Family trio Chapel Hart is breaking country-music down barriers – Houston Chronicle

Sisters Danica and Devynn Hart and cousin Trea Swindle — known collectively as Chapel Hart — should be the next big thing in country music.

They sing gorgeous harmonies. Have charming personalities. And come with a true foundation in the genre. The trio of Black women grew up in Hart’s Chapel just outside Poplarville, Miss., where there isn’t much to do and radio reception is fuzzy.

They’re “three of 108 first cousins,” according to Swindle, and a country-music station was one of the few they picked up at home.

“It’s just a part of life. You hear songs about fancy cars and clothes, and you can’t really identify with it. Danica and I used to hop on our uncle’s lawnmower and ride around up and down the river like it was a car,” Swindle says.

Danica recalls, as a child, her dad listening to George Jones and Kenny Rogers records as she would fall asleep in the car.

“Those moments were a big part of how country affected me and impacted me as a kid,” she says. “That was family time. That was bonding time with my dad.”

Chapel Hart released an album, “Out the Mud,” in 2019, and it earned some attention. But the new single, “Jesus & Alcohol,” is their most successful to date. It’s already the trio’s most-played song on Spotify and most-watched YouTube video.

They wrote “Jesus & Alcohol” in late 2019 in Nashville inside a “tiny, tiny, tiny” hotel room, Swindle says.

“Everyone was getting a little stir-crazy and antsy. We sent our manager out on a beer run,” she says.

Devynn came up with the idea of an alliteration — Bible, bourbon and breakup — that quickly evolved into the current incarnation of the song, complete with her idea. (So pass the Bible, bourbon and brace for a breakup.) And it is indeed steeped in real life.

“I love me some Jesus, but I’ll drink a little Budweiser, too,” Danica says with a laugh. “Take a little Fireball with me.”

The Billy Gibbons connection

“Jesus & Alcohol” gets a big lift from ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, who plays guitar and appears in the video officiating a wedding that ultimately isn’t to be. Gibbons is actually an ordained minister and has performed several wedding ceremonies.

Industry connections brought them together, and Gibbons immediately signed on after hearing the group, who says it’s officially adopted him. He even showed up at a live gig.

“Chapel Hart is doing a genuine, three-girl groundbreaking thing which deserves encouragement. They are obviously possessed of great talent, and their decision to apply it is one that can be respected,” Gibbons says. “To paraphrase ZZ Top from our own song, ‘Legs,’ ‘They got voices and know how to use ’em.’ And country music is all the better for it.”

Country is indeed the glue. But Chapel Hart’s sound digs deep into other genres. Danica channels Etta James on the scorching “Cry for Me.” There’s a classic girl-group scrappiness in “Wheels Are Wings.” And there’s a clear Gretchen Wilson vibe coursing through “Let’s Truck.”

The trio came together in New Orleans, where Swindle first moved almost a decade ago. She was joined by Danica and eventually Devynn, and they grew a following busking on Royal Street, known for its art and music. It’s strange, then, that the city is silent in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” Danica says. “We’ve had no live music in the city where music is everything. It’s almost kinda eerie.”

Becoming a sledgehammer

As a whole, however, COVID-19 has done little to slow them down. The group is still performing live and doing some traveling. Danica was recently crowned the winner of the 2020 Boswell Media Mississippi Songwriter of the Year contest. And though “Jesus & Alcohol” has the potential to multiply its audience, the family act knows being Black women in a genre that doesn’t always value women or Black artists presents a unique set of challenges.

But they’re ready to take their swing.

“The reality of it is we’ll go places, especially where people have never seen us or they don’t know us, and if looks could kill, we’d be dead on the dance floor,” Swindle says. “But I just love the fact that before we end the first song, everybody’s clapping and singing along.

“There are still so many barriers that need to come down. I’m just proud that we get to play a role in knocking those down. Let us be that sledgehammer.”

*************************

Country strong

The women of Chapel Hart talk about their musical influences.

Trea Swindle: It was Popperville Lower Elementary days. I was listening to “The Ballad of Ira Hayes” by Johnny Cash. I was just bawling my eyes out. I was like, “Nobody cared and he’s back from the war. He’s gonna die. He’s just in a ditch.” It hit me. It was just so real. I’m tearing up now.

Devynn Hart: Our parents bought Danica a Gretchen Wilson CD. She played it out until there was no more left to play. I eventually learned all the songs. To this day, Gretchen Wilson is probably one of my top three. And she is not No. 3, for sure.

Danica Hart: I think Gretchen Wilson, when “Redneck Woman” came out, she just seemed like an average girl. She didn’t have to have the fancy dresses. You didn’t have to be this particular body type. You didn’t have to be glitzy and girly. Shania Twain was a huge influence for me when I was younger because she was different. She just keep pressing until she beat that stigma that people put on her.