Fizzkicks: Who are some of your musical influences?

Chelsea: Mary Ann Redmond, Jonatha Brooke, Patty Griffin, Counting Crows, Trevor Hall, and Dave Matthews .

Fizzkicks: Tell me a little bit about how you got started in music?

Chelsea: Oh, well, I always sang from, like, since I can remember. I had a karaoke machine and always sang along with that. Then I started taking voice lessons from Mary Ann Redmond four years ago. I did a few open mics, opened shows for Mary Ann…it kind of evolved from there.

Fizzkicks: What led to your songwriting partnership with Daniel Brindley and Todd Wright?

Chelsea: I don’t really play an instrument so Daniel originally played for me and we’ve been playing together for a little under a year and I met Todd through him. He (Todd) was playing in a band called “Get Away Car” and he stopped playing with them and decided to play with me. I guess it’s more just Todd and me writing these days.

Fizzkicks: Are your songs a reflection of your personal experiences?

Chelsea: They are to an extent and then some of them are totally made up.

Fizzkicks: Yeah, some of your stuff is pretty heavy.

Chelsea: It’s deep. I write in a journal, just like random lines, every day or so, most of it is based off that.

Fizzkicks: When you look into the future, where do you see your music career four years from now?

Chelsea: Wow that’s a hard question!

Fizzkicks: Because college is coming, right!

Chelsea: Yeah, it is (chuckles). I think it’s gonna be so much harder to pursue this music career because of that. I would really love to be famous, that would be awesome! But even if I end-up just doing shows locally, I wouldn’t mind because I would still be doing what I love.

Fizzkicks: You’re a junior in high school. Most kids your age would rather be hanging out with friends, yet you spend your free time focused on your music goals. What drives you?

Chelsea: I absolutely love music and I’m excited to learn new things. I really try to balance my music and friends the best I can. I try to make my time with friends on weekends and music business stuff on weeknights. It all just kinda balances out! It’s (music) what I do, it’s what I want to do- and I have horrible grades- so I’m kinda relying on it! (laughs).

Fizzkicks: I read somewhere that you were slated to audition for American Idol but decided not to go through with it. Why was that?

Chelsea: Yeah, I was really excited about doing it but when the time came I just ended up getting very overwhelmed, I think it was just too soon (in my career). But, I think I’m going to definitely going to try out next year!

Fizzkicks: You opened for and/or shared a stage with Marc Cohn, Stephen Stills and Mary Ann Redmond. What have you learned from being around such veteran performes?

Chelsea: I really pay attention to their stage presence, the way they connect with their audience. I mean Marc Cohn was just amazing. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. It’s funny, I’m always so nervous to meet them but then I get back stage and it’s like, they’re just normal people! I guess I’ve learned that if I work really hard for this (my music) I can have what they have.

Fizzkicks: What is your best case scenario for the upcoming year?

Chelsea: I’m really thinking I’d like to tour, a short tour, sometime in April, opening for different bands in a couple different states. That would be really cool. And of course trying the American Idol thing again would be totally awesome!

Fizzkicks: What is your all time favorite album?

Chelsea: August and Everything After by The Counting Crows. I cover a lot of their songs. I really like The Dave Matthews Band, too.

Fizzkicks: Tell Me about your song, “So Far” being chosen as a semi-finalist in the International Songwriting Contest.

Chelsea: I had never entered a song writing contest before. It was crazy, I was really happy…It’s just really awesome! And it’s international! I’m thinking about maybe entering more of them.

For more information on Chelsea Lee check out: www.fizzkicks.com/chelsealee www.chelsealeemusic.com www.myspace.com/chelsealeemusic