Chelsea Lankes HOMEFirst and foremost, you need to know that my first performance I can recall was on rollerblades. Now, if that’s not ambition I don’t know what is. But seriously, since I was little I’ve been begging the attention of my family to “Watch this!” and they would graciously tolerate all my “routines” to the likes of Mariah Carey, Faith Hill, Ace of Base (I know…), and many others.

All my performances and my love for music had to start somewhere. Maybe it was being made to watch all the Elvis movies (my mom wasn’t obsessed at all…), but most likely it was my mom’s pure passion for music that sparked something in me early on.

Some of my fondest memories with my mom were watching her playing the piano and singing “The Rose” by Bette Midler, or riding in the car and trying to learn harmonies to our favorite songs. I attribute so much of my love for music to my mom.

Not to mention, I wasn’t even out of the womb and I attended a ZZ Top concert. Seven months of fetal development, I was braving second hand highs and rocking out to the legendary Billy Gibbons. I’d say I was groomed for this.

Aside from fireplace performances, celebrating Elvis’ birthday (every year) and taping Nsync videos on MTV so I could learn the dance moves, I had a pretty normal upbringing: school, family, church.

Through the years music was always present; whether it was Christmas plays, talent shows, show choir (before Glee made it cool) and the yearly musical in high school. However, it wasn’t until college that I really began trying to write songs and start playing them for other people.

I took baby-steps by playing covers in open mic nights and doing an occasional song of my own. Now here’s the scary part, I decided a year before graduating that I would actually attempt to make music a career.

So here I am, I’ve been in Nashville for a little over a year and a half now, and I can proudly announce to the world my first (of many) projects- a five song EP titled “To Begin With, Everything”.

I have had such a joyful time writing and recording for this little album. I am so grateful and so incredibly excited to share this music with you all! Thanks for listening and thanks for your support! All the love, C