Post by janet on Oct 22, 2007 22:24:12 GMT -5
Carol Chase, who has been involved in the music business in Los Angeles and Nashville, will perform in her hometown of Stanley Oct. 28.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Carol Chase has sung on stages around the country and recorded with big-name musicians. Yet, except for singing in her high school choir, she’s not performed in her hometown.
The Stanley native, currently backup singer in the Lynyrd Skynyrd band, finally will get a chance to sing for the hometown crowd on Oct. 28. She will perform during the Mountrail County Health Foundation’s Fun-Raiser, which also features guest speaker Ashley Andrews of Bowman, national rodeo queen and cancer survivor. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. in Stanley High School.
Chase remembers getting her start in music as a young girl singing with her sisters at events of their mother’s music club. Although her mother no longer is living, her father, Q.R. Schulte, a former Mountrail County state’s attorney of more than 20 years, still resides in Stanley.
Chase came into her own as a singer after she went off to the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks.
She was a football cheerleader, member of the University Chorus and singer with a band that played in the Grand Forks area. Her rendition of “Since I Fell for You†helped win her votes to become the engineering college’s Miss Engineering.
Although she earned a degree in psychology, her real interest was music. After graduation, she, her husband and baby daughter headed west to pursue her dream.
“I knew I would be a singer,†she said. “I really wanted to go to L.A. but that seemed so scary. So we stopped in Reno.â€
While there, she won a talent contest and caught the attention of a music producer, who suggested she come to Los Angeles.
That encouraged her to at least move to California, where she became lead singer with a rock band in Disneyland. Having done well with her voice to that point, she decided to try Los Angeles.
She sang the standards with a trio at a Los Angeles club and was doing demos for various artists. She sang in commercials for companies such as MacDonald's, Coca-Cola, Chevrolet and Hallmark.
A producer saw one of her shows and offered her a record deal with Casablanca West.
Performing a brand of country music popular on the West Coast, Chase saw her album climb to the top of the charts in the trade magazines.
She also had her first song-writing success with “We Belong Together,†which Susie Allanson made a No. 1 country hit in the early 1980s.
Chase was considered one of the top newcomers in the business, but her record label folded, as did another newly formed label that she later signed with.
So she headed to Nashville, Tenn., where she still lives, and became a popular demo and back-up singer on major artists’ records. She’s sung back-up with Engelbert Humperdinck and Highway 101. Her voice also is on recordings by Randy Travis, Martina McBride, Tanya Tucker and George Jones.
As a song writer, Chase has had her works recorded by Pam Tillis, “Do You Know Where Your Man is Tonight?â€; Ronnie Milsap, “Civil Warâ€; Martina McBride, “True Blue Foolâ€; and Rickey Van Shelton, “Baby Take a Picture,†among others.
In 1996, a friend and guitarist for Lynyrd Skynyrd called her about an opening for a back-up singer in the band. At first, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to try out, thinking she already had a good life as a Nashville song writer.
“I don’t have that life anymore,†she says now, having been with the band more than 10 years. “It’s a totally different experience. You are playing for 15,000 people. ... You get to go to the best places and just see the world really.â€
She’s on the road about five months of the year and has been to Europe seven times with the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Famer. They’ve performed with groups such as Big and Rich, ZZ Top, Doobie Brothers and Kid Rock.
The coming year includes a tour date on a cruise. It will be the second cruise for the band.
Life with the band is dramatic with lots of high energy because of all the personalities involved and the type of work they do, she said. She added that the band also has a wide audience appeal, performing before fans of all ages.
“That really makes it fun,†she said.
When not touring, Chase continues to write songs and do back-up vocals on albums.
In 2004, she recorded a solo compact disc titled “Blue Highway.†Although back-up singers tend to draw less attention than the show stars, she has fans who’ve posted remarks on the Internet that her CD “creates magic†and makes them “wanna dance one minute, cry the next.â€
Chase has no plans for another CD at this point, voicing contentment with her role as back-up singer with Lynyrd Skynyrd.
“I knew I was going to be a singer, and I wanted to sing in front of lots of people, but actually this turned out a lot better for me. I get a lot of the perks, and I don’t have a lot of the responsibility,†she said.
When the fan and media attention get heavy on the guys, she and her fellow female back-up singer can slip out unnoticed and go shopping.
“I really like it,†she said, adding that the image of the wild-living, southern rocker suggested in the band’s publicity photos isn’t really her.
“I am from North Dakota,†she said. “I have never gotten caught up in the rock ’n’ roll world.â€
Rather, Chase has a master’s degree in holistic nutrition and the first thing she looks for when the tour bus arrives at the next hotel is the fitness center.
Her love for and ability to sing all kinds of music enables Chase to make herself into a southern rocker or whatever type of singer she needs to be at that moment.
“That’s why I have been able to exist in the music business – because of my versatility,†she said. “I have been very, very lucky. I have made my entire career living in the music business. That’s probably a major success in itself.â€
Her audience at the Fun-Raiser can expect to hear some of her musical range, including a little rock ’n’ roll, some blues, 1940s tunes and Bette Midler songs.
Tickets to the event should be purchased in advance and are available at any Stanley business or from the Mountrail County Health Center by calling 628-2442. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students.
There also will be a silent auction and door prizes.