SongVault Artist Profile

Michelle Chappel, Ph.D. (Princeton) has been a professor, singer-songwriter, and creativity coach. In 1992, she was voted “Most Inspirational Professor of Psychology” at UC Santa Cruz. Two years later her debut CD (PolyGram Records) made the top 10 overseas. Her award-winning songs – an uplifting blend of country, folk, and pop – have helped thousands of people on the road to personal fulfillment and success.

Chappel was raised in Atlanta, Georgia, where she absorbed the country music playing from her father’s car radio like a sponge. Singing at the age of four, she eventually left music behind to pursue a Ph.D. in psychology. When she was a professor, students used to line up outside her office to ask for her advice. She always told them to follow their hearts. One afternoon she realized she wasn’t following her own heart. She'd only written a handful of songs at the time, but she knew if she didn't take the risk then, she never would.

Chappel’s debut CD was distributed through PolyGram Records in South Africa, where 11 tracks received radio airplay, and the title track – A Strange Kind of Love – was a Top 10 single on regional stations. Her sophomore CD, Infinity + 1, Man, was distributed to 25 countries in Europe through Gold Circle International, and held several Top 10 positions on US College Radio. It was the top selling independent release at Tower Records in San Jose for 14 weeks. Her Madonna spoof The Wheels on the Bus was released through Shifty Disco Records and went to No. 17 on the UK charts. The accompanying video aired on MTV Europe.

Now on her own record label, Chappel was chosen as one of 100 Top unsigned bands in Billboard Magazine’s International Contests, and garnered 12 songwriting awards. Seven of her songs have aired on HBO, Showtime, Encore, and ABC.