After graduating from Southeastern High School in 1989, Angie went to college at Eastern Kentucky University and started off majoring in finance. But she moved back home after her first year away.
“I went to Clark State University for nursing,” Angie said. “I now have my master’s degree and have been working in nursing for 30 years.”
Meanwhile Chris went to high school in Mechanicsburg where he said, “everyone knows each other.”
“At my Pentecostal church, the preacher’s son was a drummer; and I found myself in a band after they asked me if I knew how to play bass guitar,” Chris said. “After you’re in a band, it gets into your blood.”
In 1979, Chris joined Red Hash, a band that was featured on WTUE radio’s Home-Grown album in 1982. In 1986, he joined another band that ended up on a regional star search and cut a record.
“I got my license in broadcasting and did some radio,” Chris said.
But music wasn’t entirely paying the bills. He went to Sinclair Community College, Wright State University, Urbana and Wittenberg, earning a degree and several certifications. Chris decided to get a full-time job working in engineering at a test laboratory.
“I found myself with $7,000 of band equipment and a loan,” Chris said.
Chris and Angie met in 2013 after ending up in the same cover band. They recognized their musical chemistry almost immediately. Before long, they began writing songs together.
“I never really thought much about writing before I met Chris,” Angie said. “He tapped into something I didn’t even know existed and now it just flows.”
The pair has written 98 songs together and recently released their first album, “Crazy World.” The couple married in April 2022, three days after Chris retired from Grimes Research Laboratory. Angie has two daughters and Chris has four children, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Over the years, Chris said he collaborated with many artists but immediately felt a unique connection with Angie; he said she related to every song he wrote.
Today Angie is primarily the lyricist of the duo, now performing as Eleyet McConnell, a nod to Angie’s former name. Chris focuses on writing the melodies.
“We would text each other back and forth originally before we were in a relationship,” Chris said. “Sometimes, the lines in our songs came from those texts. Our relationship evolved through the lyrics.”
Like most successful musicians, the pair write about their own emotions and personal stories. Through the music, they shared histories that came with some pain and hurt as well.
Chris said Angie’s talent is taking his written words and combining them with her own, ending up with heartfelt songs and stories. As their music evolved, their desire to record their songs and release an album grew.
“We started trying to record in 2016 but couldn’t get traction,” Angie said. “We had very busy work schedules.”
The pair ended up connecting with First Flight Recording Studios in Dayton and started going to the studio to get a feel for the mechanics of recording songs.
Angie said one of the most difficult things about recording an album was choosing the 12 songs that would be recorded.
“They were trying to put us into a box,” Chris said. “Country, rock or slow. I didn’t want to do that. I think the 12 songs we chose are a good representation of us.”
Their religious upbringings continue to influence their music, which Angie describes as having “undertones of that gospel vibe.”
“I tell people you will hear a lot of different things in our music,” Angie said.
After working for two years in the studio, Eleyet McConnell released “Crazy World” on Dec. 1 of last year. Now working with a promoter to help them market their music and their album, the couple are already seeing success and have been nominated for several awards and won the New Discovery Artist for the Independent Music Network in 2023.
Though they are not yet “on the road,” they are working toward that and neither sees “retirement” age as a time to slow down.
“I’ve been doing this for 54 years in June,” Chris said. “This is our dream, and we want to keep working on more music and another album. But if it all went away tomorrow, we would still have a very full life and beautiful family and home. We do want to leave a legacy.”
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