Admire It Intensely: Janice Chandler

Support Thomm on Patreon Robby Peck

Of all the artists in my life, I have known Janice Chandler the longest, close to half a century--a fact I imagine faintly pains us both. Even when she was tiny, she had an ear for music, and the instinct to make sure everyone knew it. She was a born talent.

It's not everyone who can entrance bleachers of middle-aged country fans and an auditorium of shrieking Taylor Swift fans with equal aplomb.

(It helps somewhat that she is my cousin, but that's secondary.)

During the COVID lockdowns, Runnin' Shine released the album Nowhere to Go. Have the last few years influenced you creatively in any other way? Did you really write eighty songs during the lockdown?

During Covid, I felt like there wasn't much I could do as a musician except to use the time as productively as possible by writing an album. I wrote more songs that didn't make it onto Nowhere to Go, but I think that's pretty normal. Some songs just don't want to be recorded right away.
After Covid sort of subsided and we were allowed to play together as a band, I didn't feel like people wanted to experience new, original music as much right away. We played mostly popular covers to get people in high spirits. I imagine after not being able to dance and spend time out with their friends, they just wanted something fun and comfortable to look forward to. Plus, so many new albums came out during Covid, so people had plenty of new music to listen to.

How did you get your start as a musician?

This is a tricky question. I think I just am a musician, and I always have been. It just comes out in different ways throughout my life. As a little kid, I used to write songs in my bedroom and record them on a tape recorder, then in school I played in the band and sang in the chorus. As a grown up, I started a band.