Chelsea Lynn Labate, from Brooklyn, NY is an original folk artist featured on Plattsburgh Pipeline Radio. She is back from her European tour and currently touring the Southeast, captivating audiences with her poetical mastery while finger picking away on her guitar. She is also planning her Northeast tour for the end of the summer, so look for her in a town near you!

I was able to contact Chelsea and ask her a few questions.  I asked who her major influences have been and she replied, “I don't like this question. How can I answer this? My biggest influences are life experiences, like when I was homeless and broke in NYC and couldn't afford a winter coat, or when I got stranded on Maui and had to live in a sugar cane field under a bridge. Or watching elders in Florida push their grocery carts around. Or living in an Ashram in the West Village and meditating every morning at 6am with a group of strangers. Or giving up most of my possessions and significant relationships and anything close to a real job to keep my songs alive. These are the building blocks of my songs. And sure there are always songs playing in the background and for me, growing up that was Billie Holiday, the jazz greats, Suzanne Vega, Nick Drake. But I don't study music, I don't know notes.”

I then asked Chelsea what  really inspires her to make music and she said, “I was SO TIRED of hearing the same dang songs over and over and over and over... I thought, I want to put my own stories out there!”

I asked “What do you feel are the ingredients of a good song?” Chelsea responded, “I like this question. Number one is the seed, or a word or a theme that the whole thing comes back to. Like a good paragraph. Number two, then I like metaphor. If you hold onto your seed, then all of the metaphors can be as loopy and exotic as you like! I am a sucker for good imagery and lyrics. Number three a catchy, lovely melody. Number four, honesty. Number five, Some sort of positive resolution. An example, if the song is about natural disaster, there has to be some light to the dark side of the coin. The "bum you out" songs don't go over well at live shows for me.”

I asked Chelsea what she wants the listener to get out of her music and she said, “That we are all human. Inspiration. Rest from a hard work week. That life isn't always about practicality. None of this is practical. This is the journey of the soul. Space travel!”

Chelsea Lynn Labate's family has always been there with their strong support over years. She says, “My family has had tremendous understanding. They get my desire to put my art out there. They are proud of me and cheer me on and that is huge! My little cousin Sienna recently auditioned for the talent show with one of my songs. Who else? My best friend Jesse Ruth - she goes on the road with me and makes sure that I eat. And all of my songwriting friends in Brooklyn and all over the East Coast who help to set up shows and house me."

The main themes or topics for Chelsea Lynn Labate's songs have recently been tributes. She says, “I have really been on this tribute song kick. Galileo, Edison, Our Founding Fathers, Marco Polo, and Noah Webster. Do you know anything about Noah Webster? He was an incredible man. He made the dictionary because Americans in different parts of the country spelled, pronounced and used words differently. He thought that all Americans should speak the same way. He gave us a language we can use. This inspires me to write songs.”

I asked Chelsea her she feels these topics will change over time and she replied, “Always. I had a space travel kick that I am glad ended. Also a sad song phase that made me leave NYC.”

I asked,  “What has been your biggest challenge as a musician? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?” Chelsea replied, “No, it is one challenge after another. Recently it has been to maintain my health. I am launching a June tour, I just finished stuffing a zillion envelopes with posters that I had to hand write all the info in. My website has some glitch in it that keeps me huffing on 1 800 help lines. I need to get in touch with radio stations. I don't have enough funds to professionally print my CDs so I am doing those by hand. I have insane paper cuts. The AC in my car blew up. I don't have a home of my own. I put in 14 hour days and get paid $0 at the end of the day a lot of times and really, it is all worth it. I will leave this earth as someone who really gave it her all. But! I need to somehow get back on the yoga mat.”

Chelsea Lynn Labate says that her most memorable venue has been Paris. She adds,  “I played in this underground tavern. I was SO nervous (and I never get nervous) because there were all these super hip artsy people. They clapped so loud and loved it. They bought a ton of merchandise and loved the poetry. When I get better support, I am going back to Paris to play for them - they are poets over there!”

I asked, “If you could change anything in your past, musically, would you? And if so, what?” She said “Sure. I suppose I'd learn to play guitar! Ha!” Chelsea says listeners responded to her music with great appreciation while on the road. She adds, “It is like running a marathon. Really. With no finish line and there are all these people holding out their hands to high five me along the way.”

When I asked Chelsea about her musical aspirations in 2009 she told me, “To find a manager. Someone who can represent the work and help me to get substantial shows. I want to play at colleges. I also need help booking. I need someone who will help to get my songs on the radio. Then I need a real album with instrumentation. A producer and funding for all of it. Are those musical goals? Or music business goals?”

Either way, Labate's sound has me thinking that she will reach those goals.  You can see Chelsea while she is in the area. Chelsea will be performing at Manhattan Pizza in Burlington Vermont on August 15th, 2009. Chelsea will also play August 16th  at the Radio Bean with Joshua Panda. Other show dates include Plattsburgh on Sept. 10th at the Coffee Camp and on the 12th at the Koffee Kat. More dates are being added, visit http://www.chelsealynnlabate.com for a full calendar of events.