This Side Of Country With Trav And Kjiesta
This is a 95.9 KRFF post show podcast that plays back special guest interviews that aired live on air hosted by Trav & Kjiesta. "This Side Of Country" airs Monday - Friday 9am to 11am (CST) on 95.9 KRFF heard throughout the Fargo/Moorhead area, also streaming everywhere at radiofreefargo.org The show was voted "Best Local Radio Show Of The Red River Valley" 2021, 2024, and 2025! It spotlights the music from midwest country artists, new indie country from around the world, and celebrates the legends of country! It also features in studio special guests, interviews, performances, fun segments and more!
This Side Of Country With Trav And Kjiesta
Chloe Raye Interview
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Local artist Chloe Raye has a lot to celebrate! A new song and her engagement! Check out our chat!
Hi, it's Matthew Carlson with Fix It Forward Auto Care and Ministry. We're proud supporters of your community station at 95.9 KRFF. Thank you, Radio Free Fargo, for being you.
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SPEAKER_01This side of Country Live with Trav and Kiesta. Slam a coffee, then grab another cup, and tune in Monday morning. Song 95.9.
SPEAKER_04We're powered each and every day by our pals over there at Fix It Forward Auto Care. You heard a little bit of Chloe Ray, local artist right there, a song we've been playing for a little while now. She's got a brand new song out as we speak called Housewife. And what I love about Chloe, we've been playing her music now for quite some time, and you've literally seen the stages of her life through her music and her songs and in studio to tell us all about what she's up to, why she's got a song called Housewife. We've got Chloe Ray in studio. Good morning to you.
SPEAKER_03Hi, good morning.
SPEAKER_04So good to see you again.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I'm happy to be here.
SPEAKER_04Well, congratulations, first of all, on a couple of things here. You got a brand new song. I absolutely love it. It's called Housewife. Congratulations. Thank you. And it's because you're about to become a wife.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_04How how excited is Times for you right now?
SPEAKER_03It's oh, it's so good. It's it's so good. I'm I just got off of my bridal shower, got to celebrate with all the girls. Sure. Definitely got very spoiled. Yeah. Um, my fiance's going on his bachelor trip right now. Okay. I'm gonna go on my bachelorette in a month, so it's all come in really fast. Really fast.
SPEAKER_04When is the big day? October 24th. October 24th. Now, can you give us a little insight on how the proposal happened or what it what happened there?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So it actually happened downtown Fargo, which is very cool. Okay. Um, so we did it outside and it was December 20th in front of the big Christmas tree. Oh in, I think it's is it Island Park over there? Sure, yep. Yeah. And it was lit up, and he had his uh his forever best friend, who's his best man, and um his fiance at the time. They were tr pretending to take pictures of us, yeah, you know, all cute Christmas pictures, and then yeah, he turned around and uh went down on one knee, and there's videos and pictures of it and everything. And yeah, I just remember screaming, and I'm like, it's so huge, and just freaking out, like, yeah.
SPEAKER_04It is, we can see it right on your hands. It is that's a big rock. Well done, young man. Well done. That's absolutely fantastic. Well, congratulations to you. Just had the bridal party. Uh, what is what is one of your favorite memories from the bridal party?
SPEAKER_03Oh, um, we incorporated flowers in a lot of it. I mean, a lot of it was a surprise for me. So, but I got to pick where I wanted to do it, and we did it at the Grove in Horace. I've had a lot of uh milestones there actually, and I just live right next to it. So no kidding. It's kind of fun, yeah. Um, so having it there was special, and then yeah, everyone got to take home some roses that were on the flap on the tables. Yeah. So I don't know, just just that was really fun.
SPEAKER_04I love it. Well, congratulations to you, and I imagine this all has a lot to do with your most recent song, your your most re your your recent relationship here, your proposal, your engagement, soon-to-be wife. You got a song out called Housewife. Yeah. What I love about you, and we just talked about it on the way in here, is we've literally seen the stages of your life through your music. I believe one of the first songs we ever played for you was Boy in the Backen. Yeah. Right? And then we just, as we were coming into uh into your uh into our segment here, we played another song about how it didn't work out with the boy in the Backen, correct?
SPEAKER_03Yep.
SPEAKER_04Now here we are, and we've got Housewife. Yeah. Tell me all about the song.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so Housewife, I wrote this song, I think a little under a year ago, uh maybe in November, with uh Joshua David and Kaylee Ann Lowe. They are in Nashville. Okay, and Josh is also my producer for the latest two songs I've put out.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um, and I brought this idea to them, the housewife title, and I said, I want to write something that's like I don't wanna be a stay at in the housewife, but I don't want to um offend anyone by saying that, you know, because there's nothing wrong with being a stay-at-home wife or mom or anything like that. But for me, when I was looking for a new relationship, trying to find the right one, which is Jacob, yeah, um, I was really concerned about, you know, who is gonna understand my life. Like who is going to jump on board and be like, yes, like chase these dreams, but like let's still settle down and let's still have a family someday. Yeah. Um, so that was really hard for me going into dating because I was just like, oh, no one's gonna understand.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_03But uh luckily I did find him and I didn't have to go through too many failed relationships to find him. Right. Um, so it's all about that. It's all about I'm gonna chase my dreams. I hope you want to chase them with me. Yes. And if you're willing to, that's when I will settle down.
SPEAKER_04How did you two meet, by the way?
SPEAKER_03It's not very romantic. Okay. We met on a dating app. Okay. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04But I would imagine on the app, you must have put out there, I'm a performer, I'm a singer-songwriter, I travel a lot. I imagine you must have put that on there so he knew what he was getting into right away.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_04And then the conversations over the time that you've been dating leading up to the proposal, he knows what your lifestyle is. So he still was very much in love with you and what you bring to the table here. I love I love this though, because I don't think there is anything wrong with being a housewife. And I also don't think there's I don't know if we're kind of getting away from that day and age as well. I feel like women are out there pursuing their careers, their dreams as well, but at the same time, we also want the stable life together in our relationships. It's nice to come back to stability, and I feel like that's what the relationship's gonna do. I have that question for you though. Knowing that you're getting married, do you feel like I'm gonna be settling down maybe a little sooner than than later and having that family and won't be able to put as much effort into my music career, or do you feel like nope, nothing's changing, we're gonna keep moving forward just like we are?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, um, I think you know, if I would have married someone else, I might feel that way that I'm that I'm settling down too much. But, you know, Jacob is just so supportive and everything. I mean, he checks my stats like every day, like it's that kind of stuff, you know. Yeah, and um he's so invested, his family is so supportive, my family's so supportive. Yeah. I have always wanted to be married and wanted to have kids, so I've kind of, you know, I've been like, okay, I want to chase the career, but I also would love to have someone to do it with. Yes. So for me, I don't know. I I hope it doesn't stifle it like right away. I don't think it will. Yeah. But you know, your opinions can change and everything.
SPEAKER_04So I don't feel like it's it will stifle it as well because we see a lot of artists out there married with kids and still killing it out there. And that's what's so great about you is you've got to go get them attitude, you get things done. I mean, you just came off a really busy period of touring and music and performing, went right into your bridal shower. Yeah, now you get a little bit of a break, and then you gotta start preparing for all the things wedding coming up here. You said you've got your uh you've got your uh uh uh you've got a party coming up soon that you're gonna be traveling for.
SPEAKER_03My bachelorette. Bachelorette party.
SPEAKER_04All right, so what do you do with the what do you do in a bachelorette party? What are you gonna be what are you gonna be preparing for?
SPEAKER_03Well, I actually think that we're going to a concert. Oh, you are? Which is so out of the blue for me. I never saw it coming. Yeah. Uh no, we're going to the cities somewhere, say to an Airbnb, and I think we're going to Zach Top.
SPEAKER_04Cool. Yeah. Good show. Yeah. That's gonna be a good show. It sounds like a good time.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Absolutely. What is coming up musically for you now? You just released a song, Housewife. We want to keep getting it out there, playing it. We want it to go somewhere. What is is there an EP coming? Is there an album coming? Are we gonna continue doing singles for a while? What's kind of on the docket here?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, you know, I have a lot of songs that I've written in the last few years, and I definitely have enough for an EP or an album. Yep. Um, so it's kind of determining what's gonna come next year. Yeah. I do have another song that's ready to go. It's just kind of when it comes out. Right. And then after that, I think I might start looking at an EP or at least an album or something.
SPEAKER_04Absolutely. Now I know you do a lot of shows here locally, Minnesota, North Dakota, some South Dakota, I imagine. But are you thinking about doing taking a little time down in Nashville with the brand new hubby and and pursuing things in Nashville ever for a week or a couple of weeks, months? What does that look like?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so I usually have a goal to get down there a couple times a year.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um, and I have been doing that, but this year I've only been able to go once because, you know, kind of preoccupied with the wedding stuff and doing that. And you know, everything costs money.
SPEAKER_04So yes, it does.
SPEAKER_03Um, so yeah, I want to take him to Nashville. He has yet to go. Yeah. So that's an important step.
SPEAKER_04Well, there you go. There's there's a reason to go, double the reason to go.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04That's fantastic.
SPEAKER_03So definitely go there again. Um, you know, I record my music there, so that's always an excuse to go. Yeah. I love writing with people there.
SPEAKER_04So when you go to Nashville, obviously you're you're recording, you're getting some music done, but I imagine you're not gonna waste the opportunity. Do you sit in on some songwriters' rounds, performances? What do you do when you're down there?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, um, I have performed there a couple times, and I did a writer's round a while ago, so this is probably a few years ago now. Yeah. Um, but lately I've been focusing on recording and writing while I'm there. Yeah. I'm hoping I can do a few more writers' rounds coming up here. Um, yeah.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. I don't know. Yeah. We'll see. Time presents itself. Yeah. Time's those things always present themselves in time. Yeah. Absolutely love this song. You put out Housewife recently, but before that, you were kind of teasing it with a reel. And I just thought, like, she's writing a love letter to her husband to be. Would you kind of say that that's a fair statement?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it definitely is. And I hope it resonates with other women like me who, you know, have that push and pull with working a lot and wanting that stay-at-home kind of lifestyle, too. Because I feel like that's also really trendy and in right now. Like the the traditional life and everything like that. Um, and there's nothing wrong with it. It's just yeah, it's just kind of a different angle.
SPEAKER_04Right. It's very interesting. I I uh like I said, one of the great things about your career is that we've gotten to see all the stages of your life through your music, and that's really what it's all about, and getting others to connect with you. And there's a lot of people out there that resonate with what you're singing about, having having those relationships not those relationships not working to now finding the one. I mean, surely your music is something that everybody can connect with. Oh, thank you. Absolutely. What do we got coming up here soon now? We've got the uh we've got the the bachelorette party, we've got the wedding. Are you going on a honeymoon?
SPEAKER_03Yes, we are going on a honeymoon. Okay. We're waiting though a little bit. November and December are holiday months, so I wanted to go in January and we're gonna go to Florida. Florida. Hey, you ever been? Yes, I've been a few times, and I always like Florida. Uh this last year we went out of the country, and you know, there's travel stuff when you go out of the country, so we're like, we're gonna stay in the US for for this trip.
SPEAKER_04Absolutely. So we've got the wedding, the the the the you know, the after party and all those different things. Are there any more performances coming up this year or are we done now for the year?
SPEAKER_03No, I I'm still going. I still have a lot. Uh definitely not as much as I did June through August. Yeah. But yeah, I'm playing tonight at the Fishbowl on Cotton Lake, so it's about an hour away. Okay. Hour away. And then um Sunday I'll be at Lake Traverse Resort, I think is how you say it. Okay. Yeah. Um, those are both just solo shows. And then I have a couple other things in September. Um, I took a lot of October off just for the wedding. But yeah, there's there's a lot of uh fun things coming up. Some corporate things, some public. I'm going to Hutchinson, Minnesota, which is a new one for me.
SPEAKER_04Okay. Very fun. You got a lot of things going on. You're a busy woman.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Absolutely. Well, again, congratulations to everything going on from the new song to getting married here soon, the continued gigs, the continued success. It's been fun having you on the show for the last handful of years. Like I said, we've not only seen you grow as a person, but we've seen you grow musically and as an artist. And every time I catch you at a show, artists are always going, She's so good. So just know that we love you around here and keep up the good work and love the absolute, absolutely love this brand new song. It's called Housewife Again. Where can we find you on social media, Chloe?
SPEAKER_03At the Chloe Ray is Facebook, Instagram, TikTok. Um, and then you can also find the Chloe Ray.com.
SPEAKER_04What you're so good at in promoting your music is social media. You do a lot of you do a lot of great work on social media. How big of a tool is that for an artist these days? I come from the generation where you had to be on the radio, you had to be on TV. No longer is that a thing though. Social media is really that that tool. What do you feel like has been the best tool on social media for you? Is it the reels, the TikToks? Is it just here's my album cover and the song? What's been working for you?
SPEAKER_03Um I would say probably reels. Like my TikTok hasn't, you know, it's not viral, it's not huge, whatever. Yeah. But consistency, um, I've noticed you just have to show up and you just have to post. And like, you know, a few people might see this post and a few people might see this post, but that'll interest them in looking at your stuff more or your songs. I do notice like when I post about my songs, I usually get an uptick in streams. Okay. Too. So cool. You know, that's that's uh definitely a thing.
SPEAKER_04Awesome, awesome. Well, congratulations on everything going on. Appreciate you making time. Absolutely love this brand new song. Follow Chloe Ray on social media. I'm pretty soon we're gonna be seeing those wedding pictures up on your social media as well. So very excited for you and congratulations.
SPEAKER_01Thank you. This side of Country Live with Trav and Kiesta. Slam a coffee, then grab another cup, and tune in Monday mornings on 95.9.
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SPEAKER_00Hi, it's Matthew Carlson with Fix It Forward Auto Care and Ministry. We're proud supporters of your community station at 95.9 KRFF. Thank you, Radio Free Fargo, for being you.
SPEAKER_02Fix It Forward Auto Care.