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I wrote River of Silence one day when I was feeling small and insignificant.  It is meant to be a little shocking or dramatic.  It’s not that I always feel this way, but it does reflect the way I have felt at times.  Maybe you can relate.

I went through, what felt like, a long period of silence in my life when it came to writing.  You see, some of my earliest childhood memories are of me running around the house with a little toy tape-recorder/microphone.  I used to wear tutus my mom made for me and sing Amy Grant songs or songs that I had made up.  That’s just what I did.  No one told me to do it, but praise God they allowed me to do it, and even encouraged me to do so!  I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up; a singer, just like Amy Grant!

Well, when I hit college my dreams all came apart.  I lost my sense of self and the songs I used to write disappeared.  I was afraid of making mistakes, afraid of not being good enough, afraid to leave my small apartment!  I began to live in fear.  Much of my creativity was diverted to other things of practicality.  My future was looming in front of me and I knew I needed to make a living.  So I settled for interior design and decided I was just a singer.  Not a writer, not a musician, not an artist.  Just a singer.  I moved into what I thought I was supposed to do as an American.  Go to college.  Get married.  Get a job.  Have kids.  Buy a house, etc.  Don’t get me wrong, there were great times and many opportunities for growth, change and joy!  But I had lost my sense of connection with God in this season of silence.  It was like I had lost my first love.  There is a letter in Revelation 2 to the church in Ephesus that I can relate to.  The church hadn’t necessary stopped doing good things, however in verse 4 it says, “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.”  I had lost the works I did at first, because I had forgotten my reason for doing them.  I got caught up in seeking to do things the way the world around me was doing them and had slowly turned away from, or abandoned, my first love.

River of Silence is a picture of that time when I lost myself.  I was just floating along letting the world take me where it wanted me to go.  I didn’t have a voice.  I wasn’t even looking for my voice.  I took in, but never poured out.  The end of the song is the wake-up call.  I have spent nearly my whole life as a Christian, and yet I wasn’t being a lampstand, a light in the darkness of our world.  It was time to repent and return to my first love, Jesus (who, by the way, first loved me: John 3:16-21).  It was time to do the works I did at first (which, by the way, he planned for me to do in the first place: Ephesians 2:10).

“If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.” – Psalm 94:17 (ESV)

River of Silence  is one of the 13 songs that will appear on the Unraveling album I am currently working on.  If you are interested in Pre-Ordering the album or checking out some fun items for purchase, please visit my online store at https://squareup.com/store/denisechaneymusic.  I look forward to adding some more items soon.

If you haven’t yet, please consider subscribing to my newsletter list to receive all the latest details on the progress of the project!

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House Concerts! I still have some funds left from the “Once Upon a Time Fundraiser” for one more trip to the studio in Albuquerque to record.  I am anticipating at least two more trips to finish up recording.  After recording I will need to have the actual CD’s and covers made and shipped to me.  That said, I am going to need to raise some more money to finish up this project.  I have known this for months and have thought of so many ideas for fund raising but have not ever felt at peace about any of them until today!  One of my greatest desires in this process, and the reason I am doing the project in the first place, is to share my songs and my story with others.  I have been feeling like the perfect way to be able to do that would be to do some house concerts! What is a house concert you ask?  Basically I am asking for people willing to invite me into their homes and introduce me to their friends.  I would come and play my music for you in the comfort of your home and tell you the stories behind the songs.  My hope is to get to hang out with you and your close friends and create an intimate experience where you can get to know me and what the project is all about.  It would be super low key and you would have control over the setting and the guest list.  I’d love to do the concerts for free with the opportunity for people to pre-order the album and book.  That is assuming the concerts are within close driving distance of Pagosa Springs, CO (however, I’m up for discussions about traveling farther). If you are interested in hosting a house concert please e-mail me at info@denisechaneymusic.com and we can work out all the details together!

Following is a sweet article my friend Heather Rose wrote for our local newspaper. The newspaper would not accept it because the fundraiser is not for a non-profit. But I wanted to share it with you anyway because I wanted to share the information we talked about in our interview!

“Once Upon A Time Formal Tea and Ball” Makes Dreams Come True
By: Heather Rose

According to Disney’s classic fairy-tale, Cinderella, “a dream is a wish your heart makes.” Denise Chaney, local singer and songwriter, has a deep desire in her heart to share her music and empowering message in an upcoming solo album called Unraveling. To make this dream come true, she will be hosting a fundraiser called “Once Upon A Time Formal Tea and Ball” on June 30th from 3-5 pm at The Springs Resort Hotel Lobby/Atrium. This event is in the vein of a “Daddy-daughter dance” but invites the entire family to participate in a magical time together. “We are encouraging parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, or family friends to bring their favorite little dreamers to come and enjoy refreshments, dancing, crafts and music. We wanted to create an event where families could get all dressed up and make lasting memories together,” shares Denise. The event costs $15 for adults, $5 per child or $35 per family.

From “once upon a time” desires that began from childhood, to being lost in a forest of self-doubt, to being rescued by heavenly whispers of love and encouragement, Denise Chaney’s journey to create this album reads almost like a fairy-tale. Through a personal interview, I had the honor of hearing her inspiring story that will hopefully end with the “happy-ever-after” of making her Unraveling solo album a reality.

Chaney, who grew up just over the hill in Monte Vista, was a small town country girl with big dreams. While other little girls played with dollies, Denise would twirl around her house in tutus that her mom made, recording her own songs with a small tape recorder, imagining she were Amy Grant. Although she originally began her college career pursuing a vocal performance major, she became discouraged with music theory and didn’t enjoy the type of music she was singing. Disenchanted, she came to believe that if she couldn’t master classical music, she wasn’t a real musician. In college, she switched her degree to interior design and married her husband, Jarrett, after her freshman year. While fully embracing the joys of married life, career, and having their son, Jackson, Denise’s songwriting and performing remained merely childhood fantasies.

“There are so many things that God placed into my life a few years ago that all worked together to rekindle that spark of creativity,” Chaney recalled. One of the pivotal things was a book called, The Creative Call by Janice Elsheimer. Through it she learned to see the value in offering back the gifts that God gave her, giving her the courage to sing and perform in a duet called Jason & Denise. Jason Rose and Denise Chaney met through leading worship through music at Grace in Pagosa. Together, they recorded three albums together; Song of Hope, Promised Land, and Love Has Come. They performed in many different venues in Colorado and had the opportunity to open for JJ Heller, Dallas Holm, Randy Stonehill, Robin Mark, and Songs of the Fall. They even had the honor of winning the 2013 Rhythms of the Rio Singer/Songwriter Contest. When asked about her solo album Chaney responded, “Over the past several years of being a part of Jason & Denise I have learned so much from Jason and the other musicians we have worked with. My faith and my art have grown and as part of that growing process I have written some songs that don’t quite fit the Jason & Denise mold. The solo album is a chance for me to tell my story in a different and more personal way.” Musically, she would describe her work as pop/rock/gospel… with a touch of whimsy. Her album’s title and theme is Unraveling, which captures Denise’s story of the process of allowing God to strip away the false self she hid behind. It is about finding her voice, moving through fears, and using that voice to speak truth and life to the world around her.

Standing at an unassuming 5’ 1/2”, Denise’s soft speaking voice seems to match her stature, yet she has often surprised her audience into an awed silence with the power of her voice when she opens her mouth to sing. That voice is unmistakably strong as it is beautiful and inspiring. “My desire through this fundraiser, and through the album as a whole,” states Chaney, “is to encourage creative dreamers of all ages to be who they already are. You are wonderfully made. You are loved. You are beautiful. You were created with Divine purpose to bring beauty and life to this world and to point this world back to The Creator. You don’t have to be famous to make a difference; just love the people who are right in front of you with the abilities you possess right now.” By attending this fundraiser, you are helping to write the “happily ever after” to this fairy-tale and inspiring your special little dreamer with this powerful message. For more information about the fundraiser, to purchase tickets, make donations, or to sign up for her mailing list please visit: DeniseChaneyMusic.com or e-mail her at info@denisechaneymusic.com.

For the past several years I have been blessed to get to write, record, and perform many songs through the duo, Jason & Denise. During that time I have also written many other songs that don’t quite fit the mold of the duo. It has been a desire of mine since I was probably 5 years old to record a solo album someday but the timing has never been right… until now.

I am embarking on a new adventure of recording a solo album. But before I get too far along in the process of sharing that adventure with you I want to take a second to give a big THANK YOU to Jason Rose! I would not be the artist I am today without his mentorship. I am so grateful for his support, encouragement, and even the harder times of pushing me to be better than I thought I could be. When I started writing music again it was Jason and his wife Heather that saw a spark in me that they felt compelled to nurture (as in a cocoon) until this butterfly was ready to fly. Thank you, Jason & Heather for seeing who God made me to be before I saw it in myself and for teaching me to quit thinking so much and just do something already! Thank you for helping me find my wings. Praise God for great friends and new adventures!

I look forward to sharing this new adventure with you!

Much Love!
Denise