Up & Coming New Nashville- Chelsea Lena (With Exclusive Interview)

Country/rock singer-songwriter Chelsea Lena can be described as an upbeat performer with a powerful voice that can hold its own. Her songwriting ability is credited to her writing as she sees it.

“I prefer standing outside the box as opposed to trying to fit inside it,” explains Chelsea of her songwriting style. She musically blossomed early in her life, singing country songs by some of her influences such as Diane Warren, Craig Wiseman, Jeffrey Steele, and Rivers Rutherford to name a few.

Chelsea’s fervor for the art led her to a Orange County High School for the Performing Arts, where she discovered that her love of music was more than just a hobby- it was a lifestyle and her passion. She then took the initiative to begin singing and songwriting in Los Angeles and soon pursued her dream to Nashville. Quickly embraced by Music City, become a favorite of the Nashville Songwriters Association (NSAI) and was featured as one of 2009’s best up and coming songwriters at the ASCAP’s Presents showcase. In addition, Lena has been actively touring around the US and London to promote her latest EP, entitled Lost In The Middle. Chelsea’s collection of seven songs was mixed and mastered by Grammy award winner Steve Bishir and produced by Paul Buono and are now available on iTunes.

For the past six months, Chelsea has been solely focused on developing, writing, and recording her new album, collaborating again with Paul Buono to produce. Songwriting collaborations featuring established Nashvillians such as Jennifer Adan, Jeffrey Joseph East, Shawn Christian, Tim Taylor, Greg Bieck, Kris Bergsnes, and Buono as well. You can keep up with Chelsea’s progress at Myspace.com/chelsealena, as they post their most recent cuts.

Apart from her aspirations of becoming a well-respected artist and performer, she prefers to live her life based on one central idea: staying true to country music, the art of writing, the fans, and most importantly to herself.



What brought you to music in the first place?
Growing up my mom and dad would pack us all in the car for vacation and have this big red bag full of tapes. Granted they were John Denver and Chicago but hey- that’s all good! I became amazed by the lyrics and everything about music. I got into musical theater when I was 5. Soon enough I was singing Shania Twain by day and RENT by night. Music has always been there. And I was raised to think if I want it, and I work hard it’s possible.

Describe your music- what's the mission behind the music?
Keep it organic as possible! Create a new genre all while staying respectful to the country roots. Modern-Urban-Pop-Country. Hey, it'll work!

How would you describe your brand new EP?
My new baby! It says a lot for me as an artist. It’s been a few years in the making. My wonderful producer (Paul Buono) and I started brainstorming a while back. Then came demoing & writing and 6 months later I was holding the final copy in my hand. Every song on this album is about what I went through last year. It’s all THE TRUTH.

What kind of music are you listening to? What's in your iPod?
I’m so into Lady A's new album right now. I ran into Dave the other day actually and told him how proud I am that they are crossing over. Such a great thing for country music. I think it’s great. Tyrone Wells, Train (obsessed), Sarah Buxton, One Republic, The Script, Mat Kearney, Jason Reeves, Trevor Hall...all insanely talented songwriters!