- “The ride of my life three to four minutes at time.” – Mark Addison Chandler
Photo Credit: Michael Guinard
Do you ever wonder what it would be like to get a “Second Chance” to do something for the first time? Have you ever felt like you failed once and want to make a commitment to do it better the next time? That is the hope Mark Addison Chandler brings to us in his music. Life is an ever-changing journey full of decisions, detours, broken promises and renewed faith. Mark’s song writing is real and raw down to the last lyric. The stroke of his guitar in Music City brings the true-life stories from paper to our ears. I sat down with Mark after a writer’s round to get the meaning behind his songs. Mark sees the purpose in every life experience and believes in staying true to he is. Read on to learn his journey from singing in church as a kid to singing for three U.S. Presidents, going to war, raising a family, getting divorced and moving to Nashville to write music for all those the Long Ride Home to listen to.
Photo Credit: Michael Guinard
Q. How did you find your love and talent for music?
A. “My dad was a southern gospel singer and he was a worship leader in our church (in North Carolina). My grandma and her sisters were on the radio singing gospel music back in the 30’s and 40’s. We always sang at family gatherings. The first song I ever sang was when I was about four in church. My dad wanted me to sing harmony, I can’t remember not singing.”
Mark got his first guitar when he was 17. He wanted to move to Nashville after high school graduation, but life took a detour. Mark left college to follow in his dad’s footsteps and join the Army.
Q. How did you find your way from the Army to making music a career?
A. “I got a letter saying I was accepted to West Point. I was in the chorus and sang a solo at half time for the Army-Navy game. I sang for President Clinton on a spring break trip to Texas. I sang for George Bush Sr. at the Heisman Club in New York City as well as George Bush Jr.”
Then time as an officer in the Army didn’t give Mark time for music, “Before I knew it I was getting married and had kids. I was commanding troops and there was no time. I went on several deployments and then got divorced,” says Mark.
Journaling for therapy drew Mark back to music, “During my last deployment a guy had a guitar I would pick up in the evenings. My writing came out of poems and I started putting into melody. I would run and a lot of ideas would come into my head I thought were cool. During my last year in the army I wrote about 26 songs whenever I was inspired, I recorded 11 of those songs.
“My philosophy is if I write great stuff, play great stuff and hang out with great people it will all work.”
Q. How did you make the decision to move to Nashville?
A. “When I got out of the Army and went back home. I started a band and they wanted me to play cover music, but I didn’t want to. So I decided to go to Nashville. When you’re not in Nashville, you think the fact you can write a song is cool and something special. Then you get here and a lot of people can do that. You realize you aren’t as good as you think you are so you have to work. I focused on writing songs for two and a half years. My philosophy is if I write great stuff, play great stuff and hang out with great people it will all work. Through this, I’ve learned more about who I am as an artist. I’ve experimented with different styles, like blues, but decided I’m country.”
“If I’m going to create something that’s going to move people it has to be real and believable coming from me.”
Photo Credit: Michael Guinard
Q. How would you describe your musical style?
A. “The fact that I’m divorced with two kids, I can’t hide. I can’t sing songs about making out in a field. If I’m going to create something that’s going to move people it has to be real and believable coming from me. I write about hanging onto a marriage, being a single dad and dating a single mother or falling away from God a little bit and knowing you need to come back. As people grow older, that’s what they are drawn to because they can identify with those experiences.”
“I’ve sung for 80,000 people and that was cool, but the experience was not as satisfying and getting that song.”
Q. What do you enjoy or look forward to most about writing music?
A. “There’s nothing better than sitting down in a room and knowing you’re onto something special. You’re given a gift of a cool idea and it feels really good. I’ve sung for 80,000 people and that was cool, but the experience was not as satisfying and getting that song.”
“I wrote by myself before I got to Nashville, it’s a very co-writing town. If one creative person can do something, many times two people are more than twice as creative. Other people think about things differently and challenge what you have. Melodies come out of my head a certain way and other people may hear it differently. It (co-writing) gets you quality songs and exercises the muscle; you learn something from someone in the way they approach (writing the song). You have someone to challenge you to do better.”
“I may like a Luke Bryan song, but if I try to write something like that, it may not be me.”
Q. How has your life experiences impacted your song writing?
A. “No one else has the exact same experiences as me. No one else has been married ten years, divorced, went to war three times, started a church, who’s dad was a southern gospel singer, who was a blue-collar kid that went to a white-collar school. Those experiences I’ve lived make me unique. I may like a Luke Bryan song, but if I try to write something like that, it may not be me.”
“You have to realize you’re choosing one of the hardest things to succeed in you possibly could… Stay true to who you are.”
Q. What advice would you give to someone who may have a dream in music, but is struggling with taking the steps to make it a reality?
A. “You have to realize you’re choosing one of the hardest things to succeed in you possibly could. I’ve run ultra-marathons; I’ve been in combat three times and all these schools in the army. All that was physically hard, but writing is hard (mentally).”
“What is the best song ever written? If that’s the bar, maybe somebody can beat that, but it’s subjective. The cool thing now is social media makes it easier. I may never sing hit songs on the radio, but I hope to write them. I hope Josh’s (Gallagher) song, ‘How Bout You?’ goes to number one. Who knows, but I can still write songs and put music out that’s true to me. The song ‘Broken’ is about being a single dad. I’ve had people come up and say I wrote that song for them. Stay true to who you are.”
Photo Credit: Michael Guinard
Q. What was the inspiration for your latest project? What does it mean to you?
A. “This project will be very specific to things I have lived. It will be a collection of songs of a man in his middle years. Being a single dad and being broken sometimes, but still having to show up with a smile on his face while he sees his kids. Dating a single mother and knowing you’re second and when you do find that second love you’re going to try to do it different.”
Q. Tell me about your single “Second Chance”?
Photo Credit: Michael Guinard
A. “I had an idea that it would be cool to write a song for my future wife. Having been married before and finding someone else is a daunting task. A lot of music is directed at love but there is a different element to being older now. I’ve already failed once in a marriage, how am I going to find someone else I can have success with? There are a lot of people out there in that same boat.”
“I had this idea of a second chance at a first dance. I wanted to write a song about how I haven’t met that person yet, but I know they are out there. Whoever that person is, what are they like? What are they doing right now? When they finally come into my life, I’m going to make a commitment to do it better the second time.”
Q. How does “Second Chance” fit into a future record and what plans do you have for your music?
A. “The plan for this record is for it to be about my journey. I started writing songs as therapy from divorce and the healing from it. There will be a song about hanging onto a marriage, dating a single mother, all true to the last ten years of my life.”
“There are so many people out there who are in the same place in their life and they are really underserved with modern music.”
Q. What goals do you have for your music career?
Photo Credit: Michael Guinard
A. “My goal as an artist for the music I am making is to write songs about the experiences I had from divorce and being a father of two. There are so many people out there who are in the same place in their life and they are really underserved with modern music. So much music is targeting 16 to 25 year olds, which is fine, but there is so much more in life that music can talk about. Real life is divorce, being a single dad and dating a single mother. There are so many people out there who are hungry for songs about that.”
Listen to Mark’s new single “Second Chance” on Spotify and Apple Music Now! Visit markaddisonmusic.com and follow Mark on social media for daily music and life in Nashville.
Photo Credit to Michael Guinard, http://markaddisonmusic.com, and https://www.facebook.com/MarkAddisonChandlerMusic
I still crave Nashville. Since the high of meeting country music artists and seeing their excitement for me to tell their story, I realized this is what I am called to do. Just as the artists are called to write, sing and perform, they all have a story on how they made their calling a reality. Life can seem like a dream come true, but it often takes hard work and courage to make your dream happen. When I got back from Nashville last January, I had a phone interview with 
Q. How would you describe your musical style?
“My music is driven to stir those emotions to move past whatever you are going through.” – Camille Rae
Q. What do you enjoy or look forward to most about writing, recording or performing music? Tell me more about the process.
“As a songwriter, there’s a format different artists are looking for. Once I write a song, I don’t always choose it for me, but when I do and take it into the studio, it’s about figuring out what style you want and what instrumentation to use. There are so many studios in Nashville and they’ll have hired professional musicians and you can get a package deal. You get a six-piece band for a price; they can help you produce to figure out the sound you want. So far I’ve produced my own vocals, so I go in and do the lead vocal, then go back in and do background vocals since I’ve been trained to do that. On my first album a lot of my songs were an acoustic version. To have another set of ears and eyes come in to see how big we can make this, can transform a song. To see the musicianship and see them enjoy making something bigger. The studio is one of my favorite places to be. It’s all about creativity and communication.”
There are many days when the alarm clock goes off in my dark room that I do not want to get out of bed. I wish I could stay laying in peace and comfort and not face the challenges of the day and hard work ahead. Then I say to myself, those animals depend on you, the pigs and your kittens need you. You have the gift to care for them like no one else can. The reason I tell you this story is the same reason 
Barrett says, “I come from a place of similar feeling. There are some mornings I don’t want to get out of bed because I’m exhausted from working hard and it seems like nothing is happening. I need that message too and there are people out there fighting harder fights than I am. I hope they can see me practicing what I preach and take encouragement from the song. No matter what you do, don’t stop fighting and one day you’ll be victorious, but the song talks about being in the fight and the only choice is to get up and fight on.”
A. “I moved to Nashville for a year when I was 22. I didn’t know what I was doing and was young so I ended up moving back in with my folks. I really started gigging (in Memphis) for money. I would take my guitar and speakers I bought, I would play in bars for hours at a time. I was learning how to entertain and capture an audience. I played soul and learned how to take R&B songs that were not acoustic, and transform them into country soulful songs on my guitar. I became known for that in the region in Arkansas.”
A. “That whole time in advertising I was gigging on the weekends and writing songs. I finally got to the point where I felt I was writing songs that were good enough to cut some demos and records myself. I got fed up with the corporate world and felt kind of empty. I knew I wasn’t being the best dad I could be because I wasn’t doing work that really fulfilled me. I knew it was my responsibility to be the best human being I could be and best example for my kid.”
A. “I met a guy named Luke Wade playing at a bar in Fort Worth, Texas. He later auditioned for The Voice season 7. He asked to send a YouTube link of me singing to the casting director. Then I got an email from the casting director asking me to come to Oklahoma City to do a private audition.”
“I feel like this world we are living in needs this song and it’s message. The win for me with ‘Fight On’ is not whether it’s a hit, but when I get messages from people on my social media who tell me they needed to hear it. I think that’s the reason it will be successful and continue to grow into something special. There are so many people fighting to make their lives better and sometimes they need told to get back up.”
“One of the first things someone asks in a song writing process in Nashville is if you have any good titles and we will see what sticks out to us. Then we decide what the chorus and verses need to say to support the title in a creative and poetic way. Song writing is like anything else, you get really good at it when you do it a lot. Now I am at a place self-confidence wise where I’m not afraid to sit down in a room with anyone, people who have written number one hits for major artists. There was a time where that would have scared me.”
“It’s difficult to be successful as a musician and a songwriter. There has to be a lot of work, I worked day jobs for 15 years before I was in a position to where I could do this (music) all the way and I needed it. I needed those 15 years of work and playing hundreds of acoustic shows when nobody cared. I needed that development. Sometimes our society thinks when you have ability like being a vocalist, that the world should had you your success. There are thousands of people that can really sing, but it takes more than talent. It takes grind, effort and determination. Often times, years of development when you see a successful artist or songwriter, regardless of how it appears.”
“My advice is to understand things take time. If you’re not working at that everyday to get there in some way, then you’re falling behind. So work, read books, listen to podcasts, watch documentaries and learn as much as you possibly can about what it means to me a songwriter and artist. Learn as much as you can about the business side, because going in the better prepared you will be. Regardless of what you see on social media, doing music for a living is not all that glamorous. It’s beyond hard and at my level I do everything myself. That’s a good thing, but you have to ask yourself, is being a musician and songwriter what you what to do or is it about who you are?”
“If it’s about who you are, then dive in and do that work. If it’s about what you want to do and make a living, then there are lots of ways to make a living in the music business that are important and valuable and you will probably make a better living than I do. Whether it is in publishing or at a label or a tour manager. There are lots of ways to work in the music business that are fun. If you’re going to make music regardless of what you do and every free moment you have is about making music I would tell that person to take that leap of faith. If it’s about making money, then there are better ways to do it. Music is always been something I’ve done, I cannot exist on this earth without making music.”
Country music is a sentimental part of my childhood. I remember my dad had an old guitar in the closet with rusty strings that I was so fascinated by. During car rides I would memorize every word to 90’s country songs. I fantasied about being like Shania, Martina or Faith with a guitar in hand. Later my dreams changed to writing the stories of country musicians. When I visited Nashville earlier this year, the deep melodies of Greg Pratt captivated my heart. He is definitely an artist I play in my car and try to memorize the the words just like I did as a kid. He has the “traditional country sound of tomorrow” that I could listen to on repeat all day. From hard core fast paced guitar pounding songs to soft melodies with deep vocals to tug at your heart strings. Greg Pratt is “sewing up the heart with Different Strings.” Read my interview with Greg to learn about winning his dad’s approval, his responsibility as a songwriter to affect someone’s life and his newly released album!
A. “I started playing guitar at a young age. I opened up my Dad’s guitar (a top-of-the-line JF-30 Guild American Classic guitar) and I was not allowed to play it, so he put it right back in the case and gave me this old guitar (a weathered Ovation) that was painful to play with rusty strings. I didn’t start singing until right before I moved to Nashville so it was a pass time, it didn’t become serious until the past three years. Once you get it in your mind, you can’t get it out and it has become a career.”
Q. Who’s your biggest musical influence? 
Q. “It’s an album of eight songs called Different Strings, it’s a song I played tonight about my Dad. What I try to do with my projects is have songs that are all different, there are no two songs that sound the same, and they’re not interchangeable. Each one has it’s own story, vibe and feeling that will put you on a different island so to speak when you start the track.”
A. “Someone told me to treat a song like a kid. I’ve never had a kid, but I’ve raised several dogs. If I treat a song like my dog, it takes time, training, care and develops a lot of different facets over the course of its growth. A song is kind of the same. When you first perform it out you don’t know what’s going to happen, but I play writer’s rounds and play downtown six days a week. The circles I play in allow me to play those originals for a brand new crowd everyday.”
Q. What is a memorable experience for you in your music career and how has it impacted you?
Q. What advice would you give to someone who may have a dream in music, but is struggling with having the confidence?
Q. Can you tell me some of your exciting plans for 2018? What long-term goals do you have for your career?
A. “I knew I wanted to move to Nashville since I was little. I told my parents I want to do music. So the decision to move to Nashville was something I always wanted to do, but it happened on a whim. Two guys I knew from the musical circuit back home called one day and said, ‘We’re biting the bullet, we’re moving to Nashville.” It was in like two weeks, but it was now or never, so I did. We didn’t know what we were going to do, where we were going to live. I slept on a hotel floor the first couple nights in Nashville. I looked for jobs on Craigslist and just made it work.”
Q. How did you start meeting other songwriters and the people you are working with now?
A. “I moved back to town (Nashville) to be a songwriter, that was my goal. I started going to the writers rounds. You find your place and the people you like to write with. One of my favorite things about music is the creative process with endless possibility. I imagine it’s how an artist feels looking at a canvas. You can do anything with a melody or lyric and watching that creative process happen with people in collaboration is so cool. Everyone has a different process, but it comes together to get something you’re all proud of.”
Q. What is a memorable experience for you in your music career and how has it impacted you?
Q. What advice would you give to someone who may have a dream in music, but is struggling with taking the steps to make it a reality?
Q. How do you guys sleep? I would have song lyrics in my head all night!
Driving through the Oklahoma plains in the back seat listening to the harmonic sounds of 
This is why I couldn’t have been more excited to hear they were making their way to the heart of the Midwest to perform in Lima, OH right before my 29th birthday. I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate than rocking out to their music with $2 beers at 
“Within six months we had a publishing deal. I could stop waiting tables and he could stop selling software. It was a blessing. When we got our first deal, we went down to Mexico to write some songs. For any of you that have been down to Mexico, you know there can be some distractions down there. With the tequila, food and the women. This song was written on an airlines napkin on our way back from Mexico about a girl we met. We shot a music video in Key West a couple years ago. We weren’t going to put it on our record, and then our label said that song is going on your record because it reminds everyone of their first trip to Mexico.”
“I (Jordan Walker) was at a bar and a guy came up to me in a Carhart jacket, ball cap and a big red beard. He said his name was Luke and he just moved here (Nashville) from North Carolina and I want to write songs. He said he knew I was in a band Walker McGuire and he would love to write a song with me someday. I said, ‘Luke I got a plan. Since these beers are $4.25 a piece and I got a 12 pack at my house and drink my roommate’s beer’, since he had a little bit of money and I had zero dollars at the time.”
A. “If it’s what you want to do, just believe in yourself and go for it. There’s going to be people that ask what’s your plan? You’re not always going to have a plan; it’s an uncertain career path. You got to chase after what you love and once you decide to do it, it’s like anything else. You have to treat it like it’s more than a 9 to 5 job because you can never clock out. It’s practice, write, and reading helps a lot lyrically. When you are ready to do it, you have to be in a city like New York, Nashville or LA to write and network with other writers that can feed your creative process and help you grow.”
Q. Take me back to the beginning of your career, tell me how you found your love and talent for music and decided to make it a career aspiration?
A. “That album was totally different, sometimes I feel it wasn’t received how I wanted it to be. I can understand why, because it’s my fifth album now and people had an expectation of what I would sound like because of the previous four albums. The Blue Roof Sessions intentionally wasn’t like that. As an artist, I wanted to do something different. Why would an actor make the same movie over and over? As a writer and producer as well, half those songs I had for years. I wrote the song ‘Work on Love’ so long ago, but just never found the right album to put it on. When I committed to making an edgy record, I had all these ideas of songs that would work so well. Just like ‘Don’t Forget Where You Come From’ or ‘What the Heaven’ wouldn’t have fit The Blue Roof Sessions record.”
Q. What is it like to play new music for a crowd and see how they receive it? 
A. “Take every gig you can and play as much as you can because you never know when that one person that can make a difference is out there listening. It doesn’t have to be a record label; it could be someone like you spreading the word in Cincinnati. It takes that one person to get the ball rolling sometimes. For me in college it was a big deal, I would play at every fraternity and sorority party, every bar that was available to me. It didn’t matter the money, I would play two in one day if I could.”
Q. How are your Texas fans different from when you travel to other states?
“On the new album I have a song called ‘So God Made a Farmer.’ I played at the Texas FFA Convention years ago for 10,000 kids. It was one of the coolest gigs I’ve ever played. I still have some people tell me it was the best show they ever saw 8 years ago when they were 15 years old. In 2013, I was watching the super bowl and there was a 
“In college I got involved in classical piano, I had been taking formal lessons on reading music and playing by ear. I started my own country band and played at local bars. It was always me and a piano at the front of the stage with my band behind me.”
A. “Everyday you start with a blank document; it’s like when a painter starts with a blank canvas. On that canvas you paint a picture of whatever you’re feeling that day. I enjoy sharing my stories of growing up in a small town and on the farm with other writers, both emotional and funny. It’s cool to see the story of however I’m feeling come to life on a blank piece of paper. Nothing gives greater satisfaction than seeing your song come to life in the studio, especially with some of the greatest musicians in Nashville.”
“My fiancé and I are getting married in June and she plays a big part in my career in supporting me. She’s seen the ride of my music ever since ten years ago when we met. She’s from Chicago and we met in our college town of central Illinois. We went our separate ways after college and reconnected years later.”
A. “Taylor Swift made me really break out (into music) and start writing. I also listened to Miley Cyrus, Hannah Montana and Disney music.”
Q. How do you develop your set list between playing your originals and cover songs people want to hear?