How Chaparelle’s Zella Day and Jesse Woods Are Reinventing Country With Romance, Drama and Honky-Tonk Magic
The rising band opens up about their creative chemistry, cinematic performances, and the inspiration behind their debut album
Jesse Woods and Zella Day didn’t set out to reinvent country music — they just wanted to sing together. But the duo, together with guitarist and producer Beau Bedford, has created something undeniably fresh as the band Chaparelle. Their unique sound honors traditional country while wrapped in storytelling and French noir glamour.
At a Chaparelle show, country music arrives drenched in cinema — equal parts honky-tonk and high drama. Woods leans into the mic with Southern grit, while Day commands the stage with theatrical precision, every gesture deliberate and magnetic. It’s the kind of performance that could convince anyone to learn to two-step.
When Lone Stars Align
By the time they began writing together in 2021, Day and Woods had already built impressive solo careers. Day, an Arizona-born singer-songwriter, had released a major-label debut and cultivated a global following for her cinematic indie-pop. Woods, a sixth-generation Texan, had released “Wimberley,” an album steeped in unvarnished country charm.
Day had been following Woods’ music, and reached out to him to collaborate. “When I heard his voice, I was like, ‘We should sing together,” she recalls. “It was very evident to me, and I felt a really strong pull.” What started as experimental writing sessions quickly unfolded into a romantic connection. “We were friends four out of the seven days,” Day laughs.
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Finding home in the Hill Country
By late 2022, she’d traded Los Angeles for the Texas Hill Country. “Meeting Jesse was sort of the perfect melting point in my life and what I was visioning for myself, and then he had this beautiful cabin out in the Hill Country, and we would sit out there and write music together, and I was like, ‘Okay, I think I’m moving.'”
For Day, this phase of her career has felt transformative. “I think a creative life happens in stages,” she reflects. “The stage that I’m in now is more of an embodiment of all of the places that I’ve been and where I’ve been trying to get to, and I feel like I’ve finally arrived.”
The birth of Chaparelle
Chaparelle — named after a native Texas plant — represents their shared vision. “Country music now is all kinds of things,” Woods explains. “We’ve had a lot of fun leaning into the traditionalism of country music and letting that be a guide for us, while being ourselves.”
On stage, Day and Woods’ chemistry transforms into theater. “What you are watching in the energy between us is an alive thing that we are stoking,” Day explains. “We find each other on stage in moments and some moments we’re really connected. Others, we have to give each other space to shine.” She draws on her love of Bob Fosse: “It’s really hitting the marks and figuring out framing on stage. You want to be entertained when you go to a show.”
Their debut album, “Western Pleasure,” showcases songs that create distinct moods. From the honky-tonk of “Devil’s Music” to the electric energy of “Baby Jesus” to the heartbroken “Bleeding Hearts” and “Heart Broken Holiday,” Chaparelle has built a world that you can fall into.
The band’s success feels refreshingly organic, crafting their sound, performance and style with dedicated intention. “Everything’s in house,” Woods notes. “We recorded all the music ourselves. We style ourselves, we put ourselves on the road. The American dream is still somehow alive with Chaparelle.”
On the horizon
They released their most recent single in October, “When It Snows in Texas,” featuring Sierra Ferrell, with their second album expected in 2026. Chaparelle’s “Western Pleasure” tour will head back to Austin on Dec. 31 to play Austin’s New Year celebration at Auditorium Shores.
As for the distant future, Day grins as she envisions a long life with Woods, saying, “I would love to be 75 years old wearing sequin matching tuxedos with a residency in Las Vegas.” Woods nods in agreement.
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