Native Tyler musician writes for John Legend Grammy-nominated album

Published 5:14 pm Tuesday, December 1, 2020

The 2021 Grammy music awards are just around the corner, and one 20-year-old East Texas native has his name connected to one of the nominations.

Chance Peña, born and raised in Tyler, is the primary songwriter of “Conversations in the Dark,” recorded by John Legend on the album “Bigger Love,” which is up for a Grammy nomination for the best R&B album.

“I was always drawn to music,” Peña said. “My parents tell me that when I was 4, we went to this Mexican market in San Antonio. There was a decorative guitar just hanging on the wall in one of the stores, and I kept crying until they bought it for me, because I really wanted it for some reason. So, I started chugging away at that.”

Peña said his road to publicly playing music began at bars and restaurants around Tyler. However, his career in music began to accelerate in 2015 after competing on “The Voice,” a singing competition television series.

“That was an experience, man. That was the first time I was around people that were like-minded and that were my age,” Peña said. “What I learned from those people was invaluable and insane.”

Through his time performing at “The Voice,” Peña was able to get voice and stage presence lessons from Maroon 5 front man Adam Levine and was once able to sing privately with Rihanna. Peña’s experience on the show gave him the publicity to begin working with other producers and publishers.

“That was cool because it opened my eyes for a moment,” Peña said. “‘The Voice‘ was a moment where I was like: ‘Oh, this is a real thing that I can do. Like, people can do this.’ And then earlier this year when John (Legend) cut that song that was another moment where I was like: ‘I guess I’m… good?’”

Peña moved to Los Angeles this January to pursue music. He said growing up in East Texas, he got a lot of encouragement, something that’s not as common in his new home.

“People were just supportive,” said Peña. “Like, not just family, but people who would be sitting in the audience who didn’t even know who I was. Just a little nod or a pat on the back – that really helped. You kind of need that affirmation, because it’s a really vulnerable thing, performing by yourself.”

Peña said that his songwriting process comes in a variety of ways, and he never knows when inspiration is going to strike.

“Sometimes, I’ll hear a melody in my head, and I’ll put a voice memo on and chase it,” Peña said. “It depends, sometimes I’ll just wake up with lines in my head, and I’ll have to force myself to get out of the bed and record them, because I’m not going to remember them if I don’t.”

But for Peña’s song that may soon be on a Grammy-winning album, he said the process started in 2018 while writing with his friends in Manhattan.

“It was supposed to be for my first EP (‘anxiety and mixed emotions’), which is what we were writing for. We had already written one song that day. Then, my buddy Jesse (Fink) said he had a guitar progression he was working on. We said ‘OK, if this catches on, then we’ll finish this today.’ So, we started writing it. And we were like ‘Oh, this is good.’”

Even though the song was good, in Peña’s mind, it wasn’t good enough for his EP. It didn’t make the cut, and the song sat dormant for a year and a half.

“I thought about releasing it, waiting for the right time. I was playing a show in Austin, this time last year, and my manager texted me, asking if I minded if Gregg (Wattenberg), one of the co-writers and producers of the song, pitched the song to John Legend.”

Peña said that he was fine with the song being pitched, but never expected it to be picked up by the musical giant. He said when he found out his song was part of a Grammy nominated album, he was speechless.

“I didn’t know how to react. You think you’d be wildly excited,” Peña said. “Later when I went and saw my parents I didn’t know what to say. It was the weirdest thing. I’ve never felt disbelief like that before. If it wins a Grammy, I’ll definitely cry.”

Even though the up-and-coming star is making waves in the music world, Peña has a message for other musicians playing in small towns.

“If I was talking to 14- or 15-year-old me, I’d say have fun and don’t stop,” Peña said. “If it’s a hobby and something you enjoy, but you’re on another career path, that doesn’t mean that can’t change in 5 years. That doesn’t mean you won’t be accepting a Grammy in 10 years. Why are you going to stop? A door could open, and you could be only one door away from living your dream.”