Today we’d like to introduce you to Jane Chambers.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I grew up around music, in church, in school, and in my spare time. I would create short songs and melodies when I was a little kid. I have videos of my mom filming me singing songs I had created. Half of the time it was a nonsensical jumble of words, probably just imitating what I heard on the radio. I was always taking voice lessons and involved in choir. I was kind of obnoxious about full transparency. When I was 9 I started writing songs down and creating actual pieces of music. The first instrument I played was the ukulele which was because Dodie Clark was big at the time. She was and still remains a huge influence to me musically. I loved playing covers and posting them on instagram for my friends.I I didn’t pick up guitar or piano until I was around 13-14. My dad gave me one of his guitars during 2020, which was when I started writing songs that i actually enjoyed and felt proud of. Around 2021 was when I made the album “In Chambers”. All I did was record the songs on my phone so the quality isn’t great but It was important to me to share what I had written. The only song I actually “produced” was a track called “Grace’s Lace” which is still a very significant song to me because it was the first time I wrote something through stream of consciousness writing. I wasn’t thinking about what I was saying, I just had a guitar part and recorded the first few lines that came to mind. The rest of the song was pieced together with other writing I had and I really felt connected to the message that was made. For the past few years Ive spent time writing and playing shows and meeting other local Nashville artists. Ive met so many incredible people such as Troy Donahue, Peter Dickson, and James Tristan Redding. Musicians that have taught me and influenced me so greatly about the process of honesty and how its a constant challenge to be truthful and vulnerable when the music industry is so passionate about marketability. I had to leave Nashville to go to school, and right now I am majoring in Music Therapy at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, which brings me so much joy, the idea of sharing the healing components music has had for me with other people. Before I left for school I got a dream opportunity to play a show as DRKMTTR, which is an all ages nonprofit venue with incredible atmosphere. It is still my favorite place Ive played and I hope I get the opportunity to play there again. Currently I am working on recording new music as I released my song “Judas Lamb” at the end of 2024, and plan to put it on an EP by the end of this year! But for the summer I am focusing on writing and recording some really cool music Im very excited to share.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
There have certainly been challenges! Nashville is full of so many musicians that all want to make songwriting and performing their career. It can feel like you have the shout to be heard when you’re in a room full of people who are doing anything but listening to you. It’s part of the process I think. It makes you really look at how you personally feel about the music you make instead validation from the audience. I will always make music no matter who hears it or how I profit from it, but it is always nice to imagine living off of it. I use songwriting as a way to process the thoughts I have and things that are hard to talk about in front of others. I was diagnosed with ASD when I was 17, and always feeling a sense of distance from the community around me was a large portion of my childhood, and still is very prevalent. Being undiagnosed for the majority of my adolescence meant I spent a lot of time in my head and wondering why things didn’t occur as easily to me, at least socially, as they did for others. Music was something I was told I was good at, so it’s always been the thing people assosciated with me. I used a lot of that to my advantage and created this identity within myself that was rooted in music, performing, and creating. In may ways its been fulfilling. That doesn’t eliminate the constant fight to stop comparisons and to give myself space to simply exist without feeling the need to make something for people to enjoy. Performing means being a performance, so learning how to distant who you are from what you give to others is so important. I have seen firsthand the implications of not doing that and it can make the things you love things you resent.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I write songs! I tend to lean more towards the acoustic, folk, indie, style of songwriting. I think a big value I have for songwriting and making music is uncensored honesty. Some of my biggest inspirations in music are impactful to me because they say things I would never think to say. Tori Amos is one that amazes me with how obscure she lets her thoughts become. It’s very easy to only speak as a way to be understood, but it so freeing when you’re able to let go of them and speak simply to express. Thats the biggest goal I have with my songs. Im not writing these things because I think I’ll feel that way forever, but it was how I felt then, and so Im going to express it. Really focusing on knowing what you are in the moment isn’t all you will ever be. When I write with this lack of judgment I find that I am the most proud of my work.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
One thing I loved doing when I was younger was acting. I don’t get to do it very often but I loved the little musicals they would put on in elementary and middle school. When I was in 3rd grade i played Cruella De Vil in the 101 Dalmatians musical my school put on. It was so fun and I certainly committed to the bit. It opened myself up to something different than music as a creative outlet. I continued to do musical theatre groups and acting workshops up until high school. Its not something I do very often anymore just because there are only so many hours in a day, but it will always be a lovely memory for me as it made me discover a new way to incorporate musical expression into my life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/janechambers
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@_janechambers
- Other: https://janechambers.bandcamp.com/track/carries-on-demo
