Meet Chloe Alexander of Nashville

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chloe Alexander

Hi Chloe, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born in McHenry, Illinois, an hour from Chicago. My mother is American, my father is from India. He was a skilled classical singer and guitarist. He came to America so he could complete school and become an “American Rock Musician”. Not long after, he cut his career short to have a family.

My parents divorced when I was just four years old, and my mom and I moved in with my grandpa, who lived 2 hours away in Rockford. Even though it felt like we lost so much, my Grandpa Don made sure we still had everything. Including family dinners and a good education.

My mom and I have always been best friends. While she was never musically inclined, she is my best coach. She recognized that I had in me the same voice my father had. My mother made sure that with that talent, I would apply it with a good head on my shoulders.

At age thirteen, my mother put me into voice lessons. At one point, she even donated plasma to make extra money and afford it! My first vocal coach was a gifted coach, training me with a very impressive and powerful vocal range. But she was very strict, and encouraging that it was only appropriate to sing opera, classical and jazz music.

For most of the high school and college, I pursued theatre very competitively and also worked as a Disney Princess for kid’s birthday parties. It was the most accessible avenue for me to purse music, and I loved acting. I successfully earned main roles at a young age compared to others trying out. My favorite role I ever played was Maria in West Side Story for Starlight Theatre. An interesting fact is that I grew up in the same town as Jodi Benson, the voice actress for Ariel in Disney’s Little Mermaid. And the last time Starlight Theatre put on a production of West Side Story, Jodi Benson played Maria.

My sophomore year of college, I had an epiphany.
While musical theatre and opera had such a huge part of my heart, I knew that was not all I wanted my music to be. And when it came down to things, I couldn’t tell you much about opera and theatre other than the productions I’ve been apart of.
However, I could tell you a full encyclopedic analysis about the discography of Radiohead, Fiona Apple, Lana Del Rey and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. And I realized, that’s how I need to start using my voice. To write my own music, and for my favorite genres of Indie and Alternative Rock. And even though I had only been doing classical music all my life, 20-years-old was not too late to start going my own way.

Transitioning from theatre to an independent artist, you are self-starting with nothing but yourself. Nobody knows who you are in the beginning, or believes in you. It is a lot like being an entrepreneur.
I had to teach myself how to build every part of my music career from scratch.
It started with teaching myself guitar and finding my new voice. You would think that if you can belt opera notes, you can easily sing contemporary. But, it is an entirely different way of using your instrument.

In 2019, I began a YouTube channel for my independent career through music. Investing in recording equipment, learning how to record and produce myself, and how to edit my own videos. Since then, it has gained over 6 million views and I was able to monetize channel with over 52,000 subscribers.

While completing college in Bloomington, Illinois, I sold insurance to save up and move to Nashville. I also became close with a venue owner, James Gaston, of a small jazz lounge downtown, Jazz Up Front. He taught me a lot about the industry, and protected me like his granddaughter. As I was learning how to start doing my own gigs, he agreed to give me a Wednesday night slot every week to host my own open mic.
That open mic was significant to my journey in finding my new voice. It’s where I got my 10,000 hours. And it taught me how to find freedom in my writing and hone my craft. It also was extremely gratifying to witness overtime a new crowd of people attract to James’ bar and grow his business. Many types of musicians of different demographics and genres were able to connect and find an open atmosphere to perform on stage.
That wave lead me to open for some incredible artists, even in the small town of Bloomington. In 2022, I got to open for American Idol winner, Maddie Poppe, and now Grammy-nominated musician Maggie Rose!

Shortly after, I felt like I was ready to do the jump, and move to Nashville.

In Nashville, I am a door to door salesman during the day. But in the evenings, I work on finishing my EP and perform my gigs all over town! My new EP is coming out in January, and this March I will be flying out to film for America’s Got Talent!

My debut EP is called “King of the World”. Produced by Greg Young, and executive produced by Emily Bruzzo.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Of course not!
Transitioning from theatre to an independent artist, you are self-starting with nothing but yourself. I have had to teach myself how to build every part of my music career from scratch, while supporting myself financially. The finances have only gotten slimmer since moving to a new city alone.

And as a young woman, I have had to empower myself through very unethical circumstances. When you want to work with people outside of yourself, you can find some pretty interesting characters. Sometimes, it makes you question whether it is worth it to grow your career.
Luckily, it’s easy to fight for my voice when I remember that my voice is the whole reason I started this journey.

Before moving to Nashville, I had been recording my debut EP with a very close friend that already lived in Nashville as an aspiring producer. When I moved to Nashville in summer 2023, I thought that within only a few months I would have my first record finished. However, I went through a brutal learning lesson. This person had been taking advantage of the situation, and keeping me tied to him by not finishing the project. They were going through many problems, including addiction, and I found myself caught in a very difficult situation where I had to abandon 2 years of my work and start over.
I realized that this was not the story of how I wanted my most important music to be shared to the world. It was incredibly devastating to have to lose a friend, lose my music, and have to start over with nothing in a brand new competitive city feeling like I had lost everything and knew nobody.

The struggles always make you better, wiser, stronger. Sometimes they drive you to a point where you feel like you have nothing left to lose. That’s when you realize there’s nothing stopping you then from doing whatever. And you start to find a different part of yourself you never realized you were capable of doing.

And luckily during that time, I met one of my best friends today, Greg Young, who helped me recreate all of my songs that were supposed to be released, and for the better. Looking back, I am incredibly grateful I decided to wait so that these songs could be given the work they deserve, and that I have an even greater friend to come from it.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a singer/songwriter. I write my own music, produce a lot of it, and perform all over town! I also play guitar. My voice is my best instrument, but I feel like my lyrics give it even more of a special purpose. The thing I enjoy most is writing, and watching my voice come to life as I sing.
Something that sets me apart from others is that I really know who I am, and I wouldn’t compromise it to be seen. I also feel like my writing comes from a unique perspective. It can feel random and specific, but I have heard people say that my songs make them feel “human”.

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I have Bachelor’s degree in Economics, because I love measuring how the world works. And one of the topics often analyzed is risk. There are times to be risk adverse, if you are certain you want it that way, But most things we deeply desire have the least amount of certainty.
I knew that if I would have continued to pursue theatre and opera, people would always be impressed by my high notes, but that would limit me in this box of being the opera girl.

Starting a new career in music meant that it would probably be a long time before I could be seen as talented again, if ever. I’d argue that there is not really a specific threshold to understand when an independent singer/songwriter is considered talented, because so much of their career will be innovative and crazy ideas until someone decides it is genius. And the ones who don’t make the crazy decisions can get lost in mediocrity and similar sounds.

Even with a college degree that specializes in measuring risk, and even after working for an insurance company nearly 5 years, a business focused entirely on risk, I still believe that there’s never a way of manipulating your way of it if you want some level of greatness.

The greatest paths are just inherent to risk. I thought I could beat the risk of moving to Nashville to become an artist, so I made sure I had college degree, professional and artistic experience, and a 401k before moving. Even though I thought I had it all measured out, not 6 months later, I went through a time when I was unemployed, drowned my savings, and left without a plan.

Facing risk brings you closer to your intuition. My intuition has always had a track record of making my best songs. With intuition, there is no certainty where it will guide you, or where you’ll end up. But that’s the catch. Intuition steers you to make the best decisions that bring you closer to your desires, even if it feels risky at first. That’s why most greatness comes from risk, and why risk ends up becoming our greatest plan.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chloealxander/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chloe.e.alexander/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChloeAlexander
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0zAuNvVOHV8DG3cLfz9jiN