My name is Chanelle. When I was born I didn’t have a name for the first two weeks of my life. The nurses called me ‘baby davis’ until my nana Clare chanced upon the name Chanelle in the local newspaper.
Clare was born in England, and sailed to live in New Zealand when she was only two months old. Her parents settled in Raglan, where they operated the local dance hall. Clare fell in love in her early 20’s, with a soldier called Alf - who she later married after four years separated by world war II.
Clare and Alf on their wedding day
I often stayed with my grandparents when I was little. Poppa was very musical - always singing and yodelling. San Antonio Rose was his favourite, and he also had a great collection of old harmonicas. Each night he would march out onto the front porch and play The Last Post as the sun was setting.
My other nana - nana Babs - played the piano and organ. This is how mum got the idea to send me off to piano lessons when I was four years old. Mum had never learned as a child - passing up music for horses - and was probably making up for it. I had my first concert in December of ’87, where I sang and played Lightly Row.
Our family lived on the beach in Tauranga, where I spent my childhood either practising piano or walking through the tide-pools catching small fish and crabs. We went to the shopping mall most Sundays or went out on the boat fishing. My parents worked really hard at their panelbeating business and were able to buy a big country house when I was 10. These were really happy times – herding cows, feeding chickens, playing in the haybarn and attending a small country school.
Me with a huge snapper
Though neither of my parents were musical, they did like to listen. My Dad would play a tape of kiwi country/folk singer John Grenell when we went on roadtrips. Mum was in love with Kenny G, Enya, Elton John and Celine Dion.
When I was 13, Mum and Dad ended their marriage and moved to the city. My little brother and I lived with mum, who bought a house down the road from Dad so we were able to spend time with him too. I learned to play alto saxophone and joined the highschool jazz band.
At 18, I left home to study commercial music. I majored in song writing and spent most of my time in the music rooms, sometimes taking a blanket in and working all night. One morning I was woken up by a suprised cleaning lady and then had to go straight to an 8:00am lecture in my clothes from the day before. I was lucky enough to intern at an Auckland based record label in my final year of study, and got a job as their receptionist when I graduated. I made coffee, answered phones and learned about the music industry. The job didn’t last long though, as I was restless and eager to start my own career on the other side of the desk. The problem I faced was that artists in this country write their own songs - it’s the ‘DIY’ attitude ingrained in our culture. If I wanted to get my songs out to the world, I’d need to sing them myself.
By pure luck I met vocal coach Cheryl McLeay, who changed my life. I would have never called myself a singer when I turned up on her doorstep. And even though she was only teaching famous artists, she must have seen some kind of potential in me. I remember crying when I heard myself sing and actually sound good for the first time. Cher gave me my voice - the missing piece I needed to move forward on my path to becoming a singer/songwriter.
After the record label, I drifted around different towns – teaching piano in the daytime and performing at night to earn a living. I sang a variety of Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Eva Cassidy songs, mostly in bars and restaurants. I busked at Saturday morning farmers Markets which I loved because the stall owners would give me fresh vegetables, cheese, bread and wine.
I saved up enough money to record and release my first collection of songs in 2006, working with friends I had previously studied with. Everything was done on a tight budget - the vocals were recorded in my ex-boyfriend’s wardrobe. We had a foam mattress to keep out the traffic and noisy Cicadas. He also had to sneak into a studio after-hours to master the album. Better Than Alone was discovered by ODE records in 2007 and distributed around New Zealand. The song Your Only One was a top ten finalist in the MLT New Zealand Songwriters’ Awards in 2006. The following year I won the award with Dear Jon. I also made the cover of UNO magazine and spent the summer touring with singer/songwriter Daniel Munro.
ODE records released my second album Since Yesterday in 2008, which I co-produced with Kovi Mongelli. This time I worked with a band and session musicians, including an amazing saxophone player - Walter Bianco. One of my favourite sessions was when we made some tap-shoes by screwing caps in a pair of cheap warehouse sandals, and my friend danced a tap solo for the Amanda song. The studio was carpeted and so she ended up tapping on the wooden coffee table, which still has the dents.
There’s an old Buddhist proverb – ‘when the student is ready, the teacher will appear’. In my case, the teacher – Pat Pattison - had appeared a few times in my life. It wasn’t till his 2009 visit to New Zealand that I was ready to listen. The weekend I spent with Pat was so inspiring that two weeks later I flew to a songwriters retreat in Canada where he was teaching. Pat is one of the most amazing people I know. Firstly - he is a leader in the field of song writing craft, but his understanding of poetry, life and spirituality is very profound and rare. He also possesses a natural talent for teaching - something I love to watch him do. I learned more in one week from him than I ever learnt from anyone in my whole life.
After Canada, Pat suggested I take a working holiday and spend three months in Boston where I could concentrate on my writing with no distractions. I jumped at the chance! I stayed at his cottage, and spent hours in a piano room that looked out over a beautiful pond. We would travel an hour each day by car to his songwriting and poetry classes at Berklee College Of Music, where I would sit in the back of the room and listen. We also travelled to Los Angeles and Nashville. It was the best 3 months of my life. I was free to just be a songwriter – to really spread my wings and see what I could do. I left Boston in April 2010 with a whole new focus and a world of possibilities.
I have had an amazing journey so far. I have recorded two albums. I have walked through snow in Boston and drunk whiskey in Nashville. I have travelled around New Zealand and performed to thousands of people. And I’ve been blessed with family, friends, musicians and mentors who believe in me and deeply enrich my life.
So, this is me and my gift. Writing songs is how I interpret the world and how I understand myself. It brings meaning and purpose to my life. Every day I am thankful for the songs that come to me, and I believe that the best song I’ll ever write is still out there, waiting to be written.