Chapel Hart On New Album ‘Glory Days’ And Rocketing To Fame After ‘America’s Got Talent’

The three women who make up Chapel Hart, sisters Danica and Devynn Hart and cousin Trea Swindle, are gathered in an office in downtown Nashville, ready to talk about their new album Glory Days. They’re full of energy and exuberance, as they jump up from the table with radiant smiles and warm, engaging hugs.

They’re in the middle of a country music dream come true and are excited, still a little in awe, and deeply grateful. So much has happened since these three Mississippi-natives took the country music world by storm with last year’s appearance on America’s Got Talent. They stole the night and much of the season with their song “You Can Have Him Jolene” that offers a response of sorts, to the Dolly Parton classic.

Right after their performance they had social media shout-outs from Dolly, the late Loretta Lynn, Tanya Tucker, and others. They’ve since appeared on the Grand Ole Opry, at the Ryman Auditorium, and accompanied Darius Rucker on his song “Ol’ Church Hymn.”

And now, they’ve just released their own, independent country album. Featuring lots of fiddle and steel guitar, it has 11 songs they wrote sharing their life experiences and stories. Tracks include “American Pride,” “If You Ain’t Wearin’ Boots,” “Home is Where the Hart Is,” “Love in Letting Go,” “Welcome to Fist City,” and others. And the album’s title Glory Days has special meaning.

“I don’t think things happen by coincidence, “Danica says, “I think it’s all by design. And it’s like we’re here in our glory days, these are the days we prayed about. It was just a couple of years ago we said we’re going to keep riding and keep going. One day we’ll get to play the Opry, one day we’ll get to play the Ryman. And now we’ve played the Opry what now, five or six times? And we’re still having pinch me moments!”

They may have shot to fame last year, but the three have been hard at work pursuing a country music career for a while. And the love of the music itself started decades earlier.

“Our grandmother had 17 kids and 108 grandkids, and everybody sang,” Trea explains. “There was a children’s choir with maybe 40 or 50 kids or so, but every family get-together, gathering, birthday party, funeral, divorce, you name it, music was going to happen at some point. That was just a part of life and we never saw it being an actual career back then, especially in small-town Mississippi.”

They were drawn to country music because that’s what they heard all around them.

“Country was like the one genre outside of church music we could listen to and relate to, and people would play everywhere,” Danica recalls. “If you were in the grocery store, on the bus, or at work, it was country music all the time.”

Danica says her dad also helped with her love of the genre. When she couldn’t fall asleep at night, the two would drive around and listen to music until she got sleepy.

“After dinner he’d put me in the car, and he’d turn on Kenny Rogers and we’d sing “Lady” as a duet, or we’d sing “Sold” (the auction song by John Michael Montgomery) and see who could sing it the fastest. It was really in those moments I fell in love with country music. Hearing Kenny Rogers sing “Lady” and hearing the yearning in his voice.”

When they got older and began getting serious about pursuing music, they headed to nearby Louisiana.

“I sometimes say if we had better sense, we’d have probably started in Nashville, but somehow we started in New Orleans,” Danica recalls. “They were like, ‘we don’t like country music down here,’ so we ended up playing party music. But it kind of goes back to everything being by design because we needed so badly to start in New Orleans. They’re wonderful and the most honest folks you’re going to come across in your life.”

While they say a lot of their New Orleans fans didn’t “love” country music, they liked Chapel Hart and continued coming to their shows. And as Danica, Devynn, and Trea began writing their own songs and sharing their stories, the three noticed their lyrics began resonating with those who heard them.

“Finally, we were like, we’ve just got to go to where they’re writing this music,” says Danica. “Either we can fit in and be actual become country music songwriters, or we can show up, suck, and know we need to pack up our bags and go home. So, coming to Nashville was our proving point.”

They headed to Nashville but right when they were starting to get some actual traction – COVID hit.

“We had a show at Ole Red (Blake Shelton’s place on Lower Broadway) on March 15^th, 2020,” Devynn recalls. “And as soon as we walked in the manager said, ‘The Governor’s pulled it.’ So, everything shut down and we had to go back to New Orleans.”

Chapel Hart credits both fans and local business owners for helping them survive during COVID whether it was giving them a place to perform or making sure they had food to eat. They remember how David McGee who owns a New Orleans food and music spot called DMACs told them at one point, “Don’t pull out your cards here. You guys are on scholarship and anytime you come here you’ve got a hot meal and whatever you want to eat.”

“In the middle of a freak’n pandemic when your own business is going under,” Devynn says, “and you’re helping other people.”

Those are the kinds of things that help keep Chapel Hart grounded. They’re mindful of where they’ve been, all it’s taken to get to where they are today, and yet, taking time to appreciate all that’s happening around them.

“You know, sometimes I feel like we have to stop and figure out how to dream bigger,” says Trea,” because all of a sudden everything we dreamed about has started happening. In the last nine months it’s been like bam, bam, bam, back-to-back to back. Even things we never would have imagined have happened, like who would have thought we’d become friends with THE Vince Gill? Like, why is he friends with us?” Here, she stops, laughs, and shakes her head.

One of the greatest gifts came from the late Loretta Lynn, who so appreciated the song they wrote in response to Dolly’s “Jolene,” she asked if they could do something similar with one of her songs.

“The wheels were turning and as we were going through her song catalog we were like dang, anything Loretta said is pretty much how Chapel Hart would say it,” Devynn says. “We were like we can’t really do a flip of a song like we did with Dolly’s, so we thought we’ll just extend “Fist City.” In “Fist City” Loretta kind of gives her warning, if you don’t stop messing with my man, we’re going to take you to Fist City. So, now we’ve got to welcome her to Fist City.”

Their song “Welcome to Fist City” is on the new album. Loretta didn’t get to hear it, but Chapel Hart played it for her granddaughter, Tayla Lynn to get the family’s approval before recording it.

Chapel Hart will be busy this summer touring to promote Glory Days and introduce themselves, in person, to new fans. They’re still independent, so far, no record deal, but they’re continuing to do what’s worked for them so far, not targeting the country music industry, but the people who listen to and love the music.

“That’s the people we’re writing for, that’s the people we’re sharing our experiences with,” says Danica. “Because, as we say during our Glory Days shows, you’re gonna have ups and you’re gonna have downs, and our fans are riding into it.”