Review: CHAPEL HART at Magnolia Blossom Festival

Warmer weather is upon us, and it’s time to make your way to the many small-town festivals for your helping of deep-fried delicacies, crafts by local artisans, and fabulous live music! Broadway World was invited to the Magnolia Blossom Festival in Magnolia to party with CHAPEL HART Friday, May 17, and we had a ball. Hailing from Mississippi, this family band knows how to put on a show, and they are so down to Earth. For those of you who watch reality tv, you will remember these ladies from America’s Got Talent. They finished in fifth place in Season 17 and returned for AGT: Fantasy League in 2024, as part of Simon Cowell's team. So, in summary, Chapel Hart is the real deal. Before the show, we were able to get to know these rising stars.    

BWW: Thank you for letting us talk with you. For those that don’t know who you are, tell us a little about yourself. Who is Chapel Hart? What is the dream? 

Trea Swindle: OK, I’m sure everyone knows by now that we're a family band from South Mississippi. Danica and Devynn are sisters and I’m their favorite cousin.  

Devynn Hart: She's our first cousin. I don't know about favorite. She is our first.  

Trea: I always say so, because there's 108 of us. Our grandparents had 17 kids, and108 grandkids, and they're not on the road with any of the other ones. So, you know, science would dictate that I am their favorite. But anyway, we got started down in New Orleans. We started out as a cover band and then we finally decided to take the big jump and sing the music that really means something to us. So we started doing country music and it’s kinda been going non stop since then. And then as you probably know, in 2022 we auditioned for America's Got Talent  

Devynn: Even though we didn't want to...  

Trea: We did not plan on doing that. They had a talent scout reach and was like ‘Yall shoud audition for AGT’ and we were kind of like ‘no, we're kind of just on the road doing shows and doing all the things. But the same week as audition, we were supposed to be out on the road with the Indigo Girls, but someone in their camp got COVID, so they kind of got shut down. So after going back and forth for a million and one times, it was just like, ‘you know what, at the end of the day, we want to be able to say that we did everything so we don’t have any regrets’ and so we went and it is the best decision we almost didn’t make. 

BWW: That is amazing! It was meant to be! So, from America's Got Talent, what have you been doing?  

Dev: Literally two days right after that, we went to the Grand Ole Opry. We had our debut there. We’ve gotten to tour overseas. We've gone to the UK a few times now.... Canada.... 

Trea: We went to Trinidad right afterwards.  

Dev: Trinidad... we've just been going and going and going and just trying to get the message of Chapel Hart out there and spread love, you know, wherever we can to whoever we can get it to.  

BWW: So your international tour is going good.  

Trea: Yes. And I have to say we were surprised by the UK fan base because people from the South like Louisiana, Mississippi, like they know how to turn up whenever you come to a show. But we went to the UK, and we were not prepared by any stretch of the imagination. A lot of people say that the Brits are very nice and polite, and they are, but they know what they want. That was the first time we've ever seen a whole crowd of people boo a DJ off a stage to try to get us to come back out. We had to come back and say ‘listen don’t boo the DJ. We will sing one more song, but yall have to be nice.’ 

Dev: But they are awesome, and I think it's always so cool going overseas and seeing the people singing the songs back to you. These are the stories and the songs about our lives and growing up, so for other people to be able to relate to that kind of music all over the world is just one of the coolest feelings in the world for sure.  

Trea: Definitely! It always surprise me, especially like after AGT, we would get messages from people like from South Africa or from Switzerland and they would say they feel American pride in their soul and let us know that even though it’s about our experiences, it resonates with people around the world, and I only hope that it continues to do so.  

BWW: I have no doubt it will. How hard was it before America’s Got Talent? 

Dev: A lot of people feel like it was an overnight process, but we've been at it, like Danica says, for about a decade. We started out in New Orleans, and we literally went from doing the New Orleans circuit and then expanded into Mississippi, Florida, Texas and the Southeast, and we've been doing everything completely independently. We have been touring around, and we went international before AGT. We were the first female band and the first country band ever to headline in Innsbruck at the New Orleans Jazz Festival in Austria.  

BWW: Wow! That’s incredible.  

Dev: And that was kind of mind blowing, because we went over there and people were singing the songs who didn't speak a lick of English.  

BWW: So is this your long term goal? Are we going to take on the music world and have world domination? 

Trea: I think we are currently trying to trek along. World domination is hard, but honestly whenever we go out and visit different places, like you said you guys were sent here by Angie and Gary, I feel like we are starting to build a community, and not just relationships that we have with our fans, but relationships that the fans have with each other. It makes it feel like the world is not such a big place. We have fans from all over the world reaching out and getting together. We see it happening. It might be one show at a time, one city at a time, but they are spreading the name of Chapel Hart, and maybe one day it will be a household name.  

BWW:  I have no doubt about that. So what is the message and mission that you are trying to bring to the world?  

Danica Hart: I feel like it's a few part answer. I think love is the first one, and I think sometimes it's hard. You know when they say ‘charity starts at home,’ it starts at home. Sometimes it's hard because since we are family-- siblings and cousins, we’ve got to learn to love each other and get along first, and then we spread it out. Thankfully we're nicer to most people than we are each other. So, love is really the number one mission. But number two, I think the message is that if we can do it, you can do it. We want dreamers and people with ambition and goals to know that if the three of us can do it, you can do it. It can be done. If three little girls from nowhere, Mississippi, can be in your state and your city for every festival every show or whatever...If we can do it, you can do it. We are the sounding board to say that it's hard work, it's long days, it is dedication sometimes even when you don't want it, but if you can master the three of those, if you can master the big things, you can do it. It can be done.   

BWW: That is a powerful message and so inspiring. Ok, one last question. What is your favorite song to perform? 

Dev: That's a hard one. I think that changes on a daily basis. Mine right now.... We performed one of our songs called Dear Tequila, and it is such a fun song. It reminds me of summer and just hanging out with you friends. It’s definitely one of those fun songs. 

Trea: Tailgate Trophy. I like that song. It’s just so fun. We did a remix of it with Cowboy Troy, and it just tickled my funny bone. 

Danica: Ohh yeah yeah. And I'm gonna say mine is Dear Tequila. We did it the other day, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, why don't we do this more,’ so Dear Tequila and Perfect For Me. We got to do Perfect for Me at the Grand Ole Opry. Everybody seems to love the storyline, and it's so good. It's so fun to get all the guys all riled up. During the concert I'm like ‘where all the good men out there,’ and they're like ‘yeeeaaahhhhh’! It’s so funny, and usually they are the ones who are sleeping through the show, and they’re like ‘my wife dragged me here.’ So, to get them up and excited and all into the show, it's so fun for everyone.  

We had a great time talking with Chapel Hart, but it was time for the show, and we were beyond ready for our first Chapel Hart concert. For tonight’s show, they opened with Glory Days and to my delight, they had a lot of originals with just a few other popular songs from other artists.  

Now I’ve done a lot of reviews, and I can tell you that the difference between a good concert and a great show is how they tailor the music. You can’t just be a great singer. There needs to be more. There needs to be a connection made between the artist and audience, and as your audience representative, I will say that we felt connected to these ladies the moment they hit the stage. They have this infectious energy and genuine love for performing, that you saw the sparkle shine through their eyes. Also, you can tell that they are family, because they teased each other throughout the show, and their harmonies blended as only family can do.    

For the first half they had us stomping to upbeat songs singing about Mississippi, mud, Fords and tequila. Somewhere in their they threw in Shania Twain’s Any Man of Mine. About halfway through, they spoke of their admiration and love for people, especially for our service men and women.  

“I want to say that you men and women are the example (of love), because the Bible says that there is not a greater love for him than a man would lay down his life for a friend, and you do it for folks like me that you don't even know. That is beyond commendable. If we want a better America, if we want a better life, if we want better communities, it's gotta start right here. It's gotta start with us.” 

From there, Danica started introducing their song American Pride. 

“We got a chance to do American Pride on America's Got Talent twice. On the first time, we were so emotional because our uncle, who's a veteran, surprised us and they just had so much, but our hearts were just so full of love. So, I told them if we come back, we want to do American Pride again, because we want people to really hear the message. We want to dedicate that to all the veterans. We want to thank them and thank them properly. And so tonight, if you believe how we believe, I want you to put your hands together for our service men and women.” 

They went on to sing American Pride and God Bless the USA. It was very moving. They all got emotions, which made us all emotional. Then if that wasn’t enough to get us in our feelings, they started talking about their grandpa.  

“Grandpa would stop you and tell you..’look back in my day,’ they said, ‘you kids got it easy. Back in my day.... He always had a back in my day story. He always had to wait on one of us to say something like we did something at school, and he said, ‘well back in my day, we used to have to walk to school 12 miles uphill both ways’ until you said all right” 

She went on talking about growing up in Mississippi surrounded by family and being raised by the community.  

"If we got in trouble down at Aunt Doris's house, Aunt Doris could get on to us and she could discipline us. Then when we got to Grandma's house, she would discipline us. And then when we got home, we got disciplined again. But there was just something about when the community would pitch in and help each other out. I'm glad I was raised that way.” 

After they told us they had the chance to honor Wynonna Judd, they encouraged the grandparents to keep telling their stories and sang Grandpa (Tell me Bout the Good Old Days).  

Then, they kicked the tempo back up after their antidote about Devynn having stage fright when she was younger. We were glad to hear she got over it and belted Here for the Party and followed with Don’t Stop Believing. For their finale, they did a short acapella version of Jolene and finished with You Can Have Him Jolene, which was their Golden Buzzer song on AGT.  

I became an instant fan and had to have a Chapel Hart t-shirt. I now understand why they have such a loyal following. I even heard that one woman flew all the way from California just to see them. I get it. I would too, and I’m definitely ready for my next Chapel Hart concert.  

At the first of June, Chapel Hart will be at Beaver's Den in Liberty Hill, South Carolina, and then they head to Nashville to gear up for the CMTs. Also, they do have new music coming out, so be on the lookout for that. To find more about Chapel Hart, visit their website at https://www.chapelhart.com.  

To post a comment, you must register and login.