Photo By Nathan Presley
If singer/songwriter Sherree Chamberlain had it her way, everyone would be hot, sweaty, and barefooted this season, or at least that's the way she described her ideal summer when I interviewed her last month one rainy evening at a coffee shop in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Perhaps all the Oklahoma rain has given her a chance to really start doing the things she's been wanting to do before she finishes up her last year of college.
"I promised myself that I was really going to do stuff and really live my life, and that's starting now, this summer. I'm really looking forward to doing just really impulsive things... having fun and growing musically," Chamberlain said.
Chamberlain's music has made a natural progression throughout the years: from early bluegrass music with her family band, to praise and worship music with her church band, and eventually to developing her own distinct folky sound.
"Before I came to college, I had a my-family's-really-great-and-nothing-bad-had-ever-happened kind of life. I hit a really rough patch my freshman year," she said. "One of my friends-- both of her parents were killed in a car crash, and then a friend of mine died. Things like that really hit kind of hard with me. And I'm kind of homebody, and I was away from home."
"All of those things caused me to get really reclusive and probably not all for the best. I went through this period where I kind of quit taking showers and answering phones calls, but since then I've learned a lot about life..." she paused. "I'm just learning to appreciate it. All of this sounds really cheesey, but appreciating what you have and not caring so much about what people think is important."
"I've changed a lot. I used to be like 'This is what I want to do, and it's so fun.' But I understood the importance of family and relationships. That's the most important thing to me. When people are like 'I just want to be a rock star,' I'm kind of like 'I don't know. I might just want to be around the people that I love and not be pressured to be totally successful,'" she said.
"I don't want to measure my success on how many cool songs I can write. Maybe I just want to write those songs and sing them to my kids or something, and just be content. My perspective has changed a lot and so has my drive. I've lost a lot of drive, but I'm sorting out my values," she said.
Nonetheless, Chamberlain still wants to write music.
"As of now, my songs are really simple. I love simple songs for sure, but the more I mature, the more I want to experiment with different chord structures and stuff like that," she said.
Other musicians in the Stillwater music community have helped encourage Chamberlain to create new material and progress as an artist.
"The other day, we were leaving the show and Jesse [Tabbish of Kunek] was like 'So, what are you working on right now?' And I'm like 'I don't know what I'm working on right now.' I mean, people kind of push me to work on things. Like Jonathan Mooney, he tries to push me to strech myself, so I think it's a good influence," Chamberlain said.
The local music community in Stillwater has really embraced Chamberlain, and her band members include members of Kunek, the Legend of Junior Sapp, the Stillwater Improv Trio, and sometimes even a guest appearance from a member of Colourmusic.
"One thing I do like about Stillwater's music scene is that we all share musicians. Sometimes, it's sort of a bad thing when we all have different shows, and it's like 'Wait! I need you.' But I really like the community and how everyone helps you out. It's nice to see people becoming successful," she said.
Chamberlain has been successful, too, as it seems she is finding influences for her music left and right.
"I changed my major to English education because I just thought that reading and writing more would help my writing, even with just some ideas. A lot of my song lyrics have been influenced by literature I had to read," Chamberlain said.
She even seems to find a little inspiration when she's working out, as she explained.
"I was listening to Gillian Welch, which isn't really that upbeat. But if I get really into it, I just pretend like I'm running into the distance. I try to talk myself into 'This isn't a workout, this is an emotional experience,'" Chamberlain laughed.
With so many ideas fluttering through Chamberlain's mind, she is eager to release new material. She will be entering the studio to record an album at Blackwatch Studios with Chad Copelin (who also produced Ryan Lindsey's album) in August.