Chasing Her Dream

Singer/songwriter pushing for success in the music biz

By AMANDA PARRY
Monitor staff

On a recent vacation with her in-laws, Shannon Chase was surprised when the hotel manager introduced himself. "He said, 'I heard your CD,'" said Chase, sitting in her Concord apartment. "It was really good." For a second she wondered where he got a copy of the album, Night and Day, which was produced in a rented Massachusetts studio. Then she realized it must have been her mother-in-law.

"She's so supportive," said 21-year-old Chase. "She's always making sure people get a CD."
Hey, every little bit helps when you're trying to build a career in the music industry.

"Even if you get a major label, like Columbia, to sign you, that's no guarantee," she said. "Only one in 10 people signed to a major record label ever makes it on the radio."

But she still hopes to be one of the lucky ones.

A native of Weare, Chase has been writing songs and singing ever since she can remember. When she was a girl they were simple songs about things such as her name. When she hit adolescence, they were about love and other topics she'd rather forget.

"It's so embarrassing, but some of them were about TV shows," she said, laughing. "I loved Beverly Hills 90210. I used to write songs about the characters."

At 17, Chase learned how to play the guitar, not because she liked the instrument, but because she wanted to be able to play gigs.

"I had a boyfriend who played and he taught me three chords: A, C and D," she said. "The rest I just learned on my own."

She played a few open mics in Concord and then when she graduated from high school bought a 20-day Greyhound bus pass. She traveled the country, playing her music wherever people let her. Because she was only 18, not all of the bars would let her in. So she ended up playing at bus stations and on park benches.

When she got in on an open mic in Los Angeles, Chase was surprised and delighted when members of the audience asked to buy her CD after the show. But she didn't have one. That's when she decided she needed to record.

Chase waited tables and saved for four years to afford the $13,000 cost of making the CD, which included hiring musicians and studio time. She feels like she lucked out: The musicians who played with her -including Michael Sweet of Stryper -all had years of experience and were able to give her lots of advice about the business.

One of the most important pieces of information is that she's not the "type" she thought she was.

"I think of myself as pop singer - I always described my style as like Mariah Carey's," she said. "But the guys said I wasn't like her at all."

Instead they compared her to adult contemporary stars such as Celine Dion, Elton John and Billy Joel. Chase said she's thrilled if that's how she comes across; she just doesn't want to be known as a folk singer.

"That's why I try not to perform solo," she said. "Once you do that you're the girl with the guitar."

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The Goffstown News
By AMY FORTIER

At the age of 21, Shannon Chase, a Singer/songwriter living in Concord, has already performed all over the US and Europe, has written over a hundred songs, has had her heart broken and mended, has recently had her first radio interview and her music aired, and has just finished her debut album entitled "Night And Day." In the past few weeks after completing her CD, Chase has been planning her debut CD release party that is scheduled for July 27th at 7pm at the Annichiarico Theater in Concord, NH.  This release party is open to the public and is essentially a free concert as Chase will be performing five songs off her album "Night and Day." Chase describes her musical style as pop, but "not bubble gum pop."

Chase's first CD is a compilation of some of her most "catchy and commercial songs" and her music could easily be mistaken for several of the top 40 female vocalists.   Chase is frequently compared to Michele Branche and Faith Hill because her music has a "Nashville" twang, but people have also likened her to Jewel. "I was playing once and someone came up to me and said 'I haven't heard
that new Jewel song,' and I had to tell them it was because I wrote it." relates Chase with a smile about being confused with such a popular singer. Yet, all these people Chase is so frequently compared to have influenced her style only minimally.  Chase has always loved Mariah Carey and relates that Carey has influenced her own music, but Chase says she was also affected by
the music her parents listened to while she was growing up. "I think a lot of my musical instincts originate from my parents listening to the oldies.  You don't really realize what shapes how you write, but people have compared my music to Elton John and Billy Joel too," says Chase.

Regardless of the bevy of known musicians Chase can be compared to, she has catchy lyrics about universal themes like love and relationships that we can all relate to, and a freshness and enthusiasm for her music that inevitably results in humming, head bobbing, or foot tapping.
Growing up in Weare, NH, Chase has been interested in music for much of her life, and not just singing, but in songwriting as well.  By the age of 13, Chase had already composed over 25 songs,one of which is still a favorite of hers to this day and appears on her CD: "Holding On."  In the 8th grade when most other girls are interested in boys and shopping, Chase wrote a musical
complete with score. "I have always wanted to be involved with music.  I have wanted to be a
singer since forever," Chase says of her lifelong ambition. During her years at John Stark High School, Chase composed many of her songs in class, much to the chagrin of her teachers, but she was fortunate to have people who believed in her musical talent. Kevin Greene, Chase's High school music teacher, used to listen to Chase's music and then help to put the music down to it.  Greene, who originally wrote down the guitar accompaniment, will be playing with Chase in an
acoustic concert at her CD release party.   Greene also encouraged Chase to pick up the guitar herself.

Throughout school Chase performed in many musical productions and was selected for the NH All State Music Festival which resulted in her acceptance into the US Youth Ensemble, a group of 180 American students that toured all over the world performing.  "I performed in Notre Dame and
St. Mark's Square and the experience was amazing," Chase raves. When she was 18, Chase decided to take her talent on the road and purchased a one month Greyhound Ameripass which allowed her to travel anywhere in the country via bus.  With absolutely no itinerary and only $200 in her pocket, Chase traveled across the country playing her guitar and singing for money. She made it as far as Hollywood and New Orleans and her music and performances enabled her to make friends and fans wherever she went. The support and encouragement Chase received from strangers and her 'new friends' made her feel closer to her dream of becoming a 'real' singer
and she spent the next few years expanding her repertoire of songs, waitressing, performing and working on her first Album.

Apart from her training in High School, Chase has always gotten by on natural talent and practice.  She taught herself to play the guitar and to write music, but she is by no means satisfied. Chase wants to perfect her guitar skills and take more voice lessons to explore the possibilities of her vocal range.  Chase has written over 100 songs but has plans for many more and is already thinking about future albums. Chase considers herself a true product of her generation, "a pop-culture kid."  Some of her early songs were inspired by the angsty drama 90210 and she describes herself as a "girly-girl" because of her fascination with fashion and glamour.  Yet when questioned about some of Pop's biggest icons like Brittany Spears, Chase does not entirely approve of their
provocative fashion sense.  The images of Chase on her album jacket are young and sexy, but also fashionable and tasteful.  Chase says these photos were inspired by television programs on models, but in everyday life Chase describes herself as "down to earth but styled."

Chase says that she "does not want to be a big pop name because they do not have staying power.  I want to write music that people can relate to, not just when they are 12, but at 20, 30, 40." Chase intends her music to "appeal to a broad audience."  Chase loves it when her younger fans come running up to her asking for an autograph, but she has many older fans who really appreciate her music. "I think it's because my music is not fake.  Sincere music is rare to
find," Chase explains the diversity of her fans. Chase's support and local popularity is by no means a guarantee on the long and arduous road to a career in music however.  It's a lot of hard work
with little money. "Sometimes it's very scary," says Chase about the life of a musician,
"but I am more afraid of not trying than trying.  I never want to look back and regret."

Even if Chase is never signed by a huge record label, she is content because she is living her dream.  "Sometimes before I go on stage I am a wreck.  I get really nervous, but when I start singing my first song, I am completely relaxed and know that this is what I am supposed to do."
Chase's CD will be available for purchase at her CD release party, which she invites everyone in the community to attend. "I'm very excited about it," says Chase, "It's a very small, intimate
setting for 150 people, there will be food and drinks, and I'm going to sing five songs.  It will be fun," Chase says with the excitement about her musical career that she cannot contain.

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