Chasing Chapin

Jen Chapin is not a woman fond of grandiose ideas of superstardom. The pragmatic 32-year-old singer, musician and songwriter can thank her self-proclaimed practical nature and a lifetime of watching some pretty well known relatives live the life she now calls her own.

I have two uncles who are generally folksy who have been working for a long time and have always been very supportive of my career, which I can say of my whole family, actually,” the friendly performer unveiled in a telephone interview.

But she’s the first to admit that despite the success of the branches on her family tree - including a grandfather who, in his mid-80’s is still teaching his drum technique to young percussionists - the road wasn’t always crystal clear.

She did not begin banging out Beethoven on the family piano as a precocious toddler, nor did she feel a drive to roar out the riffs of Zeppelin or Joplin in her teens. Instead, she had a “typical childhood” in most ways, even as the musical muse chased her in her dreams. In fact, she didn’t pick up guitar or piano until she was in her early 20’s.

Her father, Harry Chapin (best known for the 1974 hit “The Cats in the Cradle”), toured during much of her childhood and died when Chapin was just ten in a car accident at the age of 38. Musically speaking, he was more folk than his daughter, who studied improvisation and jazz harmony, among other subjects.

Reared in upstate New York, she pursued the same non-musical things many of her peers did – boys, books and fun – and whatever her older brother was listening to.

I think it’s a combination of nurture and nature, my pursuing this lifestyle. I have a musical inclination in my family and there are a lot of people who are drawn to it in my family tree. I don’t think we’re necessarily blinding talents or anything,” she laughed, “But just people who are aware of the joy music can bring in the giving and receiving of it.”

She attended Brown University, studied abroad and eventually earned a degree in International Relations. She passed up the opportunity to snag a spot in graduate school as a teacher to throw herself head first into the industry via Berklee’s College of Music.

After a decade in the business seeking the bliss that music brings, she believes undertaking a new phase of her professional life can indeed be done with a little wisdom, a lot of preparation and more determination than even she knew she was capable of.

The Long Island native and her husband Stephan Crump, bassist and co-producer (music and family), are doing a few shows around her adopted hometown, New York City, this summer. They’ll expand the tour to Florida in November.

Chapin is also six months pregnant, juggling the responsibilities of home life while still seeking the formula that will allow her to pursue her two passions – music and teaching.

She combines those interests as the Chairperson on the Board of Directors for WHY (World Hunger Year), co-founded by her father.

WHY is basically an organization that tries to stamp out hunger and poverty through building self reliance,” she explained.

We have many programs, including Artists Against Hunger and Poverty, which pairs up performers with community groups devoted to the same goals.”

You may be able to take the teacher out of the classroom, but in Chapin’s case at least, you can’t take the teacher out of the girl. Part of her work with WHY is performing workshops and programs like “Music and Social Action,” “The Hows and WHYs of Hunger” and “Black Music in America” to various high school and college audiences. It’s all about giving back a little sliver of what she feels the world has given her.

Music for Chapin is not just a way to stay connected with her father and performing ancestry, but is also a way to connect with the less fortunate to improve the future. Thanks to the critical acclaim of 2004’s “Linger,” the effervescent vocalist is happily not selling CDs out of a box under her bed anymore. She’s even more thrilled about becoming a mom. In fact, it’s that little production that makes the years to come seem brighter, despite how many CDs she sells.

I’d love to just be making music and having kids in the future, to have a firm and healthy financial footing and give up all the life or death fundraising we have to do now,” she said, sighing deeply.

I’d also like to see this country not trying to do a high-speed race to the gutter and see it more open to the world and not locked in a culture of fear. That would all be great. As for life right now, things are pretty good.”

For more information on Jen Chapin or WHY (World Hunger Year), go to www.jenchapin.com.