Danger Love Saint, Part 2: Three Voices, Three Personalities, One Sisterhood

Jumping full force into the Nashville music scene with their debut single, “Drive,” Tennessee Titans Cheerleaders Bri, Clair, and Jessi comprise the female country group, Danger Love Saint. Though they came together to form the group over the past couple of years, Danger Love Saint is the culmination of each of their individual, lifelong passions for music and entertainment. In Part 1 of their interview with UltimateCheerleaders, Jessi discussed her path as it merged with her talented friends Bri and Clair to create Danger Love Saint (DLS). With the support and mentoring of Titans Cheerleader Director Stacie Kinder, DLS is making the most of a unique opportunity. As they take the stage to be both a hot, new Nashville act while also being the Titans Cheerleaders performance group, in Part 2, Bri, Clair, and Jessi share with us their musical influences, their songwriting style, what it is like to sing at halftime during a Titans game, and Bri compares/contrasts her Titans experience with performing on another NFL team, the Charger Girls.

Bri, Clair, and Jessi are all third-year Titans Cheerleaders, and the idea of forming a musical group started right after their rookie season. Immediately they noticed that they had a unique sound when they first began harmonizing. They realized that, although their voices as individuals are quite unique to one another, collectively, they just plain worked. After DLS recorded their first demo, “Quarterback Crush” (which was heard in the opening credits of Jessi’s World of Jenks episode), they were all in shock as to how amazing they sounded as a group. That was the moment they knew they had something very special.

Bri is originally from the West Coast, growing up in Keizer, Oregon. Her musical talents budded early, as Bri recalls, “I started playing the piano at age three and picked up the guitar shortly after.” Dancing began for Bri even earlier, saying, “As soon as I could walk! My mother owned a Jazzercize studio, and that was my daycare: leotards, tights, and leg warmers. I never stopped moving to or loving music. My family is very musical. I have an aunt that is the former musical director for Western Oregon University. Between her tutelage and my love for playing instruments, winding up in Nashville was destiny.” Besides receiving the gift of musical talent, Bri also treasures her family’s support of her endeavors, saying, “My family has been so supportive of my dreams and the path that I have chosen.”

Clair is originally from Clinton, Mississippi, and began singing and dancing at the age of three. Clair spent her youth in the musical theatre circuit of Mississippi, with credits that include Grease, Newsies, and West Side Story. She later toured all over the country in the elite Mississippi show choir, Attache. Clair is a graduate of Ole Miss with a degree in Marketing. Since moving to Nashville, Clair was chosen to grace the cover of the Titans Cheerleaders Swimsuit Calendar.

As described in Part 1, originally from Cocoa Beach, Florida, Jessi grew up studying music and dance. Jessi’s voluminous list of credits include Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance as a finalist, starring in Glorianna’s new video, “Wanna Take You Home,” and being featured on MTV’s World of Jenks, in addition to being a dancer with Christina Aguilera and Omarion, and on awards shows like BET and, recently with Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton, the Country Music Awards in Nashville. Jessi’s training as a performer includes the Broadway Dance Center in New York and The Edge and Millennium Dance Complex in Los Angeles.

As you can see, with lives stretching from coast to coast, from Oregon to the Atlantic coast of Florida, three young women were on separate musical journeys that would eventually converge in Music City. Now with their own first recording released, hey Danger Love Saint, what was your first ever album as young music fanatics? For Clair, it was Shania Twain, “The Woman in Me.” Jessi’s first album was by another musical trio of three women expressing three emotional states, TLC’s “CrazySexyCool.” Bri’s first album was for all of the right reasons someone gets their first album. It was Vanilla Ice’s “Ice, Ice, Baby,” as Bri remembers, “It was a birthday present, I liked his hair!”

Bri’s started out performing in Oregon, but soon was seeing the world. “Highlights for me as a musician have been traveling to Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar entertaining my heroes, the United State Military,” says Bri. “I come from a military family and am an active member of The Sweethearts for Soldiers. As a dancer I have performed at live shows and music videos including Trace Adkins, The European Sensation: Plan B, Brad Paisley, and John Rich. I will be traveling to Kuwait once again in December with The Sweethearts for a Christmas Tour to entertain the very last Americans to leave Iraq.”

Being a Titans Cheerleader is not the first time that Bri has performed on the NFL sidelines. Prior to Nashville, life brought her to southern California, and Bri was a San Diego Charger Girl. “I was a Charger Girl for two years,” shares Bri. “I always wanted to be a professional cheerleader, so when I moved to San Diego to attend San Diego State University, I worked very hard to prepare for the Charger Girl Auditions.”

Bri graduated from San Diego State University, with a degree in Communications and minor in Dance. When Nashville was her next destination, returning to the NFL sidelines was also part of this latest stage of Bri’s life. “It was a blessing for me to move to another great city that had a NFL team, when I moved to Nashville,” Bri explains. “I traveled to the south to explore songwriting and becoming a country singer. It just worked out that one week after I moved here, the 2009 Titans Cheerleading auditions were beginning. I knew that trying out for another team would be a fun way to make friends, get plugged in to the community, and continue performing for my favorite sport.”

So Bri, please compare and contrast, Chargers and Titans. “When I first became a Titans Cheerleader, everyone kept asking me what the differences are between the Titans and the Chargers,” Bri replies. “That is like asking a person who their favorite sibling is: I love them both equally, so it is hard to compare them. However, there are the obvious comparisons: I never cheered in snow before I moved to Nashville. We have several cute uniforms with the Titans to accommodate for extreme weather. San Diego is pretty much a guaranteed sunny and 75, so we wear our summer uniforms year-round. I have amazing memories and friendships that I will carry with me always, from both teams.”

As Bri, Clair, and Jessi came together as Danger Love Saint, their voices came together nicely, but they also found they had both harmonious personalities yet unique traits that lead to the name of the group. The name Danger Love Saint represents their individual personality traits, and embodies their collective personality also. The components of the association are Clair is Danger, Jessi is Love, and Bri is Saint, but they say the real secret is that there is a little Danger, Love, and Saint in each of them.

As far as the harmony among their personalities, Bri, Clair, and Jessi were all great friends before they decided to really pursue life together as a musical group. They really feel like sisters; they laugh, argue, and make-up like family. Over the past three football seasons, they have each experienced major highs and lows in their individual lives. For each, it has been a tremendous blessing to have two “sisters” that have been there through it all. They say Danger Love Saint is a “life-long girl group,” whether they are singing or not.

And their individual uniqueness represents the essence of Danger Love Saint. In Clair, “Miss Danger” loves to live life on the edge. They say she is definitely a type A, has a ton of energy, always ready to find the fun. And if there isn’t anything fun to do, she will create it. Then there is Bri, “Miss Saint,” very laid back. They report that it takes a lot to rattle her cage. She enjoys “chillaxing” at home, watching movies with her pups, and hiking out in the wilderness. Lastly, there is Jessi. They say “Miss Love” is in love with “love,” a hopeless romantic, somewhere in between Clair and Bri’s personalities. Jessi is down for a fun night on the town, but also enjoys catching up on her Bravo TV.

But the common thread running throughout the fabric of Danger Love Saint: they all love to dance. If they are out and music is playing, you won’t see DLS sitting down. Also, it’s all about the “girl talk.” They say it’s hard to get any practicing in because they love to gab about the latest “what’s happening” in each of their lives. They all love Jesus, animals, shopping, sports, and of course…dreaming big! Jessi says, “Faith in God has been keeping me going, performing exercises my God given gifts and that is what makes me most happy. I know that I am doing exactly what God created me to do.”

Bri, Clair, and Jessi bring together into Danger Love Saint their own personalities and but share key commonalities. This is also seen in their personal musical influences. Clair lists as her influences Adele, Martina McBride, and Nora Jones. When she was young, Clair reports, “Growing up, I was heavily influenced by Janet Jackson. I loved all of her music videos!” Bri’s list of influences includes Dolly Parton, Gretchen Wilson, and Jessica Simpson.

Jessi lists as her influences Celine Dion, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Lauryn Hill, Whitney Houston, India Arie, Shirley Temple, Judy Garland, and Julie Andrews. Julie Andrews is a particularly special influence to Jessi, in many ways. “I love all entertainment outlets,” Jessi says. “I dance, I sing, I was a music major in college. I would love to be a triple threat like Julie Andrews was. I love all of her movies. Mary Poppins is probably my all-time favorite movie, and Sound of Music, and every movie that she has ever done, even the ones she has done recently, like The Princess Diaries. She is always just so lovely, I love her. I am a huge fan, and I want to be a performer like that when I grow up,” Jessi laughs. “She is just so good at everything, and she is just so pleasing to watch.”

Now Danger Love Saint takes their collective influences and takes their own microphones, with the opportunity to share their own musical and lyrical points of view. DLS wants their listeners to really identify with their lyrics. It’s the mission of Danger Love Saint to write “life” as they have truly experienced it, which is the purpose of their debut single, “Drive.” DLS says “Drive” is a “feel good, groovin’” song that speaks empowerment. They hope their debut single puts a smile on the faces of all who hear it. Each of them comes from a completely different background, so they were able to bring three unique perspectives together to a song that will touch a wide variety of fans.

Jessi described an example of their collaborative song-writing. “Bri definitely has more songwriting experience than Clair and me, because she has been doing it longer,” Jessi explains. “But the way that we write now, Bri and I do more of the songwriting, and Clair sings more of the lead. We’ve had help with all of our songs with writing and different sessions with other songwriters, but we all have different perspectives.” As an example, one of the three had been through a break-up, so Jessi explains, “We wanted to capture that moment or create something based on the feelings about that hard relationship. We would sit there and talk about the relationship and how hard a thing it was, and then we would try to make it musical. We just feed off each other, and whatever the moment calls for we just run with it.”

And being connected to the Titans has provided wonderful experiences. DLS feels so blessed to have had the opportunities that they have been given, including performance at the Tennessee ESPN Tailgate Tour, several Titans pre-game concerts, and a halftime performance at a Titans season opener (honoring those affected by 9/11). Performing in a large stadium is a challenge for any singer, and they say they really have to dial in on each other in those situations, so the echo does not distract them. Based on their experience, the echoes of a monster stadium are something no artist ever gets used to.

Jessi explains, “I think the only way to practice is to go to the actual field and experience all of those elements at once, with the echo, and the quality of the sound system, and all of that.” So Jessi, who used to dance with Christina Aguilera, knows that if Christina can have trouble at the Super Bowl, anyone can. “It is crazy! Christina Aguilera is one of the best voices of our generation, and if she is going to struggle…I don’t even think the fans appreciate how difficult it is with the echo, the sound down there at the stadium, being able to listen to yourself, and not listening to the echo. All you can do is pray and hope for the best,” Jessi laughs.

But the feeling of performing in the middle of tens of thousands? Danger Love Saint says that performing in front of 70,000 fans is an emotional experience. They were truly humbled and really tried to soak in every second. About the feeling of hearing the massive LP Field applause, “I don’t even know if I can put it into words. It’s like maybe putting your finger in an electric socket,” Jessi laughs. “It is just this jolt of this crazy amount of energy and enthusiasm. It is the coolest feeling.”

When asked if it was difficult to concentrate during the first half of a game when they know they will be on “center stage” at halftime, DLS replies that they really have to stay focused on the tasks in front of us during the game (i.e., sidelines, fillers, and quarter break routines). Since being a cheerleader is their top priority at all of the Titans games, they do their very best to keep their heads “in the game.” But, when it is time to sing, they “change hats” quickly and switch their focus to music.

Titans Cheerleader Director Stacie Kinder has provided support in many forms as Danger Love Saint started and moves forward. “The ladies of Danger Love Saint came together very organically, but I like to think I helped them hone in on their direction,” Stacie says. “They began as a larger performance act, with more dancers and singers and under a different name. I saw that they could really be successful if they focused on polishing up the core act, the music and the singers, and packaging that trio as a ‘Music Row’ act. I introduced them to as many music industry people that I know to help them get their ball rolling, and get them to the right producers, writers, and executives.”

Stacie continues, “The music industry is extremely tough, but I hope DLS can achieve success at the highest level. The three women have worked so hard and put so much of their personal time and energy into their group that they deserve to achieve. Being NFL Cheerleaders and having the opportunity to perform at our games has given them a very unique niche in the entertainment market. If they have success at a national level, not only is it great for them, but it also is great for the Titans Cheerleaders, exposing our brand to more fans, as well. Jessi, Clair, and Bri are incredibly talented young women; they are hardworking and genuine, and I feel so blessed to have had the chance to work with them at the brink of their career.”

And DLS appreciates Stacie being there for them, as Jessi explains, “Stacie said, ‘Keep doing what you are doing, I really like it, I believe in it, you sound good.’ And she definitely mentored us, because she knows a lot more about the music industry than I did. She has helped with feedback and critiques. Stacie said, ‘We are proud of you, if we can help let us know,’ just like she would do for any of the girls that have started businesses.”

The present and the future of Danger Love Saint provide wonderful experiences and room for big dreams. They have written and recorded with Nashville talent like Kenny Lamb, Anthony Little, Michael Knox, Trey Bruce, Mickey Jack Cones, Dale Oliver, Steve Pasch, Brian James, and more. Currently DLS is in production on their music video, of, “Drive” (the single is available off of iTunes right now, or go to their web site www.DangerLoveSaintMusic.com or search Danger Love Saint on iTunes).

Often, we all experience what is known as “the soundtrack of our lives,” i.e., songs that immediately one has relied upon to go through good and bad, happy and sad. What soundtracks have been important to DLS? Clair replies, “The Bodyguard. I wanted to be able to sing like Whitney. When I saw that movie, I knew I wanted to be a singer. I was singing, ‘I Will Always Love You,’ non-stop.” Bri answers, “The first Dirty Dancing movie. ‘(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life,’ ‘Be My Baby.’ Every song has been a reflection of some point in my life, and I love the movie!” Jessi’s answer was, “Disney’s ‘Cinderella.’”

Right now, Danger Love Saint is moving ahead, while still balancing both work and cheering for the Titans. When asked about their “dream jobs,” Bri, who is currently working in marketing and sales, replied her dream job would be, “Songwriting for top artists, and performing with my DLS sisters.” Clair is currently the Director of Residency Programs for a Health Systems Firm, and her dream job is to be a singer/performer for a living. Jessi continues her work as a dance instructor and professional dancer, and her dream job is acting, singing, and dancing in movie musicals like Julie Andrews.

Danger Love Saint has collective big dreams, too, including going on tour, winning a Grammy, and most importantly, using their gifts as a musical group to give back with charitable concerts and appearances. Not only does Danger Love Saint have big dreams, but they have the initiative to pursue after them, the big talent to back them up, and they have already achieved a more valuable commodity: friends to share their big dreams. Pro cheerleading brought together these three women from opposite coasts, provided mentors, like Stacie, and unique opportunities to shine. Bri, Clair, and Jessi are living in the moment of their musical adventure, with the knowledge that their friendships and memories will last forever.

You can keep up with all of the latest of DLS on their website (www.DangerLoveSaintMusic.com), Facebook (www.facebook.com/Dangerlovesaint), and Twitter (www.Twitter.com/DangerLoveSaint).

Jessi, Bri, and Clair have been wonderful to UltimateCheerleaders, and we thank them and their buds at DefiNet Contact SO MUCH for their special video made just for us! We also thank the wonderful Titans Cheerleaders Director Stacie Kinder, along with Titans media staff Robbie Bohren and Alex Garmezy for all of their help and coordination. To get us into the holiday spirit, below are a couple holiday greetings videos by these superb women, and below that, some more photos, including photos of Bri and Clair at the October 23rd game (if you want to see Jessi’s game pics, ya gotta check out Part 1!). Left click to see the entire photo, then left click on that to see full size.

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