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Chapel Hart: putting country back in Nashville

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Chapel Hart is ready to put the country back in Nashville

As the -led motorcade carrying the members of Mississippi country trio Chapel Hart made its way to the pavilion at Founders Square at the Neshoba County Fair on July 23, Devynn Hart was surprised by the number of cars she saw.ย 

But she was truly shocked when they finally arrived, and she could see the crowd of people waiting to see her perform with her sister, Danica Hart, and cousin Trae Swindle, all childhood friends from , on the Thacker Mountain Radio Hour. It’s a moment she won’t soon forget.

โ€œSeeing everybody sing the words to our songs, [and] not just โ€˜You Can Have Him Jolene’โ€”there were little kids there that knew all the words to almost every song that we performedโ€”it’s mind blowing,โ€ Devynn says.

Danica, who immediately outs herself as โ€œthe loud one,โ€ agrees. โ€œIt sounded like we were performing at a stadium, and the only thing that I could think was, โ€˜Mississippi loud and proud, baby!’ I was right where I needed to be after all of this. You know, after everything exploded.โ€

She’s referring, of course, to Chapel Hart’s stunning televised audition on โ€œAmerica’s Got Talentโ€ just four days earlier, which vaulted them onto the national stage. After performing their original song โ€œYou Can Have Him Jolene,โ€ a response to Dolly Parton’s signature hit โ€œJolene,โ€ the four celebrity judgesโ€”Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandell and Sofia Vergaraโ€”put their hands on the coveted โ€œgolden buzzer,โ€ a unanimous sign of approval ushering them straight to the competition rounds.ย 

Social immediately went nuts for the group, especially after Parton herself weighed in the following morning with a tweet praising their take on her โ€œJoleneโ€ tale. The group’s new fans sent their 2021 album, The Girls Are Back in Town, to the top of the iTunes country charts the same day. Even Darius Rucker jumped in, announcing they would sing on his next album.ย 

Three weeks later, the Chapel Hart train is still rolling strong. The group’s โ€œAGTโ€ performance has been viewed more than seven million times on YouTubeโ€”on top of the seven or so million who watched it live on NBCโ€”and their video for โ€œYou Can Have Him Jolene,โ€ filmed in and released a year ago, is clocking views in the millions, as well.

Seated on a couch in a Ketchum, Idaho hotel suite, the ladies of Chapel Hart are beaming with energy and enthusiasm. They’re on a short tour, playing gigs booked before their breakout moment, until they’re due back in Los Angeles to continue their bid for the โ€œAGTโ€ crown. But they know that no matter the outcome of the show, they’ve already won big. A month from now, they’ll fulfill a dream by performing on the Grand Ole Opry. And the numbers don’t lie; they have the attention of country music fans, and likely the industry gatekeepers, as well.

Wracked with emotion standing on the โ€œAGTโ€ stage, Danica responded to Cowell through tears when he asked how they’ve been working to establish themselves in the country music industry. โ€œWe’ve been trying to break into Nashville for the last of years,โ€ she said, โ€œbut it’s been kinda hard when I think country music doesn’t always look like us.โ€ย 

Trae picks up her cousin’s train of thought, using a pointed anecdote she heard at a recent conference organized by Change , a Nashville group established to pursue gender equality in country music, about the unspoken rules dictating how non-white and female artists get pushed in Music City.

โ€œThey highlighted a very specific, pertinent pointโ€”and it wasn’t just for minorities, it was for women and marginalized communities as a wholeโ€”Nashville has forever had this, โ€˜just one at a time’ concept,โ€ Trae says. โ€œFor a while it was just Darius Rucker, then they slowly added the Jimmie Allens and the Brelands and the Kane Browns. Mickey Guyton just got pushed to the forefront last year, although she’s been in Nashville and in the music industry for over 15 years.โ€

Country music trio Chapel Hart hails from Poplarville

Similarly, the overnight of Chapel Hart has been brewing for years, built on their mutual love of the country music that has been omnipresent in their lives since they were kids.ย 

โ€œGrowing up in Poplarville, country music was the music,โ€ Danica says. โ€œIf you’re going in the grocery store, the music playing overhead’s country music; if you’re on the school bus and the school bus driver brings his or her radio, it’s country music; if you have a job and you’re at work and they have music that goes on at work, it’s country music. Even I remember at nap time when we were little and they turned on music when you get ready to lay down and go to sleep, and it was country music.โ€

โ€œWe always used to say, we wanna bring country music back to country radio,โ€ Danica offers. โ€œAnd so the push is just good country music, you know what I’m saying? It’s the stuff we grew up on it. It’s nineties country.โ€

Although the trio has been based in New Orleans for several years, they make an effort to show love for their home state. Devynn wore a Mississippi shirt on a recent CMT appearance, and they refer to her in songs like โ€œ4 Mississippi.โ€ Their love of home with few asterisks, if any.

โ€œHonestly, I think the world needs to understand that Mississippi is a place of just pure love,โ€ Trae says. โ€œI know that there are lots of stigmas on Mississippi, being at the bottom of the list for a lot of things, from education to to everything else. Danica often says it in our show, talking about growing up, a lot of people were too poor to even know the difference, so everyone came together. And I feel like seeing us do what we’re doing on such a scale is showing the power of that Mississippi hospitality. You have people who are in completely different socioeconomic classes, completely different culturally, but, like, being brought together all [for] the sake of good music.โ€

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Mississippi News

Dollar General vehicle theft leads to two arrests in Tupelo

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www.wcbi.com – Aundrea Self – 2024-11-04 16:10:00

SUMMARY: In , Mississippi, 19-year-old Joshua James and a juvenile face charges related to a pursuit and the of a police car. James is charged with Directing a Felony to Be Committed by a Person Under Seventeen, Grand Larceny, and Felony Fleeing, with a bond set at $100,000. The incident began on November 1 when police responded to a of a stolen vehicle. After a chase that ended when the stolen truck crashed south of Verona, James was apprehended, while his juvenile passenger fled in a police car, which was later found wrecked. The juvenile’s case will be handled in Youth Court.

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Categories: Crime, Local News


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Lowndes Co. Supervisors talk storm safety for certain areas

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www.wcbi.com – Marcus Hunter – 2024-11-04 15:59:00

SUMMARY: The Lowndes County Board of Supervisors has secured to construct storm shelters in Crawford, Artesia, and Plum Grove, lacking local shelter during severe weather. Each community will four FEMA-funded shelters, accommodating up to 20 people each, on property at a total cost of $103,692, with FEMA contributing $93,000. The supervisors anticipate these shelters will significantly enhance safety for during storms. Vice President Jeff Smith highlighted their importance, expressing relief for community members who have long awaited a secure refuge. While installation timelines remain unclear, the is expected to proceed soon.

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News anchor dropped after social media post telling Trump-haters supporting Harris: ‘Stay home, donโ€™t vote’

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www.foxnews.com – – 2024-11-04 11:51:00

SUMMARY: David “Dave” Elliott, a anchor for in for nearly 40 years, was fired after expressing political views on social . He revealed on Facebook that his termination was due to his political opinions, specifically mentioning a where he advised people not to vote out of hatred for Donald Trump. Elliott characterized his social media posts as satire, distinguishing them from his professional work. He noted that the discussion with his station’s general about his dismissal was brief, and the topic of social media was raised. WLOX’s management declined to comment on the matter.

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