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Celebrating Nashville Music: Chandler Marie's Journey as an Emerging Songwriter in Music City’s Scene · Takin’ A Walk Nashville

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  Speaker 1: M Taking a Walk Nashville.
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  Speaker 2: Hi everyone, I'm Sarah Harrelson, your host of Taking a
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  Speaker 2: Walk Nashville, and here with me today is Chandler Marie.
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  Speaker 2: She is a breakout Nashville based singer songwriter who has
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  Speaker 2: received eight Josie Award nominations and millions of streams.
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  Speaker 1: On her debut EP, Just Getting Started.
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  Speaker 2: Raised in a small Georgia town, she grew up surrounded
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  Speaker 2: by music making her way to Nashville.
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  Speaker 1: So, Chandler, thank you for being here today.
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  Speaker 2: You have released a couple of singles already so far
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  Speaker 2: this year. Your latest single, Like a Man, is the
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  Speaker 2: lead single from your upcoming debut album. It's a really
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  Speaker 2: fun breakup anthem. So where did the inspiration come from
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  Speaker 2: for the single? Yeah?
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  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for having me. This so much fun.
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  Speaker 3: It kind of came about when I was in the
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  Speaker 3: room with the co writers The Stone, Illy, Kylie Sackley
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  Speaker 3: and Dana Perdue and Three Girls, One Guy, and Kylie
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  Speaker 3: was just like, we need to write a breakup song
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  Speaker 3: about men who can't be men, and Stone's just like
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  Speaker 3: what It's like, Sorry, We're just gonna write a really
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  Speaker 3: bad breakup song about a bad guy and you're just
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  Speaker 3: gonna deal with it. Sorry, uh but yeah, it's just
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  Speaker 3: like men can't be men in a relationship. They're just
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  Speaker 3: walking out and we're like, we're just gonna kick you out.
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  Speaker 3: But then you just have some pride and leave, you know,
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  Speaker 3: gather up your ego. We're done. We're done putting up
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  Speaker 3: with bad men. It's basically how it all started.
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  Speaker 1: I love that you had a male co writer. Best
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  Speaker 1: song was it a peekn tribute?
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  Speaker 3: So he did more like the producing of the demo
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  Speaker 3: and the like final soundtrack, and he had some you know,
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  Speaker 3: input in the lyrics.
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  Speaker 1: But he was just like, oh, yeah, that's nice.
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  Speaker 3: Nice pull up your big boy bris Okay, got it?
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  Speaker 1: I love it.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's such a fun song, such great production and ke.
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  Speaker 2: You also released an acoustic cover of Jody Messinas I
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  Speaker 2: give it ams busted. I absolutely we hear a version
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  Speaker 2: of this song. Is Jody Messina a big influence of yours.
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  Speaker 1: She is.
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  Speaker 3: I love a lot of her music and just her vibes.
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  Speaker 3: We grew up a lot listening to her and heads
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  Speaker 3: Carolina was a good one. It was one of my
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  Speaker 3: number one songs that I sang on Broadway. So yeah,
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  Speaker 3: just listening to her and having being able to make
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  Speaker 3: it my own was really nice and fun and just
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  Speaker 3: get an acoustic feel.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's such a fun cover that you do. And
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  Speaker 2: you are just rolling with the new single releases this year.
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  Speaker 2: You have an upcoming single called Embers coming out in April.
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  Speaker 1: Tell us about that song.
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  Speaker 3: Oh goodness, So I like to call this one my
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  Speaker 3: spicy song.
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  Speaker 1: It has a little bit of a different feel.
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  Speaker 3: Than my normal songs. I don't want to give too
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  Speaker 3: much away because I want to keep y'all coming back
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  Speaker 3: for more. But we're gonna call it spicy and a
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  Speaker 3: little bit of a mixed genre.
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  Speaker 1: Ooh vibe. So on the r ided in April? Is
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  Speaker 1: it dropping? We don't know exactly yet.
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  Speaker 3: I swear we're just having me a little a little broad.
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  Speaker 1: We're hunting well.
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  Speaker 2: We can look forward to that. You also have an
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  Speaker 2: upcoming album. What has it been like working on your
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  Speaker 2: first debut album.
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  Speaker 3: It's a little crazy. We're not sure exactly what we
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  Speaker 3: want on it yet, so we're kind of just picking
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  Speaker 3: putting pieces together. What will go with like what we
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  Speaker 3: just said, like a man, what's gonna fit the vibe
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  Speaker 3: of that? It takes a lot of like thought process,
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  Speaker 3: Like I didn't think it take a lot of thought
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  Speaker 3: to put into the songs that you've written how you
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  Speaker 3: want to group them. But I'm a very like mindset
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  Speaker 3: of creative mind. And everyone's like, no, you need to
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  Speaker 3: do it based off what other things, and I'm like,
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  Speaker 3: but this song fits with this song, and this song
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  Speaker 3: fits with this song, and they're like, okay, well you
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  Speaker 3: need to do it based off numbers, and I'm like,
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  Speaker 3: no window creatively.
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  Speaker 1: So we'll see.
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  Speaker 3: I'm not sure exactly what we want on it yet,
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  Speaker 3: but like a man and Embers will definitely be on there.
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  Speaker 1: Nice. Have you been recording all of these songs in Nashville? Yes,
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  Speaker 1: they were recorded last year.
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  Speaker 3: We did fifteen songs. I'm so blessed to be able
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  Speaker 3: to get in.
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  Speaker 1: The studio and record fifteen songs.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, it was a lot, three days worth. Very excited
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  Speaker 3: and they're pretty much all done. I've written a lot
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  Speaker 3: more since then, so I kind of want to see
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  Speaker 3: where those go as well and get back in the studio.
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  Speaker 3: But we recorded at Soundstage Studios in Nashville, so yeah,
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  Speaker 3: it's very exciting. That's a great studio.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I can't wait to hear all of the songs
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  Speaker 2: and where your upcoming album will be.
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  Speaker 1: You've done a lot of performing here in Nashville.
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  Speaker 2: Last year, you performed on the CMA Fest Spotlight Stage
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  Speaker 2: at CMA Fest. Is that one of your favorite performances today?
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  Speaker 2: What was it like being at CMA Fest to perform.
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  Speaker 1: It was a lot of fun.
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  Speaker 3: It was so quick, Like you take all this time
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  Speaker 3: to building up to it, yeah, and then you're done
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  Speaker 3: with your four songs and you're like, wow, I feel
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  Speaker 3: like I prepared so much more for then actual performance.
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  Speaker 3: It was so much fun though, And I props to
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  Speaker 3: all of the CMA people that were working, like the volunteers,
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  Speaker 3: Like they were so kind and as chaotic as this
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  Speaker 3: event can be, they were so like able to help.
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  Speaker 3: We were lost. This was our first CMA Fest that
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  Speaker 3: we've been a part of, so they helped us out
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  Speaker 3: a lot, just you know, navigating Bridgestone and yeah, just
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  Speaker 3: you know, helping us. But it was so much fun
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  Speaker 3: just to be on I cried. I sang one of
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  Speaker 3: my songs and I was like, this is my thankful song.
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  Speaker 3: It was called Here's to You, but I was like,
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  Speaker 3: I'm so happy to be here and says all because
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  Speaker 3: of you guys.
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  Speaker 1: So I'm just gonna sing now.
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  Speaker 3: I was like, oh my gosh, I cried on stage
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  Speaker 3: in front of all of these people. I don't do that,
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  Speaker 3: but it was so much fun and it was just
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  Speaker 3: like I got to sign autographs, which was really cool
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  Speaker 3: that people were there to like see me.
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  Speaker 2: Was that at Fanfare? Like that was Spotlight stage at Fanfare? Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: that's in the Music City Center, which is.
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  Speaker 3: Oh yeah, Music City Center, not Bridget which is really
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  Speaker 3: nice though because it was raining that day so everybody.
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  Speaker 1: Was coming inside. So yeah, I was really excited.
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  Speaker 2: Well, and to get air conditioning because when it's not
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  Speaker 2: raining during CMA Fest yeah.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and the day before was beautiful and then I
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  Speaker 3: was like, oh, ninety percent chance of raining, right, nice.
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  Speaker 1: Well, well we see you at this year CMA Fest.
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  Speaker 3: Fingers crossed. I send in an application. I will be
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  Speaker 3: around and about. I applied to play a stage again
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  Speaker 3: this year, so we will see. If I don't get
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  Speaker 3: a stage, I will still be around just you know,
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  Speaker 3: pittle paddling and seeing what we can do.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, we can look on your website for your upcoming shows.
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  Speaker 2: What other upcoming shows do you.
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  Speaker 1: Have this year? Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: So I just played Whiskey Jam and now I have
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  Speaker 3: a few writers rounds here and there, and I'm going
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  Speaker 3: to be at the Mockingbird Theater in Franklin again in
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  Speaker 3: May first, so we're preparing for that be full band
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  Speaker 3: and ticket sales will be coming out soon.
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  Speaker 1: Perfect, And what's your website so people can find that,
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  Speaker 1: Chandlerwrene music dot com. Perfect. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: I love mocking Bird Theater. It's such a beautiful and
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  Speaker 2: intimate theater.
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  Speaker 1: It's a really cool, bod great place for shows.
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  Speaker 2: So, Chandler, you were raised in the small Georgia town.
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  Speaker 2: But it's funny because you attended the University of Tennessee.
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  Speaker 1: So how did that happen?
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  Speaker 2: Because usually you don't see a lot of Georgia people
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  Speaker 2: going to UT Knoxville.
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  Speaker 1: I get that a lot.
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  Speaker 3: So I've always been a UT fan. My dad's from Newport, Tennessee,
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  Speaker 3: so you know, he Bleeese orange and we grew up
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  Speaker 3: going to Tennessee games. My sister also went to the
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  Speaker 3: University of Tennessee and our degree. We did the same
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  Speaker 3: degree because it got us in state tuition, you know,
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  Speaker 3: saving money there cheaper to go there. So with therapeutic recreation.
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  Speaker 3: We got in state tuition, and I just always wanted
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  Speaker 3: to go out of state, get out of my hometown, explore,
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  Speaker 3: and Tennessee was the best option. Yeah, I loved it.
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  Speaker 3: That's four years of my life.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I love that.
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  Speaker 2: I'm from Knoxville, so go falls. Yeah, it's not too
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  Speaker 2: far from Nashville. You grew up around music, started writing
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  Speaker 2: songs at an early age.
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  Speaker 1: So were you always wanting.
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  Speaker 2: To pursue a career or music or was that something
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  Speaker 2: that came after graduating college For you?
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  Speaker 3: It was kind of always in the back of my brain,
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  Speaker 3: like I am moving to Nashville at some point. I
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  Speaker 3: didn't really know how to get there. But I also
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  Speaker 3: had a dream of wanting to go to the go
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  Speaker 3: to college, have that experience, join a sorority, do all
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  Speaker 3: of the things, go to football games. And I didn't
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  Speaker 3: really know when the music journey would come for me.
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  Speaker 3: It came obviously after college. But it's okay to have.
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  Speaker 1: More than one dream.
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  Speaker 3: So I finished college COVID hit. It was a really
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  Speaker 3: bad timing, but moved to Nashville and now I'm not
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  Speaker 3: using my degree as much, but we're singing and the
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  Speaker 3: University Tennessee has actually helped me with a lot of
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  Speaker 3: music things. I sing the national anthem there nice at
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  Speaker 3: different sporting events. I'll be back there for baseball and softball,
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  Speaker 3: and did the swim meet last year. So I think
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  Speaker 3: everything worked out to God's timing of when my music
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  Speaker 3: career came about.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, everyone's music journey is so different, and you know,
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  Speaker 2: I really don't think that a lot of people realize
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  Speaker 2: it takes so much work when you are starting your
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  Speaker 2: music career. You know, you've said you've done midnight sets
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  Speaker 2: on Broadway. Being a musician sometimes means long drives.
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  Speaker 1: To gigs, day jobs.
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  Speaker 2: Has the grind for you been worth it to pursue
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  Speaker 2: your music.
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  Speaker 1: Career and what has this journey taught you?
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  Speaker 3: Oh, it's been worth it one hundred percent. I don't
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  Speaker 3: think I would change a thing. I was talking earlier
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  Speaker 3: with Chrisita, and they're like, I always kind of look
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  Speaker 3: back and it's like, what if I would have started earlier?
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  Speaker 3: But you can't think of the wood ifs because you
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  Speaker 3: wouldn't be where you are right now. And there's a
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  Speaker 3: reason that you're I'm in this journey and like the
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  Speaker 3: spot I'm in. So I think just never giving up
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  Speaker 3: and working as hard as I can to get me
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  Speaker 3: to the next step, even though I don't know exactly
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  Speaker 3: the next steps I'm supposed to go, just kind of
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  Speaker 3: filling it out and seeing where the Lord takes me
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  Speaker 3: and just never always being the hardest working person in
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  Speaker 3: the room as much as I can.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely, And it can be so tiring.
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  Speaker 2: So I think it's always good to focus on your
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  Speaker 2: purpose when you're doing a music career because it can
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  Speaker 2: be exhausting going from day job to long night gigs
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  Speaker 2: to you know, not really knowing what's next in music.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and I think like at some points, I'm like,
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  Speaker 3: I'm getting so burned out, but you're doing everything for
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  Speaker 3: a greater accomplishment, Like you're working your way up to
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  Speaker 3: the next thing, And looking back now, I'm so much
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  Speaker 3: farther in my career than I was, so I'm very grateful.
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  Speaker 3: And it's all because you know, I've had great people
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  Speaker 3: in my life to get me there and the Lord's guidance.
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  Speaker 3: And I wouldn't change anything. I just would keep doing
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  Speaker 3: what I'm doing and hopefully the next steps.
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  Speaker 1: Will come about. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's worth it to share your stories, and so
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  Speaker 2: we're looking forward to your upcoming songs and shows. You're
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  Speaker 2: going to be at Country Rido Seminar this year. Looking
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  Speaker 2: forward to that, Chandler. Is something I always like to
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  Speaker 2: ask my guest on taking a walk Nashville. Do you
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  Speaker 2: have a favorite place you like to take a walk
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  Speaker 2: in Nashville.
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  Speaker 1: A favorite place I have kind of too.
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  Speaker 3: If I stay closer to home, it's just around my
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  Speaker 3: apartment complex because there's cows in the summer and you
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  Speaker 3: get to see the cows. But if I go away
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  Speaker 3: from my apartment, it would be downtown Franklin because it's
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  Speaker 3: just they call it the Hallmark of Tennessee, so it's beautiful.
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  Speaker 2: Now. Yeah, well, there have been Hallmark may Ye shot
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  Speaker 2: on Main Street in Franklin and you can see why.
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  Speaker 2: But yeah, that's such a popular answer as the Franklin area.
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  Speaker 2: It's not too far from Nashville.
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  Speaker 1: You go on Main Street. There's so much beautiful scenery
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  Speaker 1: out there too, it really is.
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  Speaker 3: And it's only two minutes from my house, so I
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  Speaker 3: love it.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, short walk's hit.
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  Speaker 2: Well, Chandler, Thank you so much for being on Taking
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  Speaker 2: a Walk Now Bill today, and we can't wait to
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  Speaker 2: hear your upcoming music this year.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you so much. This has been fun.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to Taking a Walk Nashville with Sarah Harrelson.
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  Speaker 2: Please check out our other shows produced by Buzznight Media Productions,
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: Comedy Save Me and Music Save Me hosted by Lynn Hoffman,
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: and Taking a Walk hosted by Yours Truly Buzznight. All
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• 12:30
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