She plays Kate Pearson on the hit show, "This Is Us," but her name is Chrissy Metz, and if you didn't know it because of her TV show, or her role in the movie, "Breakthrough", you're now going to know it as a recording artist! Last year Chrissy joined me on the podcast to tell us all about her movie, but somehow we neglected to talk about the fact that she'd lent her talent to the soundtrack - this lady has some serious pipes as well as acting chops! She's now signed with a record label, and is working on a full album (no thanks to the coronavirus!) Her first single, "Talking To God" is getting a lot of airtime on Christian, Country, and A/C stations - yes, it's THAT good! Find it, download it, listen to it, then join us right here on "LOVE SOMEONE with Delilah" and we'll give you the backstory, the continuing story, and all kinds of stories in between! ~ Delilah
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Last year, I had the pleasure the privilege of chatting with one of my heroes, somebody that I just absolutely adore, Chrissie Mets. Chrissie is the award winning actress who is known as Kate Pearson on NBC's This Is Us and I Am addicted to it. I love it and Kate Pearson, the character Kate Pearson played by Chrissie Mets, is one of MY favorite favorite aspects of the show. At that time, when I interviewed Christie the first time, she and Devon Franklin had recently started in Breakthrough, an incredible movie that had just been released. But for some reason, during that initial conversation with Chrissie, I neglected to talk to her about her singing. She performed the single I'm Standing with You that was featured in the movie Breakthrough. She also, as her character Kate Pearson, sings and This Is Us and I completely neglected to talk about that. Her performance and breakthrough with I'm Standing with You led to her Country Music Award debut in April of twenty nineteen, alongside all sorts of big names. Now, she has signed with Universal Music Group Nashville and is quite the Star. Her debut single, Talking to God, has led to this conversation talking with Delilah and I'm so thrilled to welcome Chrissy back to love someone with the Lilah. Hi, Grizzy, how are you? Oh my god? I love you? Oh, I love you. Have you been well? You know, Corona? But other than so, where did you Where did you end up sheltering in place? Um? In Nashville? So, yeah, it's been since March twelfth, got here, Um, I came to finish the album and literally the record stop, literally, And so I've just been here ever since. And I mean, I love it. It's so beautiful here and I'm not very far from my family, which makes me feel a little a little more more comfort, you know. Um. But yeah, we've been in Nashville, my best friend and I so, And did you go there thinking I'm going to finish this album, I'm going to go in the studio, I'm going to produce it, I'm going to get it done. Or did you go there thinking, oh my gosh, coronas spreading like wildfire. I'm just gonna go hunker down, like where was your head the night of March eleven? Yeah, we literally I have one suitcase. I've been rotating four dresses for the past couple of months. And it was we're going to be here for like a week maybe and head back to l A and you know, get some stuff done, but and get ready for the tour that was going to happen June three. So we did not plan. We were not in the headspace. And then when we got here, everyone's like, oh, there's going to be like a shelter in place, um, and we're like, what do you mean? So literally, I and I bought a home in February, so there was nothing in the house there still really isn't think good as we had some beds, but we were like, we need groceries and dishes like what. So it was it was kind of an adventure to say the least. But um, yes, thank goodness for Amazon and and everybody, all these central workers who were able to even get the packages to us, because I was like, I don't know what we're gonna do, um, And you know, we had to wait, of course some time for things and I have like a hodgepodge of furniture that was just available to arrive. So it's been very interesting. So the night that you're packing up to go to Nashville to start producing your album. I packed up five kids, two outlaws, my ex in laws, uh, three dogs, a cat, myself, and my husband and we headed to my husband's ranch because before we married, he had a beef ranch and our how the house he has is eleven hundred square feet. Oh wow with nine people. Oh wow, you're camping. Yeah. Yeah. And because my husband's very utilitarian, you know, he he If he has a piece of furniture, if it works, it works, that's okay, you know, and bet on the floor is okay. And so there wasn't a lot to work with when we got here, and I had a suitcase just like you, I was rotating for T shirts. Yeah. Yeah, So it's been interesting, but but good. I mean, I I I think we've grown a lot as a family. So absolutely, I'm sure there's like either like grow out or dissolved and from people you know, and relationships have been dissolving, which is you know, I think everything happened for a reason, and however it sort of comes to you and what you can of course learn about yourself or your relationship or partnership. Um, it's important for whatever your evolution is and so it's really forcing us to see like, oh, what's important to us and what, um, what can we tolerate and what do we want in our lives? You know. So yeah, it's been fascinating. Uh is an understatement. The biggest blessing to come out of the Corona shutdown for you personally, Christie Matts, I think it reflections time for myself. Um. So much of my life has been about everybody else, um, because I never wanted to sort of look at the stuff that I was pushing down or you know, not wanting to think about our work through and I'm was like, oh, I know, the only way to do it is to go through it. And going through whatever trauma or you know, childhood issues that we haven't really contended with. Um. When you're forced to be quiet, forced to stay in one place and be still, all those things aren't floating up to the surface. And I'm like, wow, there's a lot that I have not been able to deal with, our shoes not to deal with, and now is the time to do so. So that to me has been a really big blessing because I feel like I'm evolving in many ways that I think I really needed to. So so did you journal, did you write? Did you do twelve steps? Like? Yeah, all the things any which way reading, journaling, my therapist, UM, you know, all all the ways that UM I was able to sort of how many boxes of Kleenex or was that one of those things that you didn't have access to at the time, Like did you use a towel to dry your tears? What? What did that look like? The one thing, you know, the one thing we did have was Kleenex because they didn't have toilet people at Costcow, so we definitely had clean x UM. And yeah, you know, I've been doing a lot of UM water shedding, I guess we should we could call it and crying and just feeling so many different feelings UM. And I think there's such a shift happening in our world and our perceptions and the way that we look at things and it all, you know, everything is being affected. So yeah, no, I've been doing some crime for sure. When I was younger and was forced into that position where I had to look at stuff, I had a wonderful counselor, a Christian man. He was a pastor that had retired and become a counselor, and he said, Delilah, I want you to sit with the pain, and I want you to embrace the pain in this very you know, quiet mellow voice. And I like at him and I said, I'm paying you sixty an hour you embrace this pain, right, which at the time was all the money in the world to me. Yeah, it was like, wait, I'm paying you to make this pain go away. Okay, That's what I was young, you know, and I thought, I'm going to go to therapy. I'm gonna talk for a few minutes, and then I'm going to be all better. M h. I know. I don't want to feel these feelings. Yeah, that's the whole point of where we do all the things that we do, right, Like, we have these uh I don't want not everybody has addictions, but things to fill the void, whether we're shopping or social media or drugs, alcohol, food, whatever you name it, whatever is accessible to us because we don't want to feel the hard feelings. We don't want to sit with the feelings because it's uncomfortable and if we've never felt them before, you're like, wait, what is this? What in the hell is this? Um, then it's hard it's hard, but it's important, it's necessary. And UM, I gotta say, last year when I interviewed you because you had done Breakthrough, how did we not talk about your beautiful singing voice? How did how did we miss that part of the conversation. I don't know. I think, you know, there's just so much to talk about with with break thing in particular, so maybe that's something we just you know, we're focused on. But yeah, you know, for me, music has been my first love. It's been what I wanted to do and so healing for me. When I used to go to church on my own, I went there because I loved the music and I could connect through the music. And that's something that I think everybody understands that they're music lovers. It's a universal language. And you know, now working on an album and having a single out and all of it, my little girl dreams are you know, really coming true. So yeah, it's it's so surreal, it's so wonderful. So when you're on um this is us that your character Keith Pearson sings is a singer, is a performer, but never really seems like the character development over the last four years. She never really gets to to do that breakthrough thing where she has a single right, which I would kind of like to talk to the writers about that, because I she should, but you know, there is two more seasons for sure in real life you get to do that. How cool is that? I know? It's such a gift and it's not lost on me that you know, just having the ability to use your voice is a huge deal, and then to have people want to listen to it is another huge deal. And to just share things that means something to me and things that I've been going through, our gone through, and to to put those experiences to a beautiful melody and to create music, it's unreal. And then all the musicians who are involved in the producers and everybody that makes you know, the whole machine work. It's such a gift and I can't even express how grateful I am for it because it's such a I don't want to say luxury because it's a necessity, but it's it's feels very luxurious. So so when you were a kid, you said, this is your little girl grown up dream. When you were a kid, um school choir, church choir, where did you find your voice to perform? Yes, I used to make little video, um, little tape from my boom box in my room. I was just like making up melodies and singing, but I was too afraid to share that with anybody. But music was always, you know, always singing. And then in middle school and my mom couldn't afford an instrument for a band, um, but all the cool kids were a band. I was like a great and so choir obviously free and I could you know, go and do that. And so I really was like, oh, this is where I was supposed to be all along, and then to learn how to sort of blend with many people's voices but also still have your own, and it just sort of opened up something for me. And then it wasn't until high school, my senior year, where I actually had enough courage to join for auditions for the chamber choir, which was a competitive choir, and we did state and all those things, and my acquire teacher, Ms. Roll Ill, I'll never forget, she's so in the mental She like really encouraged me to do a solo that year, and I was like, oh my gosh, oh my god, this is this makes me so happy, and then she nominated me to do um to have a scholarship for a chorl camp at the University of Florida, and that was like, oh yeah, okay, no question. So that was sort of, you know, a bit of a journey. But I just had to keep sort of having these experiences to know that that's what I wanted to do. So yeah, a long time. But then when I met my manager, she was like, let's put music to the side and let's focus on acting. And I was like, wait, what, So hence the reason why, you know, I put the long way around. Yeah, but that acting thing didn't turn out so bad for you, you know, Oh my gosh, it's what I wanted to do. Like I've always wanted to tell stories, whether they were to music or you know, on TV and film. So it's exactly what was supposed to happen, because I don't think I would be as vulnerable in my music if I didn't have the vulnerability of the character and of the show. You know, I have lots of kids, and so I've I've gone through phases of parenting because my oldest is now forty one and my youngest is four, and for about ten fifteen years in my parenting career, I had kids that loved music, that loved music, so I got to be the choir mom and go on the field trips and take them to their state competitions, and uh, you know, they were all about I had four that were all about drama and music. And it was such a joy because I can't sing a damn note, but I love music. It courses through my veins, it it plays in my head, it speaks to me in the middle of the night. I wake up and write lyrics, but I can't sing. Okay, I can sing a note. I have a three note range. That's it. So so long as the tune is in my three note range. And by the way, Happy Birthday to you exceeds my three note range. Um, you know, but I love it so much. And so I miss what was her name, your miss Rollo, your acquired teacher. I know the thrills she must have felt encouraging you to do the solo and to see like I can feel her feelings, to see that talent blossom because I got to do it with Shayla and Zach and Christie and and my kids, and it's there is nothing in my life as joyful as seeing my kids discover their talent and then spread their wings and fly. So I bet your mom and miss Rollo we're just cheering you on and so thrilled to see that happen. And now if there's still a part of your life that must be such a thrill for them. Well, yeah, I can understand because I know how and I, you know, encourage and champion and cheer lead people that I love and I want, you know, to see them happy and exceed. I do know that feeling, you know, not as a mother, but as as a friend and as a sister. And I get it. I do get it. So talk to me about talking to God. How did this come about? Well, interestingly enough, I didn't co write this song. It was on an Ashley McBride writer's retreat that it was written, and I, you know, friendly was Ashley and with the other writers. And my manager was like, oh, you know Nicolette, who was a dear friend and we've written a lot together that will be on my EP and my album. But she's like, oh, you know, Nicolete wrote a song the song today, You're probably gonna like it. And he just was sending it to me because I love to hear everything and I was like, wait a minute, like, who's cutting this and he's like, I don't. I don't know. I don't know if actually it or not. And I'm like, well, if she's not, I feel like I want to tell this story, Like I know what it's like to, you know, have remorse about doing something or not doing something, or saying something or not saying something, and thinking about somebody, even if they're not in your life anymore, or if they've passed all or if I'm you know, I was married for many years and obviously I've I've grown tremendously from that relationship and relationship since, but you know, I know what it's like to think of I think we all do to think about someone who may not be in our lives, but like we can still think about them, and that we can learn how to forgive ourselves and how we just moved gracefully through the world. And so it just for the song that I was like, I want to I want to tell the story. Can I sing it? So that's how it came about move gracefully through this world. When I think about some of the people in my past, I'm not I'm not really moving gracefully. I agree I'm trying. I'm trying, but I'm trying. I'm trying. So the first time I heard the song, somebody had mentioned you had released a song. This was before you know. I called my sister and I'm like, oh my gosh, you've got to hear this. You've got to get ahold of Christie. You've got I got to talk to her about this because somebody had sent it to me, a friend, knowing how much I miss my son, and they said, I think God wants you to hear this song today. Oh my God, and Chrissie. I was bawling in the car because I talked to God every day to tell my kids I have two boys in heaven now three because we just lost my steps on. But I was a wreck. I mean I was sobbing the ugly tears the first time I listened to it, And then the next time I listened to it, I thought about past relationships. You know, I've been divorced more than once, and the forgiveness and the grace that has come with time, and forgiving myself for some pretty bad choices I made. And I don't know, I just kept every time I listened to it, it would bring up a new layer of God's grace and love and mercy and healing. And so I called my podcast producer and I said, I you to talk to Christy about this song because it is so beautiful and so moving, and I know that if other people could just like wrap their ears around it and wrap their heart around it, God can use it for good. Thank you so much, so so beautiful, and I mean that's why I get it, you know, that's why I love music so much. And I you know, I love a good song because it is so healing and you feel like, wow, I'm so a little less alone because somebody else is going through it and it's so beautiful. Thank you for sharing that with me. And that's what I felt when I when I heard the song, and I was like, I just this is about it. It's got to be heard. So yeah, I think it's a special song for many reasons and for many people. So I'm just grateful to be able to sing it. So with everything the world is going through right now, not just communities, not just families, but the world. Yes, I think that we need this song now more than ever because I think if we didn't have God to talk to, how would we get through this. I don't know. I honestly don't know. I really don't know. And you know, so grateful that we we do have that conscious contact with God because it is it's been difficult, you know, and and we don't even understand other people's plates and how people have been hoping and dealing with their own lives for so long. So yeah, there's a lot going on run and I I feel like it's a positive shift in the right direction of just knowing that we are all more like than we are different, and that we're all equal, and that we an't want the same thing, which is to be loved. So I know you can't answer this because we don't know the time one on anything. But do you think by the end of the year we can get the full the full album? How many songs have you done? Yeah, I would like to have the full album done by the end of the year. Um, we have five songs right now that we finished prior to Quarantine that we're going to release on an EP by I believe September. And then the second song that's coming out I did so write and it's called Actress and it's a it's a sad breakup song, and I'm really excited about that one too, and that should be coming out with UM probably the next months. Wow, So you've been busy and are you doing all the Zoom meetings and publicity from your whole year? Oh? Yes, I mean I'm so spoiled because I just walked into the living room and I'm like, oh, here, here, I am on a radio tour and I'm not traveling around the country. But yeah, I mean, do you have like a curling iron plugged into the wall there, and so when you're off camera you're putting that's what I do? Yeah, you haven't touch it up myself. Yeah, I mean it's I mean, I love makeup and here, and you know I used to it myself. I wasn't amazing at it, but I'm like, well, I gets a home these skills and figure it out and you know, do the best I can. But it's so funny the progression. So like initially people were like in the pajamas, don't care what their hair and whatever, and then now like slowly people are like, oh gosh, I want to feel some sort of sense of normal ty, So I'm gonna put on some clothes. I wouldna do my hair, I would do my makeup, you know. So it's been it's been really cool to see that sort of unfold. In my house, it went the opposite direction because my girls were all doing online school. So I have three girls that are all doing online school, and the first week or two weeks, maybe even three weeks, they would get up and they would you know, fix their hair and and look cute for their classmates. And then you know, by the end of the school year, which just finished, they're laying in bed like pajamas on. They haven't even brushed their teeth in you know, the whole day. And I'm like, okay, yeah, I'll do this last sign. But I'm like, wow, how did we go from wanting to look cute for the boys in your school to this? And they're like, Mom, it doesn't matter at this point, don care at this point. True, It's true, You're like, yeah, what makes me feel good? What do I want to do? What do I not want to do? So any chance that are we having discussions about the next season of This Is Us? Yeah, I mean we have a Zoom call scheduled this week, so we're going to sort of find out what and how it's going to look if when all that, Um, I know that there's so many regulations because the actors have to be protected and since we won't have PPE and the crew can, like, what does that look like? So I think we're just between the executives and the studios and everyone just trying to figure out what's going to be the best safest road. So hopefully we'll find some clarity, um the next couple of days. But they were saying possibly September. We usually go back in July, so I don't know, but I'm just saying, you know, I started on radio, like, so if the storyline had to have like a dedication for the family throughout the ages, I'm just putting it out there. Okay, Okay, thank you. You know, we could just use my studio and the request line right here and I could do dedications to the Pearson family over four decades. I'm just saying, okay, okay, So what's the what's the You're going to release a five song? Uh c D what E? Yeah, it'll be an ET five song ET hopefully in the fall, and then the next single Actress will be coming out within the next probably months. Okay. So I'm gonna have to call you back in a month because I'm gonna want to talk about that too, Becau. As soon as I hear it. If it if it's a sad breakup song, you know it's going to fit on my show perfect. I would be an honor. Yeah, of course to call me anytime. Christie. I admire you, I respect you. You're such a talented actress. You have such a beautiful voice. But the thing I love most is how your heart comes shining through like and everything that you do. I see the love of God shine through you. M. Don't get me crying on this phone. I just I want you to know that that shines through that that is it illuminates you and all that you are. M thank you and I love that about nice to hear and I love this song, so uh tell, I'm going to tell everybody look up Christie Mets and as soon as actress comes out, then we'll talk again. I hope. Okay, I would love that. And I told you this last time. I don't know if you recall, but I haven't had a TV in my house in twenty two years. I do remember you saying that I had to have my teenagers teach me how to use my computer, because I am the biggest addict for your show in the world. I'm just so addicted. It's my one guilty pleasure. And if my kids dare interrupt me while I'm having a sob fest with you and this is us are now a sob fest with your music, it's just no, no, let lie mama alone because I'm I just need a good cry right now. Yeah, well, thank you. I'm so glad it it touches you that way, because you know, being a part of it feels that way, and then to know that people are receiving it, it's just even even better. Thank you well, thank you for your time. God bless you, and good luck at everything you put your hand to. Oh you too, thank you so good to talk to you. Good to talk to you, honey, God blessed. Bye bye. We still haven't been able to meet in person, but that day will come, I pray. Until then, I just love Christie Mets and I want you to get her music because it's wonderful talking to God. Christie Mets his new song that I absolutely love and I know you're going to love it too. It's available for purchase now. Look it up, download it now. It is so so good. While you're at it, pick up Chrissie's memoir, a New York Times bestseller called This Is Me. And when you finished with those two things, most importantly, remember to slow down and love someone