Chance McKinney is a country music artist from

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

. In 2009, while working as a math teacher at

Kamiak High School Kamiak High School is a public high school in Mukilteo, Washington, United States. It was the second high school in the Mukilteo School District when it opened on September 8, 1993. The first and only high school within Mukilteo city limits, it ...

, he entered and won

Country Music Television Country Music Television (CMT) is an American pay TV network owned by Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. Launched on March 5, 1983, as Country Music Television, CMT was the first nationally available channel devoted to coun ...

's Music City Madness competition for unsigned artists.

Early life

Chance grew up in

Lolo, Montana Lolo is a census-designated place (CDP) in Missoula County, Montana, Missoula County, Montana, United States. It is part of the Missoula Metropolitan Area, Missoula Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 4,399 at the 2020 United States ...

. He attended

Big Sky High School Big Sky High School is an American public high school in Missoula, Montana, United States, opened in 1980. The school made Missoula the first city in Montana to have four secondary schools. It is a part of the Missoula County Public Schools. Extr ...

Missoula Missoula ( ; fla, label=Salish language, Séliš, Nłʔay, lit=Place of the Small Bull Trout, script=Latn; kut, Tuhuⱡnana, script=Latn) is a city in the U.S. state of Montana; it is the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, Missoula Cou ...

. Throughout high school, McKinney was a 3-time National Champion in javelin throwing, an All-state basketball player, and held a 4.0 GPA. Division I All-American javelin thrower in college. He graduated

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

from

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...

and received a degree in Mathematics and teaching.

Musical career

Prior to entering

's contest, McKinney was a member of the band Nathan Chance, which disbanded in September 2009. Chance McKinney was also a founding member of the now disbanded group Timeless Soul (A Motown/Philly Review) Show. Other founding members of Timeless Soul were Thomas Wray, Charles McNairy & Glen Speed, Jr. Timeless Soul. Other key members of Timeless Soul were George Dowdy, Tripple J and Austin Cooper.

CMT's Music City Madness

In 2009, Chance McKinney, at the time a math teacher at Kamiak High School in

Mukilteo, Washington Mukilteo ( ) is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is located on the Puget Sound between Edmonds and Everett, approximately north of Seattle. The city had a population of 20,254 at the 2010 census and an estimated 2019 ...

, entered Country Music Television's Music City Madness competition for unsigned artists with his single, "Be Real". He entered the contest only a few minutes before the deadline. The contest ran from October through December, and he won when he received over one million votes in the final round. McKinney was teaching a class when he learned that he had won the contest. He then took out his guitar and played the song for his students. His students finished the song for him when he became too choked up to sing. He later performed the song at a school pep assembly. As the winner of the contest, McKinney was given the chance to audition for a record company in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

Be Real

McKinney wrote the song "Be Real" in 2005 in the back of a van. At the time, he was heading home from coaching a track meet in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Chance wrote part of the song lyrics on an envelope. He then recorded it on his voice mail while on an airplane flying home when the flight attendant was not paying attention. "Be Real" eventually ended up securing over 1 Million Votes / Views in the final round of CMT's Music City Madness which propelled him to No. 1 on CMT's unsigned singer/songwriter competition.

Touring

Chance McKinney has toured with

Blake Shelton Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music singer and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single " Austin". The lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" spent five weeks at ...

Luke Bryan Thomas Luther "Luke" Bryan (born July 17, 1976) is an American country music, country singer, songwriter, and television personality. He began his music career writing songs for Travis Tritt and Billy Currington before signing with Capitol Reco ...

Dierks Bentley Frederick Dierks Bentley (; born November 20, 1975) is an American country music singer and songwriter. In 2003, he signed to Capitol Nashville and released his eponymous debut album. Both it and its follow-up, 2005's ''Modern Day Drifter'', ar ...

Colt Ford Jason Farris Brown (born August 27, 1969) known professionally as Colt Ford, is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, entrepreneur, and former professional golfer best known for his music fusing the country and rap genres. He has released seven ...

Trace Adkins Trace may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Trace'' (Son Volt album), 1995 * ''Trace'' (Died Pretty album), 1993 * Trace (band), a Dutch progressive rock band * ''The Trace'' (album) Other uses in arts and entertainment * ''Trace'' ...

Lynyrd Skynyrd Lynyrd Skynyrd ( ) is an American rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida. The group originally formed as My Backyard in 1964 and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (lead vocalist), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Ju ...

, CCR,

Darius Rucker Darius Carlos Rucker (born May 13, 1966) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He first gained fame as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of rock band Hootie & the Blowfish, which he founded in 1986 at the University of South Ca ...

and more... He's played Watershed Music Festival, Bi-Mart Country Music Festival,

Oregon Jamboree The Oregon Jamboree is a three-day country music and camping festival held in Sweet Home, Oregon, United States. The event was founded in 1992 as an economic development project for the Sweet Home community. In addition to funding economic developm ...

, Cape Blanco Music Festival and other shows for tens of thousands of spectators in one sitting.

Personal life

Chance married his wife, Lisa, in 2009. They have one daughter. He stands at 6'6". Prior to his country career, McKinney was a trigonometry teacher at Seattle area schools, Skyline High School,

Inglemoor High School Inglemoor High School is a public high school located in Kenmore, Washington, United States. It is one of the largest high schools in the state of Washington and has an average of 30 students per teacher. As of 2017, the student population was ap ...

Woodinville High School Woodinville High School is a public secondary school located in Woodinville, Washington, a suburb northeast of Seattle. A senior high school serving grades 9 through 12, it educates the eastern portion of the Northshore School District and is a me ...

, and Kamiak High School. He was also a

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

track coach. As a former Seahawks employee, McKinney is an avid fan of the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

. He spends his time between Seattle and

Hendersonville, Tennessee Hendersonville is the largest city in Sumner County, Tennessee, on Old Hickory Lake. The population was 61,753 at the 2020 census. Hendersonville is the fourth-largest city in the Nashville metropolitan area after Nashville, Murfreesboro, an ...

Discography

* ''Be Real'' (2010) * ''Think About That'' (2013) * ''Down To Get Up'' (2016) * ''I, Chance McKinney'' (2018) * ''I-Squared'' (2018)

Charity

On Friday, April 4, 2014 he performed a concert to benefit the

2014 Oso mudslide A major landslide occurred east of Oso, Washington, United States, on March 22, 2014, at 10:37 a.m. local time. A portion of an unstable hill collapsed, sending mud and debris to the south across the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River, ...

victims at Tulalip Resort Casino where one hundred percent of more than $16,000 in proceeds were donated to victims and their families.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKinney, Chance Musicians from Seattle Living people American country singer-songwriters 21st-century American musicians Country musicians from Washington (state) Washington State University alumni Musicians from Missoula, Montana Country musicians from Montana American male singer-songwriters Songwriters from Montana Singer-songwriters from Washington (state) People from Mukilteo, Washington 21st-century American male musicians Year of birth missing (living people)