By Chanz Releases First Single, LAX Girl (Washington,
DC-March 29)
By
Chanz, a new
teen female vocal group, has released their first cassette single, LAX Girl – LAX World.
The vocal group consists of Kelley Hagood and Marina Harrison who met
“by chance” to form what is destined to become one of the most powerful teen
female groups in pop music. Hagood, 17 and a junior at Broad Run Senior High School, has
played lacrosse since she was old enough to hold a stick.
She recently helped to launch the first high-school affiliated lacrosse
club team in eastern Loudoun County, VA. Harrison,
19, played youth lacrosse in Annapolis, Maryland and is currently a freshman at
the University of Maryland at College Park where she is majoring in
communications.
LAX Girl tells
the story of a girl’s lacrosse game from the player’s point of view.
The song captures the intensity of a lacrosse game and expresses a
player’s passion for the sport. From
the very first verse, LAX
Girl captures the action and excitement of a lacrosse game with
authentic lyrics like:
Chargin’ down the field, heart
poundin’ in my chest.
Mom’s cheerin’, “Come on
girl!” I’m dyin’ for a breath.
Cradlin’
the ball with my weapon of choice,
Mouth
piece in my jaw as I’m chargin’ toward the crease.
Hagood
originally recorded LAX Girl on an inexpensive boom box in the attic of her in Cape
Cod-style home in Annapolis in the summer of 1999. Then, in November of 1999, By
Chanz took LAX Girl into the studio and recorded the song professionally
with the help of Ernesto Phillips at Pearl Studios in Columbia, MD.
Phillips is the President of Longevity Records.
He has also discovered other local vocal talents such as Toni Braxton and
Kimberly Scott. Phillips was a
former member of the R&B group Star Point who recorded a gold album and
penned such hits as Object
of My Desire in the 1980s. He
developed the music track for LAX
Girl and provided vocal coaching for the members of By
Chanz along with Miss Renee Diggs, another former Star Point vocalist.
Hagood
and Harrison have been performing LAX
Girl live at girl’s lacrosse tournaments and clinics throughout
Maryland and Virginia. They have
performed the song before nearly 1,000 girls and their coaches and have received
very positive feedback. When asked
how lacrosse players are responding to LAX Girl, Hagood said, “…the girls are thrilled and very
excited that they finally have a song about the sport they love… a song to
call their own.” She understands
that many coaches and players are using the song to warm up during practice and
before games. Hagood also
said, “I can just imagine lacrosse players chanting the song’s lyrics as
they march onto the lacrosse field to do battle during the game.” And Harrison
said, “the beat is infectious…I find myself humming the melody all the
time.” By
Chanz will be performing LAX
Girl live during the two largest lacrosse tournaments in the country,
LAX Max 2000 and Lax Splash 2000, both located in the Baltimore area in the
first and second weekends of June.
Both
Harrison and Hagood clearly have bright futures in the music business.
Harrison said, “I am just following my dream and very focused on
improving my vocal abilities at this time.”
Hagood is positive the group will receive national attention someday.
Last December, while scarfing down some Chinese food with her dad, she
opened her fortune cookie and discovered the following prediction, “The world
is always ready to receive talent with open arms.”
Her father’s fortune read, “Start believing in your dreams and others
will catch the fever.” It appears
that lacrosse players everywhere are starting to catch “By
Chanz” fever now that they have a national lacrosse anthem, LAX
Girl-LAX World, to call their own.
LAX Girl
was published by Scaredy Cat Music (c 1999) and released on Ground Zero Records
(GZR) label. GZR is a small
independent record company. To
learn more about LAX
Girl and see several additional photographs of By Chanz, check out their web page at www.theorchard.com,
click the Pop music category, and
type By Chanz. Copies of the tape can be ordered from the web page or by
calling (703) 723-1176.