Walking towards The Shindellas dressing room backstage at the Grand Ole Opry as they prepare to make their debut, you can feel the energy percolating even before entering. The seed of this dream was planted years prior. It all started inside the walls of Weirdo Workshop, an artist collective founded by the hit songwriting-production team of Claude Kelly and Chuck Harmony who formed The Shindellas—Kasi Jones (Singer), Stacy Johnson (Singer/Guitarist) and Tamara Chauniece (Singer)—to revive the girl groups of the past with a modern flair, in Franklin, Tennessee.
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At the Workshop is a vision board displaying their ambitious dreams, one of which is to make their Grand Ole Opry debut. Harmony and Kelly made that dream a reality in February 2020 as their duo, Louis York, performed two of their original songs “Teach Me a Song” and “How Will I Feel,” paving the way for The Shindellas to do the same.
On that same vision board, Johnson drew three silhouettes displaying each of their three faces. “We talked about wanting to be who we needed to see as little girls,” Jones tells American Songwriter backstage in their dressing room in an emotional interview. “Nashville is where The Shindellas came alive and went from an idea to a living breathing entity. One of the first things we talked about as The Shindellas was breaking out of musical boxes. That’s Claude and Chuck’s whole passion why they created Weirdo Workshop.”
Jones cites the Pointer Sisters as one of their biggest influences. The Pointer Sisters were the first Black group to appear on the Grand Ole Opry in 1975 where they sang their Grammy-nominated hit “Fairytale.” The Shindellas agree that watching Louis York make their Opry debut was “emotional” and are grateful to be following in their footsteps. “It’s beautiful to know that their dreams are coming true just as much as ours are,” Chauniece praises, calling their Opry debut a “rite of passage.” “Opry is a stage for American roots music – country music, Americana music, soul music,” Jones describes. “This is quintessential American music.”
To best capture The Shindellas’ diverse sound and meaningful lyrics, they selected the empowering “Reconsider” and soul-tingling “Lullaby” to perform on their Opry debut. “Great music is a big thing here. Storytelling is a big thing here and celebrated,” Johnson observes of the Opry. “We take pride in our music and we feel that it is great storytelling, it’s only fitting that we share it on this stage too.” “Reconsider” is a soul-meets-R&B number that prioritizes respect in a relationship above all else, while “Lullaby” is a peaceful mantra about self-love that’s uplifted by the trio’s stunning voices.
“Lullaby’ is a prayer, an affirmation, an invitation to remember who you are and where you come from and what you’re made of,” Jones narrates of the “gentle” song. “It’s such an important song for the messaging, but also for how it showcases us as vocalists, Claude and Chuck as composers. It’s so outside of the box and what people think of when they see us and think of us and Black women in general.” “It’s self-accepting,” adds Johnson. “It’s so important to show us loving on ourselves and each other. This is the perfect stage for that because of how many people are in the audience and the demographic of the audience. This definitely will break a lot of stereotypes about when three Black women come together and stand on the stage. It’s going to open people’s minds and hearts.”
“That vulnerability is what people need to see these days because it’s such a hard world and everybody has to feel like they have to have a wall up when community is important,” shares Chauniece. “I am what God made / Beautiful and brave / Every fiber of me/ Is perfectly lovely, people need to be reminded of that.”
During rehearsal, Jones, Johnson, and Chauniece entered the sacred circle for the first time by holding hands and jumping in together, a look of pure joy on each of their faces all the while. The trio’s harmonies sparkled as much as the gold-sequined dresses they were wearing as they strutted onto the Opry stage. It only takes a few notes of “Lullaby” to bring tears to your eyes and send a shiver down your spine, a sensation The Shindellas refer to as a “shindo.”
The Shindellas know the historical significance of their performance not just for their carer, but culturally as well. “There was a time when people that looked like us could not get within 100 feet of this place,” Chauniece asserts. “We’re living our ancestors’ wildest dreams over and over. We’re living history.” Just as importantly, The Shindellas are living out their own wildest dreams—and making history in the process.
“When you start with intention, you will finish with intention. When we came together, we said, ‘When women come together, powerful change can happen, miracles can happen.’ We wanted to be a part of something bigger than ourselves – and here we are,” Jones proclaims. “It’s all because we started with faith and intention. We have laid a path for ourselves. We forged the path in our imaginations and then we had to be brave enough to step on it. In that way, we have been our own muses. By stepping into what we needed to be, we become who we are.”
The Shindellas will kick off 2024 on tour with October London. Check out the dates here.
Photo credit: Grand Ole Opry, photos by Chris Hollo
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