Who Is Chapel Hart? The Story Behind Their Journey to Country Music
Who is Chapel Hart? The trio joined us to chat about their journey to country music. Get to know the all-female, familial trio here…
Quick Facts:
Full Name – Chapel Hart (Danica Hart, Devynn Hart, Trea Swindle)
Hometown – Poplarville, Mississippi
Current City – New Orleans, Louisiana
Label – JT3D
Latest Release – “Glory Days” (*as of date of article: 03/20/2023)
The Beginning:
Today we are excited to share the story behind the incredible all-female trio, Chapel Hart. The exciting country band is comprised of three family members, sisters Danica and Devynn Hart, and their cousin Trea Swindle. Together the ladies have created a beautiful legacy through music.
The women grew up in Poplarville, Mississippi, where music was at the forefront of each of their childhoods. “While we do have different stories, they all kind of intersect because Des is my sister and Tre’s our first cousin. We all come from the same family and we all have a very similar background,” they began. “We grew up in a very musical family. We had a huge family. My grandparents had 17 children and there are 108 cousins, and everything was surrounded by music.”
The women behind Chapel Hart even shared that in retrospect it feels like they grew up in a musical. “Anything you can name… birthdays, weddings, divorces, graduations, you name it, at some point, there was bound to be a piano to fly out of there or bucket drums, and then there was music.”
Despite listening to a bit of everything, due to their Mississippi roots, country music was the most prominent genre and influence. “We always say that there’s like a timeframe. Anywhere from 1913 to like 1980 or 90 is going to be Tre’s specialty and then all things 90s, early 2000s is me, and then Dev keeps up with all the newer stuff in country music, so we’ve got it all covered.”
The Turning Point:
While it was clear that music was each of their callings, Chapel Hart did not become what it is now until much later. “Growing up in Poplarville, Mississippi really prepared us for country music. If you were on the bus in the morning time, it was country music, if you were in school, it was country music, if you got a job and worked, it was country music,” shared the songstresses. Adding later, “We also lived those experiences.”
Chapel Hart started out in New Orleans as a duo. “It started out with just Danica and Trea kind of busking on the streets of New Orleans, so they kind of made their way around New Orleans and the music scene there,” began Devynn, “And then in 2018, I lost my job, so I didn’t really know what I was going to do, so I moved down to New Orleans and started singing with them.”
While grinding both in New Orleans and Nashville, Tennessee, doors started opening for the women. They secured a spot in CMT Next Women of Country Class of 2021 and ultimately found themselves auditioning for the popular talent show, America’s Got Talent (AGT). “We almost didn’t even audition for AGT because it has a bit of a negative stigma in the music community […] We were supposed to be traveling with the Indigo Girls, and then their camp got closed down for Covid, so we were like why not?,” explained Danica. She later added, “I always say ‘thank god that we did’ because I feel like it was the audition heard around the world.”
According to Chapel Hart, “AGT was the moment that all the grinding had led up to, it was the moment that everything exploded, and it’s starting to pay off for all the years we played the shows with 25 people there.”
Of course, America fell in love with their audition song, an original called “You Can Have Him, Jolene.” “People refer to it as a part 2 of “Jolene,” so it feels like we’re a part of country music history.”
Today:
Flash forward to the present day, Chapel Hart continues to build on the momentum that their hard work and AGT helped them build. With an album coming out soon and a tour happening now, the singer-songwriters are showing no signs of slowing down.
In order to continue to give music to fans, the women even released the tour’s namesake song, “Glory Days.” The single is a fun and relatable song that is hard not to fall in love with. “We couldn’t kick off the Glory Days Tour without at least giving the people the song that inspired it all,” shared Chapel Hart. “The song is literally about the good old days, where you sit around and talk with your friends about things 30 years from now, but more so it just kind of shines the light on the fact that most of us are living through our glory days now, and it’s a reminder to seize the moment.”
Like all of Chapel Hart’s music thus far, “Glory Days” is an introspective and honest portrayal of the women’s experiences thus far. “We fell in love with country music because of the story and how you can just find yourself right smack dab in the middle of the story,” and that sentiment truly embodies the single and their philosophy on music.
As we anticipate the next album, fans can look forward to a lot more from the singers. As they put it themselves, “Fans should be expecting more Chapel Hart. We are diving deeper, we’re putting together this album that is another collection of life experiences. What our goal was is to show fans a glimpse into this journey.”
Connect:
Fans can join our Weekly Round-Up e-newsletter here, for the latest in country music and more news and announcements about future Chapel Hart releases.
To keep up with Chapel Hart, follow him on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
Chapel Hart’s music is available everywhere you buy or stream music. Take a listen below and check out more new recently released tunes on our ‘New Country Music’ playlist. Be sure to give the playlist a follow for your weekly new country music fix.
