Chelsea McBee
Born and raised in Shepherdstown, WV, McBee quotes the old-time WV banjo tunes that she learned as major influences in her style of playing and her songwriting. She began playing claw-hammer banjo in the summer of 2005 and has been working on traditional tunes as well as writing original songs since then.
Her unique, inviting voice pairs well with the distinctive sound of her 5-string. Artists such as Gillian Welch, Anais Mitchell, Feist, Bonnie Rait and the Indigo Girls have all inspired this young songstress. "I have always been really into female musicians. Not exclusively, but I can relate to the common thread of womanness and really admire it".
McBee will get up and sing a WV tune, a catchy melody, a bare-boned Acapella, and then a sultry tango piece all with the banjo.
She worked with The Fox Hunt for her debut album 'Don't Close Your Eyes'. Their WV string band energy behind McBee's lyrics makes for an entertaining mix. Her tunes offer a variety of sound and heart stirring emotion, which will only serve to broaden her fan base.
Chelsea splits her musical time between her solo act and The Lady Diesan alt-country folk-roots gypsy band based out of Shepherdstown. She has traveled all over the US and parts of Spain spreading the music.
What Chelsea Did
Chelsea is a great example of how to use the Internet to your advantage. If you have the right amount of money, connections, and patients you can do what she did and create your own website. Creating your own website provides you with a platform to introduce yourself as the artist you wish to be viewed as. You control what content is seen and what is released to the public. But a personal website is useless unless you attract people to it. That’s where other sites, such as
MySpace and Facebook come into play. You can use these sites to entice people to look at your main site and further expand your fan base. Chelsea used her MySpace page as a one-stop page where all her fans could easily access her information, contact her, and view her upcoming events. She also used MySpace to present her music to the world.
On Chelsea’s YouTube page she allows her fans to view her recent shows and music videos. This gives her fans a better idea of who she is as an artist.
If there’s anything you ever wished to know about Chelsea’s music you could find it on her ReverbNation. A site like ReverbNation provides an artist with many options. It provides you the space to describe yourself and your sound. It also allows you upload your own music to showcase your sound even more. Some of the other features ReverbNation provides are a blog feature, a constantly updating press feature, a calendar of upcoming shows, and a mailing list.
A site similar to ReverbNation, but less attractive, is Indie-Music.com. Although it has fewer features it still provides your fans with contact and personal information about you and your music.
Chelsea understands the importance of keeping her fans updated with blogging. Many people and artist are using blogs these days, so it makes it very accessible and easy to stay in touch with your fans and/or other artist.
Chelsea utilizes the Internet for many purpose and they have helped her become the successful artist she has become.