on our 5,000th performance out there, and you're still going to be able to feel the energy. And it's just something about being.
0:04:39 - (Chapel Hart): Being in that building on that stage, in that circle. It is. It's just a dream.
0:04:45 - (Lara Potter): It sounds to me like maybe you all have adopted Tennessee and Tennessee has adopted you.
0:04:50 - (Chapel Hart): Oh, well, we tell people all the time. They're like, where do you live? Somewhere between Tennessee and Mississippi. So like, we're just. Usually we're just like ping ponging back and forth and we're flying all over, but. But somewhere between Tennessee is where we. Is where we go home.
0:05:07 - (Lara Potter): I like it. And we welcome you.
0:05:09 - (Chapel Hart): So, yeah, thank you so much.
0:05:11 - (Jenna Lafever): And we want to learn about kind of how you guys came to be. How long have you all been playing music together and learn about Chapel Heart and even the name. I know Hart is the last name of two of you guys, but. Yeah, tell us about how you got started and how long as a family all been playing music.
0:05:29 - (Chapel Hart): Well, now that makes it an even more interesting question. How long as a family? Because we come from a huge family. Our grandmother has 17 kids. There's 108 of us. And I feel like, you know, our grandfather was a minister. And we grew up in church, like literally old school, seven days a week. There's something going on at church.
0:05:46 - (Lara Potter): Amen, sister.
0:05:50 - (Chapel Hart): And we had a kids choir and.
0:05:52 - (Chapel Hart): Danica said, and it kind of just stuck because I kind of feel like it's true. She said, it depends on. After the doctor slaps you on the butt as a baby, whatever key you cry in, that's where they throw you in the choir. I feel like the band started before we even realized, but we started out in New Orleans, and in 2018, we all came together and we were like, okay, let's. Let's hunker down, do this for real, write some original songs. And that's whenever Chapel Heart came to be. Well, when we decided. We hadn't quite decided on the name yet.
0:06:22 - (Chapel Hart): Yeah, we.
0:06:23 - (Chapel Hart): We were kind of going through all the different ideas. We're like, we want a name that means something to all of us. So we're all just kind of sitting around going through different names, throwing out ideas. And our manager, he was like, well, what about Chapel Heart? And we were like, no way.
0:06:40 - (Chapel Hart): We laughed and we grew up in. We grew up the community that all those family members live in. It's called Hart's Chapel. And so he had just kind of flipped it. He said, what about Chapel Heart? And we all paused and we just burst out laughing. We were like, that's the dumbest thing on the car. And so. But literally that eve, like that night, some. Somewhere between like that night and the next day, we were like, you know what?
0:07:07 - (Chapel Hart): Like, chap. The Heart Shop was what made us. It made us who we are and how we believe and what we do. All of that was just birthed from Hart's Chapel. And so the next day, it kind of Set. It was like, chapel Heart is not so bad. Like, that's a pretty good idea.
0:07:25 - (Chapel Hart): It made more sense the longer you thought about it.
0:07:28 - (Chapel Hart): And then our other manager, he already started calling us and introducing us to people at Strophart before we even actually agreed on it.
0:07:36 - (Chapel Hart): So.
0:07:39 - (Jenna Lafever): Like, when you were performing, did you have any other name or it was just like, oh, yeah, yeah.
0:07:43 - (Chapel Hart): Now, listen, honey, Naming band is not for the faint of heart. Because we were a cover band on. On new. On Bourbon street and Frenchman street all through New Orleans, and we played kind of everything. It was like an ipod shuffle, and it went from, like, Johnny Cash to Elton John and maybe some Lil John and everything else in between.
0:08:02 - (Chapel Hart): It was fun. It was fun, but we had to. We.
0:08:05 - (Chapel Hart): Like, when we came up with a name, we realized we didn't know how to name a band, so we used a random word generator. And the band's name was Hyper Fly, but Fly with a ph and two Y's.
0:08:14 - (Chapel Hart): It was.
0:08:15 - (Chapel Hart): Yeah, it was a lot. And so we had a really big fan base in Philly because I guess when they were in New Orleans, they were all a little drunk and couldn't spell. They were like, hi, for Philly.
0:08:24 - (Chapel Hart): And we knew. We knew if we wasn't going to get tips at any point in the year when Philly would come to play New Orleans, we were gonna. It was. It was our greatest night. So we were like.
0:08:37 - (Lara Potter): So I. I love your energy. I love your look, but we want to talk about your music and what makes Chapel Heart different now.
0:08:46 - (Chapel Hart): That's. That's a good question. I. Well, I'll. I'll jump in and I'll start, and if anybody wants to kind of pick it up, feel free to jump in. So I think that. I guess for me, I. We've been. We kind of been around for a little bit. We've been coming to Nashville since probably about 2017, I think, just kind of trying to come and write and. And see where we can pick up gigs and busk and do all the things. So probably since about 2017, and I have the. The one thing that I found that I think it makes us a little bit different is.
0:09:23 - (Chapel Hart): Is that we don't. When, especially in writing, we do not mind telling the truth, honey. We just sing it. We write it down and sing it, and as it comes out, and a lot of times we'll be writing with Nashville writers, and they go. I don't think they would say it, like, you know, I don't think Nashville would kind of say it like that. Like, and it was like, we, you know, we're like, you know what? Chapel Heart would say it like that.
0:09:46 - (Chapel Hart): And, you know, and, you know, maybe. Maybe we are. You know, I don't know, maybe we're banned from music, from it. But, you know, there's a lot of things that we just. We'll fight to keep. And, you know, it's. Because it's how we want to say it, and it's what we want to say, and usually it's. It's to. It's to make a statement, make a message. And I think, for me, I think that that sets us out, it sets us apart, but also it's one of my. It's one of the most rewarding. Rewarding things as a writer to.
0:10:14 - (Chapel Hart): That's a mouthful to. To hear people say, wow, like, your song changed my life. Your song helped me through the roughest time. Your. Your song, it helped get me out of a dark place. So. So those things. And so I think that, you know, sometimes you. We very rarely get. Get a chance to even stop to put the hand on the bag to go, man, that's a great job, or whatever. Like, you know, to. To kind of hype your set, sometimes you gotta hype yourself up.
0:10:38 - (Chapel Hart): And so we forget to do that a lot of the times. But as a songwriter, when you hear that and you go, man, that song did it for me, is the biggest compliment. So I think for us, it's just saying what we. What we. What we want to say or what we feel like we need to say in music.
0:10:54 - (Jenna Lafever): And it's working. Like, people respond and people love it. And that's, you know, going all over the country now, sharing.
0:11:02 - (Chapel Hart): We're finding out people are just as crazy as we are. We love it.
0:11:06 - (Lara Potter): Sometimes it's nice to have someone else say the things you want to say.
0:11:10 - (Chapel Hart): And you know what? I think that might be the thing because, like you say, a lot of people say, I don't know if I would say that, but I feel like those are the very things. Things that people will inbox us and say, you know what? I've had this in my heart for the last 20, 30 years, and I didn't know how to say it. It's like, well, I guess we should have just said it how we thought.
0:11:25 - (Chapel Hart): Of this and just kind of had it, like, at a pinch in this moment. It's like we sat down probably maybe what, three, three or four years ago, and the very first time we ever sang. You can have him. Jolene was for cmt and it was Leslie Fran. We were supposed to be having a meeting with Leslie Fram. And it was during the height of zoom. And so I was like, y'all just stay calm. It's just us. Leslie Fram. It's a conversation. Let's not.
0:11:52 - (Chapel Hart): Let's not freak out, y'all. The zoom open. And it was like. She was like, everybody in the office wanted to meet you. So we just let them all come on. We were like, that's awesome. So we said, you can have him. We. Oh, I'm so sorry. I said, we say, you can have him. Jolene and Leslie. Leslie Fram. It was a big pause afterwards, and we were like, we got another one if you want to. And. But Leslie fr.
0:12:14 - (Lara Potter): Can we get an applause something right?
0:12:16 - (Chapel Hart): Somebody say, but Leslie said, In 50 years of country music, nobody has ever said that. And we were like, oh, that's so good.
0:12:26 - (Lara Potter): While you bring up that song, I need to speak to it, because you're exactly right. I'm like, why has no one ever taken the irony of the song and gone.
0:12:37 - (Jenna Lafever): Keep him.
0:12:38 - (Lara Potter): You can have him. Yeah, fast forward, right? Dolly wrote an amazing song, and then you took it, took a twist on it, and now you have another amazing song. I need to know, has Dolly reached out just yet?
0:12:53 - (Chapel Hart): Oh, well, after we performed, you know, she tweeted and she said she liked the song, and then. And we actually got a chance to meet her this year at CMA Fest, and she said, and I'm gonna tell you, the heifer Jolene's made me a whole lot.
0:13:08 - (Chapel Hart): I was like, I'm praying she does the same for me. And so, like, it's. I mean, I feel like to meet Dolly, like, you have to. I don't even know if there's anything that you can do to prepare yourself in life to just behold her, just all powerfulness. And, like, I feel like Dolly's, like, a fairy godmother and she should just tell us the truth, that that's a career. But it takes a lot. It probably takes a really, really long time together. But I know she's a professional fairy godmother.
0:13:35 - (Chapel Hart): But, you know, something dawned on me because I realized, like, how. How short she is in real life. And most people see us because we're.
0:13:42 - (Chapel Hart): All, like, almost six.
0:13:43 - (Chapel Hart): We're almost to six feet, all of us. And so when people see us, they do, like, the long look up. But after we met Dolly, I realized if she was more than 5:2, I don't even know if anybody would be able to stand in the presence because that's a little bit right.
0:13:58 - (Lara Potter): But such a powerful woman, but also to give her compliments to you guys for what you do has to be a nice little boost to your world and what you're trying to accomplish.
0:14:09 - (Chapel Hart): Yeah.
0:14:10 - (Jenna Lafever): And I want to talk about that song and others with, like, the songwriting process. So, like, I'm sure Dolly's an inspiration. Anyone? Well, even outside of country music, like, she's just an icon. But, you know, was that song just one that you said, hey, let's. Let's write a something else to it to give the girls for side that said bye.
0:14:28 - (Chapel Hart): Or.
0:14:29 - (Jenna Lafever): Or, you know, how did that come about? And other songs that, like, how do you even start writing?
0:14:35 - (Chapel Hart): I'll pick up from the. You can have them, Jolene perspective. And. And I'll let somebody else take the second half of the question. But I love it because we've always. Yeah. Always been Dolly Parton fans. And like I said, it's. It's. It's Dolly's, like, story. Songs that, like, really made us fall in love with country music until. And like, songs like Fancy, where you've gotta. Like, when you sit down, you gotta listen to the whole thing. And you gotta listen like, you real nosy because I gotta know what's going on.
0:15:03 - (Chapel Hart): And so it was songs like Jolene. And then later on, I heard us. I was listening, and I heard a song by Cam called Diane. And it was. It was the song where it was Jolene singing back to the wife, saying, he didn't tell me he was married. I didn't know. Like. Like, let's sit down and talk about this. Like, women, like, we. He is the problem, not us. And so. And so I was like, okay, we gotta get in on this Netflix series, okay? Because so then I was like, so now we got to take our time.
0:15:33 - (Chapel Hart): Take my lunch break. That's only one hour long as is. And then now we got to talk about this old knucklehead through the whole thing, figure out who did what. And I said, you know what? How about we just. Just email her back, say, you can have him, Jolene. How about that? Like, rock, paper, scissors, I lose, you take it. And so. And I was like, we just. When we. We were doing a music video, we were doing a cover video for 9 to 5 during COVID because we were bored and.
0:15:59 - (Chapel Hart): And the kitchens were closed, so we just took over.
0:16:02 - (Jenna Lafever): So that was in there.
0:16:03 - (Chapel Hart): And her. She's a line cook in the video. And when you. She walks up.
0:16:07 - (Chapel Hart): When you.
0:16:07 - (Chapel Hart): When she walked in, her shirt says, you can have him sign Jolene. So the song really came about. And I looked. I said, how this heifer gonna take my man? And then tell me I can have him back? Like, how about you can just have him, Jolene? And we were like, oh.
0:16:20 - (Jenna Lafever): And that was it.
0:16:21 - (Chapel Hart): And we were like, we gotta write it. And I said, and the beauty of that is, is that as a songwriter, you will see a hundred things a day that will inspire you to write a song, and 80 of them you won't ever write. And. But that one, we were sitting down one day, we were like, y'all remember when we said that you can have them, Jolene. Like, whatever. Let's sit down and see what we can make of that. And it was. It was. It was. It was such a fun writing process. And I love it because from the concept all the way through the production, all the way to the music video, it was just fun.
0:16:50 - (Chapel Hart): So it's by far one of our favorites.
0:16:52 - (Jenna Lafever): How long did it take you to, like, write it? You know, is it, like, okay, sometimes you crank it out in an hour, and sometimes it's like, weeks? Or is it.
0:16:59 - (Chapel Hart): I think, weeks go. You can have them, Jolene. Under 30 minutes.
0:17:04 - (Chapel Hart): Like, it was. It was. It was one of those. It was one of those too many.
0:17:09 - (Chapel Hart): Like, we had to, like, whittle it down because we had so many situations. What about this?
0:17:13 - (Chapel Hart): Well, what about this? What about if he did this? So we just. It was just like. It was. Girl, Chad, it was. You sit down with a glass of wine. Let's talk about all the. Let's talk about what he would do, what he. Like, what would. Like, what situation would we leave from? And we laughed and all the things. And so. And like you said, for all of that to be going on, and once we started writing, it just poured out, and we were like, either we got. Either this is a hot mess, or this is about to be the best. This is the greatest song we've ever written.
0:17:43 - (Chapel Hart): And I think it turned out to be, you know, part of the. On the ladder, so.
0:17:49 - (Lara Potter): Well, your music gives you the boost that I'm going to tell you, just from a female perspective that we, as women are looking for, in particular that song Jesus and Alcohol. That's a lot of fun. But I want to ask how. Who did Darius call to ask you to be a part to feature you on his song?
0:18:07 - (Chapel Hart): Well, he slid in our dms. We like to say, okay, it popped up, and I'm like, y'all, we have.
0:18:19 - (Chapel Hart): A message from Darius Trucker. We thought it was fake, but I'm.
0:18:23 - (Chapel Hart): Like, no, it has the little blue check mark.
0:18:25 - (Chapel Hart): And this is before.
0:18:26 - (Chapel Hart): Like, anybody could just get the little blue check mark. So it was like. I'm like, no, y'all, this is serious. Like, this is him and I. Now. Darius is pretty much stuck with this.
0:18:39 - (Chapel Hart): We have a group chat. That is a hot mess. He's like, danica says, he has three. Oh, my God, he has four.
0:18:45 - (Chapel Hart): I said, darius intrigued. Fighting our group message like, they are nursing home. Nursing home neighbors. And I'm like, they fight like old women and men. I'm like, y'all. All right, Go to your corner. So it is. We are truly the. We text him on Mother's Day and was like, yes. What are you getting us from Mother's Day? He was like, oh, Lord. He was like, I didn't know I was supposed to get y'all.
0:19:07 - (Chapel Hart): Oh, well, you know, one of our Mother's Day gifts. Because he said, we can have three wishes. Should we give him a piece? Three wishes a piece. And I don't know.
0:19:16 - (Chapel Hart): I know he didn't know three piece.
0:19:20 - (Chapel Hart): But I think should we give him a Meet me in Tennessee exclusive?
0:19:23 - (Chapel Hart): I think so. On our. The. On our three wishes list. We were like, okay, so first wish.
0:19:35 - (Chapel Hart): He slid in our DMs and asked us to be on one of his.
0:19:37 - (Chapel Hart): This is a slide back. And we were like, you gotta be on our Christmas record. And he was like, I will. He said, I promise. Wish. He's like, that's a wish I can do. And so you heard it here first. Yes.
0:19:50 - (Chapel Hart): Yes.
0:19:51 - (Jenna Lafever): This is coming out pretty soon.
0:19:54 - (Chapel Hart): October 25th. Our very first Christmas album, Heartfelt Family Christmas is gonna be relaxing, and we are super, super excited because we got some crazy features. Like, Darius is amazing. But there are also.
0:20:07 - (Chapel Hart): Oh, this. I like to say this album's got more features than a new F150.
0:20:15 - (Chapel Hart): Look, as I say, them new ones, you can press a button and get a passenger if you need it.
0:20:20 - (Lara Potter): I'm excited about this.
0:20:22 - (Chapel Hart): Well.
0:20:22 - (Jenna Lafever): And I love Christmas. Right.
0:20:23 - (Lara Potter): I was gonna say.
0:20:27 - (Chapel Hart): Because Mrs. Claus here, she wanted our first. Maybe the first three albums, Obi Christmas we get together.
0:20:33 - (Chapel Hart): So what are we gonna write? Let's do.
0:20:35 - (Chapel Hart): Let's do Christmas album.
0:20:36 - (Chapel Hart): Yeah.
0:20:37 - (Lara Potter): We just living in our own. I don't know. Am I allowed to say Hallmark? I already did.
0:20:41 - (Chapel Hart): Yeah.
0:20:41 - (Lara Potter): We're living in our own Hallmark movie, so.
0:20:43 - (Chapel Hart): Right.
0:20:44 - (Jenna Lafever): Honestly.
0:20:44 - (Lara Potter): Right. So now we're gonna add your music to our movie.
0:20:48 - (Jenna Lafever): And I was thinking when you said the name of your town, I Was like, that sounds like a Hallmark town. I really did think that that sounds so Hallmarky. Absolutely. And I do. I. I do binge the Hallmark Christmas sometimes.
0:21:00 - (Lara Potter): I do just. I just.
0:21:01 - (Jenna Lafever): Guilty pleasure.
0:21:01 - (Lara Potter): Get in well. But it's uplifting.
0:21:04 - (Jenna Lafever): Yeah, you throw a couple sad ones in there.
0:21:06 - (Chapel Hart): Yeah. Yeah, I cut myself, but it was all the fields.
0:21:10 - (Chapel Hart): Even if you don't want to, there's something about the Hallmark holiday movies. They suck you in. And then before you know, you sitting there all invested, and you know what's.
0:21:18 - (Jenna Lafever): Gonna happen when it starts, but you.
0:21:20 - (Chapel Hart): Still watch it anyway.
0:21:23 - (Jenna Lafever): Yeah, we know what's gonna happen. We know you're gonna fall in love with the carpenter and you're gonna leave the guy in the city. We know it, but we're gonna watch it.
0:21:29 - (Lara Potter): That's right.
0:21:30 - (Chapel Hart): And we're gonna watch it, and we're gonna cry every time.
0:21:34 - (Chapel Hart): That's right.
0:21:34 - (Lara Potter): So you ladies were here earlier in the year. You got to come to Johnson City, to our little corner of northeast Tennessee. We want to know about your time here. I know it was short, but what you think about our little corner of the state?
0:21:50 - (Chapel Hart): We loved it. First of all, what was the name of the.
0:21:56 - (Chapel Hart): Distillery?
0:21:57 - (Chapel Hart): Yes.
0:22:01 - (Lara Potter): So was it Tennessee Hills Distillery?
0:22:05 - (Chapel Hart): Tiny Flats.
0:22:06 - (Lara Potter): Oh, did you go to East Tennessee Distributing, where there's Mellow Moon?
0:22:10 - (Chapel Hart): East Tennessee?
0:22:13 - (Lara Potter): Tiny.
0:22:13 - (Jenna Lafever): Tiny.
0:22:14 - (Chapel Hart): Yeah.
0:22:17 - (Chapel Hart): I think when you hear the name Tiny, you automatically know it's gonna be anything but.
0:22:23 - (Jenna Lafever): That's true.
0:22:23 - (Chapel Hart): But we had a time. They got a chance. They gave us a tour and more than that. And, you know, there were so many. There was so much equipment, all the things we were like, taste and, oh, my gosh, we got to try some of the best, oh, best moonshine there was. What? Cinnamon roll and banana. All right. Okay.
0:22:47 - (Jenna Lafever): Make a note. We're sitting Moonshine.
0:22:50 - (Chapel Hart): Can you make.
0:22:50 - (Lara Potter): I hope you can come back soon, and we'll take you back there and to the other distilleries.
0:22:55 - (Chapel Hart): That's what we should do. Our next episode together.
0:22:57 - (Chapel Hart): There you go.
0:22:59 - (Jenna Lafever): And the conversation would just keep getting crazier.
0:23:03 - (Lara Potter): Yeah, you probably don't want to record all of that. Well, maybe we do.
0:23:07 - (Jenna Lafever): At the end, it's like, camera's off.
0:23:08 - (Chapel Hart): Camera's off.
0:23:09 - (Lara Potter): So you want to make plans to come back this way?
0:23:12 - (Chapel Hart): Look, we need to. Because, first of all, also, too, like, it went. We knew, like, when we got there, it kind of felt like. It kind of felt like it had that, like, Mississippi vibe. Like that. Just southern. And so we were like, you know what? There's some good places to Eat up here. And we just don't have time to try them right now, so we definitely gotta come back so we can. So we can try what's local, what's good. What's that?
0:23:34 - (Jenna Lafever): We will gladly be your tour guides on a food and distillery tour, because.
0:23:40 - (Chapel Hart): We'Re actually food critics, but our singing kind of supports. It supports the food critic job.
0:23:48 - (Lara Potter): We would love to take you on a tour of all that we have to offer in northeast Tennessee. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
0:23:56 - (Jenna Lafever): We love good Southern food. A lot of good barbecue around here. And it's like, it's different. Yeah. And that's what I like about barbecue. Depending on the state and even the region of the state you're in, you're getting a totally different product. All good. But yeah, yeah. Give you some Tennessee barbecue.
0:24:11 - (Lara Potter): Absolutely. So something I need to ask, though, going back to your music just real quick, because I'm just real curious. I'm going to need to know the real truth. Do we like Simon?
0:24:21 - (Chapel Hart): We love Simon.
0:24:23 - (Chapel Hart): Oh, my gosh.
0:24:24 - (Chapel Hart): Simon was literally, to me, in my opinion, Simon was by far the nicest judge. I just wanted to go up and pinch his cheeks.
0:24:35 - (Jenna Lafever): Everybody helps when you're really good. You know what I mean?
0:24:39 - (Chapel Hart): Right, right. And I know. Go ahead, Go ahead.
0:24:43 - (Chapel Hart): I feel like America. I feel like the world has this, like, mean man Persona of Simon. But, like, I realized after a couple years, it's because, like, he knows what he's looking for. But I feel like he was so nice. Like, he kind of scared us at first because he would say something, and we're like, but what?
0:24:59 - (Chapel Hart): Go ahead. Come on. We can take.
0:25:02 - (Chapel Hart): But, like, he, like, during, like, commercial breaks, he, like, run up to the stage and say, I just want to let you girls know you're doing great. I absolutely love you.
0:25:11 - (Chapel Hart): We didn't win, though, because I think all the contestants would have been like, Simon Cheetah for them. He was so. He loved us so much. And I always tell people, like, you know, back in the day, Simon was a. Like, he was like a. Oh, he'd get the. He'd put that dagger in there and turn it on you, and it was like. But I think after he had. He has a son, and his son's, I think's about 8 or 9, probably, or maybe turning like 10 now.
0:25:35 - (Chapel Hart): And so I think once he had a kid, like, someone, it softened him up a little bit. And so I think that, you know, it's. It's the. It's that Simon that we see now that's a little bit more Refined than, you know, instead of being like, you suck. It wasn't the best thing ever.
0:25:49 - (Jenna Lafever): Like, how much is tv, right? Like, hey, we, like. Those comments are what people want to.
0:25:54 - (Lara Potter): See, too, so much like yourselves in writing your material and keeping it raw. Simon's just real. Yeah, that's exactly telling you what you need to hear, whether you want to hear it or not. That's just been my take. I mean, we're not close friends or anything, but.
0:26:09 - (Chapel Hart): Yeah.
0:26:10 - (Jenna Lafever): We were on the phone with Simon earlier. He was telling us how much he loved you girls.
0:26:13 - (Chapel Hart): It's so funny. He invited us to his house, and we got to sit down for some of the men, like, for mentoring for the show. And I said. I tell people. I said, we got there. And I instantly realized how poor I really was. Sometimes I would just stand by him and be like, just rub some of that off on me. Okay.
0:26:35 - (Lara Potter): Well, you know, these have. These opportunities have opened a lot of doors for you ladies, and I'm happy to see that. But what is next for Chapel Heart?
0:26:46 - (Chapel Hart): Oh, next. Well, next is going to be the release of this Christmas album, and I feel like it's. It's for. It's for all the people who want to start hanging mistletoe before the Pumpkin Spice even gets out. But after the album is released, we are going to start our Heartfelt Family Christmas tour, and we. We will kick it off in Japan because, like, we come from a military family. We do everything we can to support the military. So we're gonna go and sing for the troops from Guam to Japan and all around, and then come back to the States and tear the road up.
0:27:18 - (Jenna Lafever): That's awesome. How do we get on that list of tours?
0:27:22 - (Chapel Hart): Right?
0:27:22 - (Lara Potter): That's.
0:27:22 - (Chapel Hart): Are we.
0:27:23 - (Jenna Lafever): Yeah, we need it. We have Northeast Tennessee on there. Yeah, we need you.
0:27:27 - (Chapel Hart): Yeah, look, we got it. We'll talk. We'll talk to somebody.
0:27:29 - (Jenna Lafever): Here's our manager.
0:27:30 - (Chapel Hart): All right, there you go.
0:27:32 - (Chapel Hart): Look, we'll talk.
0:27:32 - (Chapel Hart): We'll talk to somebody, see if we can't get it. See if we can't swing a day over there.
0:27:36 - (Jenna Lafever): That'd be awesome.
0:27:38 - (Chapel Hart): Because we. Like I said, we love it. And also, we. We need to. We should just get together and chit and chat some more. But also, we've got to have lunch or dinner, so.
0:27:46 - (Jenna Lafever): Yeah, we gotta. We gotta.
0:27:48 - (Chapel Hart): We'll have both.
0:27:49 - (Lara Potter): Yeah, that's exactly.
0:27:51 - (Jenna Lafever): So I have another question. I know. I know we were taking a lot of yalls time, and thank you again for joining us and being with us today. I know you've Done the collaboration with Darius and then some more on this Christmas album. But who are the people that are, like, on your wish list of, like, we want to collaborate with them, like, because they inspire us and all these.
0:28:07 - (Chapel Hart): Things early this year, wanting this collaboration. One of the ones that are going to be on this Christmas album for life.
0:28:21 - (Chapel Hart): Yes.
0:28:24 - (Chapel Hart): And we got the collab, and I still am.
0:28:27 - (Chapel Hart): And I'm.
0:28:28 - (Chapel Hart): And I'm singing lead on the song.
0:28:30 - (Chapel Hart): With her, which is so. It is.
0:28:34 - (Chapel Hart): Can I see it?
0:28:34 - (Chapel Hart): Can we see it? Yeah.
0:28:36 - (Jenna Lafever): Because this is actually airing later, so. Yeah. And not. Not spoil it.
0:28:40 - (Chapel Hart): It is the one and only the legendary freaking Wilson.
0:28:47 - (Jenna Lafever): Okay.
0:28:48 - (Lara Potter): Okay. So I have to tell you something. Oh, my goodness. The. The manifest that has happened.
0:28:55 - (Chapel Hart): I knew I loved y'all.
0:28:56 - (Lara Potter): So I'm listening to your music right whenever. This is when we found out we were going to be. And I thought, I need to listen to more of what they got going on. And I said, from moment one of playing, I think it was, you can have him, Jolene. And I said, that's got a Gretchen Wilson vibe.
0:29:16 - (Jenna Lafever): Girls are back in town. There's like, a Gretchen Wilson reference.
0:29:20 - (Lara Potter): The vibe is Gretchen Wilson. I. It is not any surprise to me that she would want to jump on board what you guys are doing, because I can tell the inspiration is there.
0:29:29 - (Chapel Hart): Yeah, absolutely.
0:29:31 - (Jenna Lafever): She.
0:29:31 - (Chapel Hart): I said it was. It was so. It was so. I mean, it's such a full circle moment because. Because, you know, when I was. I was little and all, I mean, I begged my mom day after day after day for the Gretchen Wilson cd, and she was like, no, no. And she finally. She finally got it for me. And when I say, between me and tree, we. There was so many of our cousins who. We would just. We would play that Gretchen Wilson CD at my grandma's house all the time.
0:29:58 - (Chapel Hart): And I said, there were so many little, like, black redneck women, children running around. You would have liked. It was just the most. But she was just. I was like, you know, I remember watching her one morning. I would always watch CMT music videos before I went to school. And I remember seeing Gretchen Wilson, and I didn't really see any black women in country music, but I saw Gretchen and I said, man, she's different. And I said, if they'll take her, I think they'll take me.
0:30:22 - (Chapel Hart): And so I was like, gretchen was. And we tell her. We told her what time she. You were. You were like our. You were like our black woman in country music. Like, if Gretchen can do it, look, we can do it. I used to always say if the. If the music mafia. If they'll just. If they'll hang on, look, I know I could at least be in the music mafia. And so that was my. That was. That was my dream growing up, but to be able to be on a record with Gretchen.
0:30:48 - (Chapel Hart): And I mean, when you hear it, it's our kind of Christmas too. So there is something.
0:30:54 - (Jenna Lafever): Can you tell the song?
0:30:58 - (Chapel Hart): It's called A Heartfelt Family Christmas.
0:31:00 - (Lara Potter): So there will be some that you've written. Is it all.
0:31:05 - (Chapel Hart): We've got some originals on there.
0:31:07 - (Lara Potter): I love it. Yeah, I love it.
0:31:09 - (Chapel Hart): I mean, if you. If you love Christmas music and you love harmonies. Look, I'm just. I'm giving. I'm dropping everything off. I'm dropping everything off in your bag today. And what you do with it is up to you. Okay?
0:31:24 - (Chapel Hart): But that. That song in particular, it was like, you say, I feel like if you want to know what it's like coming home for Christmas with us and all 150 of the other hearts, that song is it in a nutshell.
0:31:39 - (Chapel Hart): Yeah. And it's like, you know, it's. And that's what I say, people. There's a lot of people who have traditional Christmases and they look, they dress it real nice and everybody wears lace and ribbon and bows and. And they dress tinsel on top of their little girl's heads. And look, I'm like, okay, but that ain't us, honey. They might be cussing and fighting and kicking and carrying it over. We gonna eat and have a good time.
0:32:00 - (Jenna Lafever): Look, we're gonna leave full and happy.
0:32:02 - (Chapel Hart): Some of us, but we have so many family, like so many kids and stuff that we get to a place now where they just have a garbage bag full of girl toys and a garbage bag full of boy toys.
0:32:16 - (Chapel Hart): Everybody get you something over 13, you ain't getting nothing.
0:32:21 - (Jenna Lafever): But with 17 siblings. And then you said 108 cousins, like, yeah, it's just. No.
0:32:27 - (Chapel Hart): Yeah, yeah. Gotta rent a venue to have Christmas for anything. And it's. It's really just a community Christmas because by that point, like, people are coming in. I said, you. You could see like famous people there. And you're like, what do. How do you. What are you doing?
0:32:41 - (Chapel Hart): You might see the janitor from. You might see the mayor, you might see everybody.
0:32:47 - (Lara Potter): But what a good small town feel, though.
0:32:49 - (Chapel Hart): Look, it really is. And. And we wanted this record to feel like it. And like I said, we've got everything from Heartfelt Family Christmas was a little bit rocking and it kind of feels More like what a heart Family Christmas is like. But also, we have got original music and we've got ballads. I said, we. We called in our best. We called in our besties, the Isaacs for a song, and we were like, listen, I don't know where all these harmonies are going to fit on one. On one song.
0:33:16 - (Chapel Hart): Don't even know if it's possible. And I mean, it's. It's one of the most beautiful songs that we. That. That you've ever heard as a Christmas song. And we've got classics and traditional songs and songs that we grew up on, like Christmas and Dixie. Like, we said, oh, yes, girl.
0:33:34 - (Chapel Hart): That one's got a little special guest on it, too.
0:33:38 - (Chapel Hart): Everything.
0:33:39 - (Lara Potter): I cannot wait.
0:33:40 - (Jenna Lafever): And, like, seriously, harmony and acapella with you guys crush are some of, like, my favorite things to hear.
0:33:46 - (Chapel Hart): Like, y'all remember that little feisty lady? Y'all said? She just standing kind of glare at you when you get off. When you get over that. We got one over here, too, but he's a. Y'all about to get in early, man. We were about to get in trouble. We ain't gonna say nothing else.
0:33:58 - (Chapel Hart): Ain't gonna say nothing.
0:33:59 - (Chapel Hart): But let me tell you what. October 15th, you better free.
0:34:04 - (Jenna Lafever): 25Th. Yeah, I got it. I got it. 15th is coming up real soon.
0:34:08 - (Chapel Hart): But you know what? That goes to show you, we were so anxious waiting for the 25th, we couldn't wait till we got a song called Come On, Santa. It's gonna be out on the 18th.
0:34:15 - (Chapel Hart): Yeah.
0:34:16 - (Chapel Hart): So.
0:34:19 - (Chapel Hart): You see exactly what you're doing like that. It kind of makes you do that. Like, it's just everybody. It's cute. So you can get that on the 18th. If you're just, like, biting your nails waiting for the 25th, we'll give you a little. A little taste on the 18th. But we've. We've. We've literally spent all year working on this Christmas record. And for what we thought we just wanted to be like, we'll sing some Christmas songs and we'll make a cd.
0:34:43 - (Chapel Hart): And that was not it at all. We ended up really sitting down, putting our heart and soul into this. And we have, like, tree said so many features, and they lend their hearts and their. Their voices to the record, and it really does feel exactly how we. We wanted it to feel like a Christmas with us and our family, and it really does. And I can't wait for y'all to hear it.
0:35:07 - (Lara Potter): Well, we can't wait to hear it, and we can't wait to have you Meet us in Tennessee. I need to ask that while you were here, while it was short, were you able to experience pals? Did anybody mention pals to you? Okay, so, Dr. Enough Bays, Mountain Park. We got so many things to introduce you to.
0:35:28 - (Chapel Hart): We gotta get to East Tennessee quick.
0:35:31 - (Jenna Lafever): Yeah, yeah. And we're not too far from where you'll be next week. But we'll have to plan another trip.
0:35:40 - (Chapel Hart): Out there for our Christmas tour. See if we can get a date out there. Maybe we can fingers across many fun.
0:35:45 - (Jenna Lafever): Christmas things here too. So, like, yeah, I want to be in the car with y'all. Y'all sing, serenade us and some Christmas tunes. We'll sing along a little quieter, a little crazy.
0:35:55 - (Chapel Hart): Yeah. Car rods have no balance. Either we're all, like, just dead asleep to the world, or we're, like, full on rain, Nothing in between.
0:36:06 - (Lara Potter): Ladies, you are a treat. I can't wait to meet you in.
0:36:09 - (Jenna Lafever): Person one day, and it's gonna happen.
0:36:11 - (Lara Potter): Good luck with the tour. Good luck with the Christmas album. Let us know when you're headed to northeast Tennessee so that you can meet us in Tennessee.
0:36:20 - (Chapel Hart): Absolutely.
0:36:21 - (Chapel Hart): Yeah. The girls will be back in town, baby.
0:36:24 - (Chapel Hart): That's right.
0:36:24 - (Lara Potter): Right. That's exactly right.
0:36:26 - (Jenna Lafever): We're gonna change it to. Well, shoot. I was trying to remember the words. Moonshine. It will change. Instead of whiskey, we'll say moonshine.
0:36:34 - (Lara Potter): That's right. That's right. I have a little bit of a script that. That tiny moss that, you know, hovers over us. She wants me to finish out. Thank you all. It was such a treat. Thank you. I just can't wait to see you here. Well, that's it for this episode of Meet Me in Tennessee. Like what you hear, Please subscribe on your favorite platform, wherever you like to listen or watch, and you can find out more@northeast Tennessee.org
0:36:58 - (Lara Potter): and until then, be.
0:36:59 - (Jenna Lafever): Sure to share your favorite Tennessee stories with us. Use the hashtag meetme in tn. Until next time.
0:37:06 - (Lara Potter): Bye, ladies. Bye.
0:37:08 - (Chapel Hart): Thank you so much.