Chaz Cardigan at the Satellite on 11/21
Witness the magnetic energy of Chaz Cardigan live, purchase your ticket HERE!
Nashville-based songwriter Chaz Cardigan undoubtedly has a special gift for cognition and conveyance. A moment spent perusing Cardigan’s social media accounts or simply listening to his slew of 2018 singles and 2017 album I, one can easily divulge that Cardigan is a thinker, perhaps even an over-thinker (and we’re into it). With a self-proclaimed love for learning and a consistent energy level that surmounts my best day post three cold brews, Cardigan keeps his mind nimble and his calendar stacked, all in the hopes of creating a platform that is not only based on great music, but thought-provoking messages.
Originally from the small town of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Cardigan began his descent into the Nashville songwriter community at 12, making the nearly 150 mile commute regularly and eventually becoming a staple of the songwriting community there. He claims the likes of NSYNC, Michael Jackson, and Queen as his early pop inspirations, but Cardigan’s musical journey really began in the classical realm. He began his training on the keys in the early years of his youth, sparking a cosmic connection of synapses and neurons which embedded music into the deepest trenches of his brain. Next came self-taught lessons on the guitar, bass, and drums, leading to an early gigging career at 11, during which Cardigan would perform a collection of punk covers, all the while learning to produce and mix himself on a Tascam 4-track tape recorder.
Rather than fall into the ominous hole of student debut that plagues our present millennial generation, he decided to tune out the “university noise” and tune into the noise of the Nashville music scene, moving there only two days post high school graduation. Quickly falling into the Nashville Hip Hop collective The Diatribe, there he honed in his production skills and began writing and producing the bulk of his present catalogue. During that time he lived a vagabond lifestyle, becoming well-acquainted with the inside of his car and his friends’ couches. Though a difficult season of adjustment, Cardigan credits this period of his life as a time of exponential growth for both himself as a person and an artist.
The next five years became a series of trial and error, breaking down debilitating ego and building up creative integrity. Following his debut album I, all of which was written and produced himself, Cardigan released his collection of singles “DOIDOIT,” “Over,” “Medicine,” “Epsidode,” and my personal favorite “Nerves.” All of these singles were featured on Spotify’s New Music Friday, opening Cardigan up to whole new fan base and creating notoriety surrounding his name in the music industry.
Cardigan’s sound is hard to define. Not exactly straight pop but not exactly left-of-center, we see Cardigan creating an idiosyncratic vein for himself, similar to unique lanes Alec Benjamin and Rex Orange County have paved for themselves (not a comparison, just some orientation). A gifted multi-instrumentalists with a euphonious voice that keeps even the heavenly cherubs in a constant state of “swoon,” Cardigan boasts performance chops that many artists merely dream of attaining.
2019 has proven to be a year of change and growth for Cardigan. He has kept busy performing his new singles around the country, even gracing the stage at Nashville’s Pride, in addition to undergoing an artist name shift, all the while working on his next body of work due for release in 2020. To conclude the year and celebrate what is next to come, Chaz Cardigan is traveling to Los Angeles for a specially curated We Found New Music showcase at the Satellite on November 21st, buy your tickets above before it’s too late!
Hungry for more? Listen to our WFNM exclusive interview to learn more about Chaz Caridgan’s musical journey HERE!