For husband-and-wife musical duo Eleyet McConnell, the road to recognition has been paved with persistence, personal struggles, creative breakthroughs, and an unwavering belief in the power of music. Comprised of powerhouse vocalist Angie McConnell and veteran bassist, songwriter, and musician Chris McConnell, the acclaimed duo has transformed decades of life experiences into songs that resonate with listeners around the world. With their album The Journey earning attention, an impressive collection of industry nominations, and a third album taking shape, Eleyet McConnell is enjoying a remarkable chapter in an already extraordinary story. Yet behind the accolades lies something even more compelling: a marriage, a musical partnership, and a shared commitment to telling honest stories through song. In this exclusive interview, Angie and Chris discuss the emotional inspiration behind their music, the lessons learned along the way, their evolving creative process, and why their greatest accomplishments have little to do with trophies or chart positions.
- This year has brought an extraordinary amount of recognition for Eleyet McConnell. When you look beyond the nominations themselves, what do you think the industry is finally recognizing about who you are as a vocalist, songwriter, and artist?
Angie: I feel like this year has brought a realization that I’m not just a gal with a good voice. I’m an artist that can add emotion, capture an audience and talk about real, hard-knock life stories through song. I don’t try to emulate anyone. I mean, I’m not offended nor will I ever turn down compliments that put me in a group of people like Anne Wilson – I’ll take that all day with a giant THANK YOU!
But I also feel like people are really hearing the messages in the originals and are showing an excitement about what’s next, or what a new release is really about and why the song came to be in the first place.
- After more than 56 years of playing bass, you received a Josie Music Awards nomination for Musician of the Year – Bass. If you could go back and talk to the younger musician who endured the lean years, setbacks, and uncertainty, what would you tell him about where that persistence eventually led?
Chris: I would tell him to never stop believing in yourself. That you will have your detractors telling you that your dreams are bigger than your town. NEVER STOP DREAMING. That your persistence and hardship are just your dues for those big dreams.
You know where you are going. Keep those steps forward as weary as they may seem. You know your purpose no matter what they think and that your real treasure is the journey. It will make for good songs later.
- “Your Eyes” gives you a lot of emotional space as a vocalist, with piano and strings rather than a wall of guitars behind you. Did that stripped-down arrangement make the performance feel more vulnerable, and was there a particular moment in the recording when you knew you had captured what the song needed?
Angie: This song is so beautiful and the recording of it certainly gives validation to the saying, “less is definitely more.” Stripping a song down like this always adds a level of vulnerability that would be lost with too many instruments and too much production.
My goal in the studio was to try and put the listener in that moment. You are in a public, maybe crowded place and you find yourself caught in a memory. Everything stops. It’s quiet, at least in your mind. You start to ponder things. Reflect. Wonder.
Capturing that is harder than it sounds, at least for me anyway. It is way easier to belt out something with a full band than it is to use that kind of restraint and breath control it takes to deliver a song the way “Your Eyes” came out on that recording.
After I ran through it a couple of times I was able to let my mind go and get lost in that moment as well. We’ve all had one or more of those. I took myself there and when I was listening back in the studio I realized I did capture what I had set out to do.
It’s just lovely. Patrick protected the song perfectly from too much noise and production. Our friend Darla played piano on this one and even that instrument plays like it’s reflecting on something powerful. Then there is Kimmi. My goodness, we lucked out with her. Those strings. Just cuts like butter.
- The inspiration for “Your Eyes” came from unexpectedly seeing an old high-school heartbreak, but you ultimately brought that memory home and turned it into a song with your wife. Has Angie’s perspective ever caused you to understand one of your own songs—or even one of your own memories—in a completely different way?
Chris: Angie is my voice. She captures what I believe and feel without much direction. We are so locked that sometimes it’s one breath, one heartbeat, one motion.
Many times live I’ll catch myself listening to her and feeling emotional about it. Every time I hear her sing it’s like the first time. On our originals it always makes me remember how, when and the way we wrote the song.
- The Journey moves from the defiance of “The Ledge” to the tenderness of “Your Eyes” and through a number of emotional places in between. Looking back at the completed album now, which song reveals something about the two of you that listeners might otherwise never know?
Angie: Chris may have a different answer to this but for me it’s “The Journey,” maybe “Dreamy”—they actually kind of tell the story together.
The lyrics for “The Journey” came to me when I realized I didn’t want to pursue any kind of music career without him next to me. It wasn’t right without him. Believe me I tried. We were in a rough spot, and we had a whole lot of those in the beginning. Some friends likened us to “Stevie and Lindsey,” and I think we deserved that. LOL.
Anyway, he would often say (actually in text messages) to me “I can’t see me without looking at you” when we were really going at it. I used that line in the song because it says it all for both of us.
“Dreamy” is the song that reflects on the moment that Chris and I wondered if we could even build things back up from the mess we created. Could we still pursue our dream? Could we manage to get up, dust off and forgive ourselves for the mess(es) behind us?
Most people don’t know that we went through that emotional journey. That’s why “Dreamy” made the record.
Chris: I can’t say much that Angie hasn’t already said but for not looking like I’m cheaping out I would have to say “King of Glass” isn’t about me. LOL.
- Your voice is frequently compared with powerhouse female rock singers, but after two albums you’ve established a recognizable identity of your own. What have you learned about your voice—especially its imperfections, textures, and emotional qualities—that you appreciate now more than you did when you were younger?
Angie: I alluded to this earlier. Getting compared to those women is an unbelievable honor for me. I’ve looked up to Anne Wilson since I was a teenage girl. I grew up hearing Linda Ronstadt (I think my dad had a huge crush on her LOL). Beth Hart is one of my absolute favs and I swear we’d be BFFs if I ever had the pleasure to meet her.
Her music got me through one of the most difficult times in my life. I adore her writing and am grateful that she shares such raw stories with the world. God bless her!
Through all of this I have learned so much about myself and my own voice. In the beginning of all of it I only focused on the power. How loud could I sing a line or how high of a note could I hit. I still work on those things because those are valuable skills.
What I learned most is that my lower register and ability to pull back at times is often more powerful than the big notes. It’s the connection that matters and even when I mess up, if the emotion is there it’s very forgiving. I never gave that skill the respect it absolutely deserves.
- You and Angie have started opening the songwriting process for your third album to longtime bandmates Kenny Barnett and Brandon Ullery. How has giving other musicians more creative ownership changed the songs, and has anyone taken a new composition somewhere you never expected it to go?
Chris: Well, Angie and I still write the song and then bring it down to the guys. From there we let them play what they feel and there are moments where Kenny or Brandon will suggest an idea to the song and usually it’s a great idea.
The songs always have a slight variation from our original concept but basically it’s still the same with some influences. We did have one song that got away from us into an entirely different direction that became so radical we had to stop and regroup. LOL.
We have created a style for us and though we may have a ballad then a country song then Rock & Roll song, that one went way out for us. On this third album there will be a song written from the ground up with the guys. It hasn’t happened yet.
- You’ve built a marriage, a band, and now a nationally recognized body of work together. When the awards ceremonies, interviews, chart positions, and industry attention are stripped away, what would have to happen over the next five years for the two of you to look at each other and say, “We did what we came here to do”?
Angie: Oh, we are so blessed and grateful for all that has happened. We’ve definitely done what we came here to do and all of that recognition is just gravy.
We wanted to get our songs recorded and made available. It was beyond our wildest dreams that we’d get all these nominations, awards and know that OUR story is getting played around the world. Just blissful.
Chris: Actually we are blessed to have the music but our marriage and relationship is not built around it. If all that was to be stripped away, the awards ceremonies, interviews, chart positions, and industry attention we would be fine.
We have built a life around our home, our kids, our animals (which Angie has spoiled) and ourselves. We’ve always said it could all disappear tomorrow and we would be fine knowing what we have done.
Our eggs are not in one basket. Like our chickens those eggs are everywhere, some still to be found.
A Journey Worth Taking
If there’s one thing that becomes clear after spending time with Angie and Chris McConnell, it’s that Eleyet McConnell’s greatest success cannot be measured in nominations, radio spins, or industry recognition. Their story is one of two people who have weathered difficult seasons, found strength in each other, and turned their shared experiences into music that speaks to the human condition. From the haunting vulnerability of “Your Eyes” to the deeply personal reflections woven throughout The Journey, their songs carry the unmistakable weight of lives genuinely lived. As they prepare their third album and welcome new creative contributions from their bandmates, the future promises another exciting chapter for the duo. But perhaps Chris said it best: even if the spotlight disappeared tomorrow, they would still have everything that matters. For Eleyet McConnell, the music is an extraordinary gift, but the love, resilience, and life behind it are the real story. And judging by the passion that continues to drive them, this journey is far from over.
