There are just some people in the world that are easy to talk to. They\u2019re open, honest, and confident in who they are and what they put out into the universe. That\u2019s Beverly McClellan, and after our interview, I\u2019m pretty sure we\u2019re BFF\u2019s. No, seriously. She\u2019s that fun to talk to! Widely known for her time on NBC\u2019s show, \u201cThe Voice,\u201d McClellan quickly captivated audiences with her soul-shaking vocals, honest sense of humor, and energetic performances. With twenty years of experience under her belt in the South Florida music scene, McClellan gained the exposure she needed to take her already successful career to the next level.<\/p>\n
Oh, and then there\u2019s her latest record that drops NEXT WEEK! Fear Nothing<\/em> is the sixth release for McClellan, and she couldn\u2019t be more excited for everyone to have a copy.<\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> I want to thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me this morning. I was a huge fan of yours on the show, and I\u2019m so looking forward to your latest record.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n BM:<\/strong> Thank you so much. It\u2019s always so cool to hear that\u2014 having people come up to me and say they like my music is so awesome. The universe is good to me.<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> Absolutely. So tell me a little bit about this latest record! I heard a little snippit of a collaboration with Keb\u2019 Mo\u2019 this morning. How did that come about?<\/em><\/p>\n BM:<\/strong> It was so random. My manager asked me one day if there was anyone I wanted to write with. I\u2019ve always really written on my own, so it was something totally new to me. So I just out of the blue said that I wanted to write with Keb\u2019, and she was like, \u201cAre you serious? I know him!\u201d So I turned to her and was like, \u201cCall him!\u201d So she really set it up. It was so random, I actually found him on Pandora one day, and then I made a Keb\u2019 Mo\u2019 station, and I\u2019ve been obsessed with it ever since. My manager was excited and she knew it would be a good fit\u2014 she thought we would really get along, and we totally hit it off.<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> That\u2019s awesome! What was the writing process like?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n BM:<\/strong> We really just connected, and the song just drove itself. We actually had to make extra time to record it because it just came out so organically, and we were just meeting to see what happened. We sat down and were just piddling around and talking, and he started playing this thing. I was like, \u201cHey, what\u2019s that? I like that!\u201d Before we knew it, it just happened. It was really organic\u2014 with me it has to be. I can\u2019t just sit down and force myself to write something. I have to feel it. It was crazy how easily it came, especially since I had never really written with anyone else. I think the universe really put us together. I\u2019m sure that won\u2019t be the last time we write together. It\u2019s something I\u2019m just so proud to put out there.<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> Sounds like a fantastic way to make a record.<\/em><\/p>\n BM:<\/strong> Oh yeah. The whole thing just came together so perfectly. And working with Bruce on \u201cLyin\u2019 to,\u201d was the same way. He just came in and slapped this nasty old upright piano on that. It was just awesome. The whole band was just incredible. You know, I was playing with this band that has played with all of my idols, and it was just crazy that they were vibing with me. They play with so many incredible people, and here they are feeling the vibe with me! It made for a really heartfelt album. The album is something you can just play. You don\u2019t have to be in the mood\u2014 it\u2019ll put you in the mood, you know what I mean? (Laughs)<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> Absolutely. There are just some albums you can always listen to.<\/em><\/p>\n BM:<\/strong> Exactly. Like James Taylor\u2014 I\u2019m never not in the mood to listen to him. There are just some things you can put on anytime. You can listen to them driving in the car, cleaning the house, whatever! That\u2019s the kind of music I hope to make.<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> Well, from the preview of the record I heard, it certainly sounds like it.<\/em><\/p>\n BM:<\/strong> Oh, thank you! Yeah, I\u2019m just so excited for people to have the album in their hands. They can pre-order on Amazon and iTunes right now, and it\u2019s just so close to the date that I\u2019m really amped.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> I\u2019m really stoked to get it from you when you get here!<\/em><\/p>\n BM:<\/strong> Oh hell yeah! Sometimes I think seeing the show and getting the album there is better.<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> Always. That\u2019s usually what I like to do.<\/em><\/p>\n BM:<\/strong> Me too. The show should make me want to buy the record. Like Coldplay\u2014 I\u2019m a huge Coldplay fan. I absolutely love them. So I went to see their show, and I was in the fifth row or something. It was ridiculous. The show was so amazing, and I bought the album on the way out. It\u2019s just different after you\u2019ve lived the show. That\u2019s what I want to do. I want to transport everyone in that room to Beverly\u2019s living room.<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> This is definitely the venue to do that in. It\u2019s good for intimate shows, but you can still rock out.<\/em><\/p>\n BM:<\/strong> Anywhere they\u2019ve got power, I rock out! (laughs)\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> (Laughs) That\u2019s awesome.<\/em><\/p>\n BM:<\/strong> That\u2019s the awesome part of South Florida. You know, down here, we get hurricanes. Crazy storms that just take out all the power, and it\u2019s just insane. The bars down here have generators to play music through.<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> No way.<\/em><\/p>\n BM:<\/strong> Yeah! They actually hook up music to the generators so they can get rid of the food so it doesn\u2019t go bad. It\u2019ll be crazy outside and no one has power, but the bar is open. South Florida is good for that. The show always goes on. Everyone is looking for something to do! I\u2019ve been playing hooked up to a generator when there\u2019s no power. It\u2019s awesome.<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> That does sound awesome! I love it.<\/em><\/p>\n BM:<\/strong> It\u2019s cool. I love it down here.<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> Now, aren\u2019t you originally from East Tennessee?<\/em><\/p>\n BM:<\/strong> I was born there because there wasn\u2019t a hospital in my hometown. Go figure, we\u2019ve got 5 churches, one stop light, and no hospital. (Laughs) But I\u2019m really from Virginia.<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> (Laughs) Funny how that happens. So tell me a little bit about who inspired you to start.<\/em><\/p>\n BM:<\/strong> My mom and my grandma definitely. My mom played piano, and they definitely really inspired me to get started. From the time I started singing, I knew it was what I wanted to do forever. I came from this small town, and I got so lucky. I mean, I really feel like Dolly Parton. If she could do it, so could I, you know? Hard work pays off in the end. At 42, I\u2019m making it happen.<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> What? You mean you\u2019re not 25?<\/em><\/p>\n BM:<\/strong> (Laughs) No, I was the oldest contestant on the show! My youngest teammate on the show was 16 and she called me \u201cUncle Bev\u201d!<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> You look so young!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n BM:<\/strong> I guess I\u2019ve got good genes.\u00a0 I stay out of the sun. My tattoos are my tan (laughs).<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> Yes, you do have some killer tattoos by the way. It looked like you acquired a new one during the course of the show too- was it a bird?<\/em><\/p>\n BM:<\/strong> It\u2019s my peacock. I actually got a few tattoos during the show, because it was a major event in my life. I like to celebrate them and remember with tattoos. But yeah, I got a peacock around my microphone because NBC changed my life. I also got the chest piece that\u2019s actually my album cover, right before the live shows.<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> I love that one by the way. I have total tattoo envy from that album cover.<\/em><\/p>\n BM:<\/strong> Yeah, I love that piece. I got it because I just thought, \u201cI have to go into this fearing nothing.\u201d That\u2019s what it\u2019s all about for me.<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> Going back to the album for a minute, tell me about the songs. Did you write them after the show, or did you have some before?<\/em><\/p>\n BM:<\/strong> I actually wrote most of the album while I was on the show. I actually wrote \u201cI Can\u2019t Hide Me\u201d the day I got home from the Miami interview to be on the show. I came home from the interview, and it just came out. The one song that I had before the show was from my first album, but you can\u2019t get that anymore. So I took \u201cPrecious Times\u201d from that. It was originally just an acoustic recording, and now the song is just on a different level.<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> Who have you been listening to lately that you really dig?<\/em><\/p>\n BM:<\/strong> I am absolutely addicted to that Foster The People song, \u201cPumped Up Kicks.\u201d It\u2019s such a good song. I\u2019m also a big Florence and the Machine Fan. Ooh, and Adele. Oh my god, that song \u201cSet Fire to the Rain,\u201d is just incredible.<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> That has to be one of my favorite songs I\u2019ve ever heard.<\/em><\/p>\n BM:<\/strong> It\u2019s just one of those songs that kills you. I have got to do that song with her at some point.<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> That would be incredible.<\/em><\/p>\n BM:<\/strong> It would be. I would love that. I just got a new sound system in my van, and I made a playlist of my favorite songs, and it sounded so good in my van!<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> Is the van your new place to listen?<\/em><\/p>\n BM:<\/strong> I\u2019ve always listened to music in the van. You\u2019d never know it was me in the van though- I love to thug out. I love Missy Elliott and Eminem and all of that.<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> Are there any crazy artists you\u2019d love to work with?<\/em><\/p>\n BM:<\/strong> I tell you what, Snoop Dogg better holler at me. I would absolutely love to work with him!<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> I\u2019m pretty sure the world would explode. That would be so awesome.<\/em><\/p>\n BM:<\/strong> (Laughs) It would be pretty crazy. But there\u2019s room for it. I love that I can make my music on my albums, but there\u2019s room to step out and do singles with other people. I also want to work with Miranda (Lambert) and Gretchen Wilson! I love so much different music.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> I feel like all of the musicians I talk to have such an eclectic mix of stuff they listen to.<\/em><\/p>\n BM:<\/strong> Definitely. I\u2019m all over the place. I\u2019ll go from Snoop to Ravi Shankar. It\u2019s crazy. Music is universal. That\u2019s what\u2019s awesome. Bob Marley really had it right with \u201cOne Love.\u201d I want to have that universal appeal. You can listen to my music if you\u2019re four or ninety-four. That\u2019s what\u2019s awesome about it. \u201cOne Love\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n Special thanks to Beverly for her time. It was such a blast chatting with her. Don\u2019t miss her show, and be sure to pick up her record when it drops next week! You can pre-order it at the links below!<\/p>\n iTunes<\/a> WHAT: <\/em>Beverly McClellan<\/strong><\/em> An Interview with Beverly McClellan by: Casey Pukl There are just some people in the world that are easy to talk to. They\u2019re open, honest, and confident in who they are and what they put out into the universe. That\u2019s Beverly McClellan, and after our interview, I\u2019m pretty sure we\u2019re BFF\u2019s. No, seriously. She\u2019s that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1442],"tags":[11512],"class_list":["post-3988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-artists","tag-artist-interviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3988"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32972,"href":"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3988\/revisions\/32972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/bev-mcclellan-1.jpg\" "\\"Beverly")
<\/a>I was fortunate enough to speak with Beverly this morning. I had all intentions of asking her a ton of questions, but instead, we wound up having a great conversation about everything from her recent writing session with Keb\u2019 Mo\u2019 to her tattoos, her discovery of Nina Simone, and her love affair with her van.<\/p>\n
\nAmazon<\/a><\/p>\n
\nWHEN: <\/span>Friday, November 25, 2011, 9:30pm <\/strong><\/em>
\nTICKETS: $10-$39 <\/span>Buy Tickets<\/a><\/em>
\nMORE INFO: <\/span>Artist Profile<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"