The Chatham Arts Council is investing in artists through our Meet This Artist (MTA) series, introducing you to 12 Chatham County artists each year in a big way. The fine folks at Hobbs Architects in downtown Pittsboro are powering our Meet This Artist series this year. Architecture is art, and the Hobbs crew values art in our community.
So, take a look. Meet your very inspiring neighbors. Our last MTA told you all about writer/musician/Renaissance man Corbie Hill. This installment features the writing of said artist! Our guest writer for this Meet This Artist–none other than Corbie Hill.
Cecile Jordan was born and raised in Siler City.
One technicality: she was born in Sanford, she says with a laugh, but in Siler City the family goes way back. Siler City is where she first sang in the family church. It’s where Jordan taught briefly at Siler City Elementary—the same school she attended such and such years ago. She’s in Greensboro now, mostly because it isn’t far from home.
Fronting the band A.P.O., Jordan appears at the Juneteenth Black Arts Festival June 15 at the Chatham County Fairgrounds in Pittsboro. Jordan has been featured on songs by Phonte—the foundational Durham multi-talent of Little Brother and The Foreign Exchange fame—and newer Raleigh band NiiTO, yet it’s been a while since this Chatham native has played Pittsboro. In part, it’s because she’s been busy building and then successfully running Social Butterfly Services, her social media agency.
Below, find our interview with locally raised multi-hyphenate Cecile Jordan. Our interview has been edited for length and clarity.
You can also check out the songs mentioned above here and here.
Can you tell me about your show at the Juneteenth festival?
My band and I will be performing for about an hour. We do a pop, old school R&B type of thing. I’m excited about it because I’ve performed in Siler City before, but not in Pittsboro with a bigger audience. I’ve done it [in Greensboro], in Raleigh, other areas, but for my old hometown, I have not done it as much.
Why is A.T.O. the band for you?
They work really hard. They’re very passionate about it. We all get along very well. I think because we started together so early on we know each other. They know what I like. They know what I don’t like. It’s almost like having a basketball team.
There’s a lot of trust in a band. A huge amount of trust.
Yeah, definitely a lot of trust, [and] not just within playing on stage. It’s like, are you going to show up? Are you there? Very dependable. Having people not show up before—I’ve had all that.
You being an entrepreneur, that’s a busy life. I want to ask about the balance between music and work.
Right now I’m not singing a lot at all. But music therapy is really big for me. I started a clothing line called the Music Therapy Collection. Outside of singing I love listening to live music. I have to have it. It’s almost like I gotta get a fix.
Whatever my week was, I can pour that out. It’s extremely important in that way. I work Monday through Fridays, pretty much work all week. On the weekends I’m trying to find where’s the live music, because in Greensboro, there’s not a lot there. There is, but not a lot [compared to] Raleigh-Durham. So I typically have to travel outside to listen to live music.
When did you start?
I started singing at like the age of three. That was a big part of who I was. Dancing—I was always dancing.
So you started singing at three. In what context?
At church. As I grew up, I became the choir director for a little bit. My dad was the minister of music at my church growing up. He plays for another church now, but my younger brother plays as well. My family, we all have some sort of creative [ability]. That’s kind of how I got started—from watching my dad do things and playing songs all the time.
My family church—I don’t go there anymore because it’s an hour away. It used to be called Price Community Church of God and Prophecy.
My grandparents started that church, built the church. It’s my church forever. When we were younger we left for another church my great aunt was preaching at. Now they are all back at the home church. When I go there, it’s like those old feelings of choir anniversaries and just spending a lot of time. My dad lived right down the street from there. I could walk to church.
How long have you been in Greensboro?
I went to NC A&T. First I went to Johnson C. Smith University, transferred after a semester. That was, like, 2008. Whenever I was in college and graduated, I did leave for a year, but it’s been a while.
Did you stay in Greensboro because it’s closer to Siler City than moving away?
Yeah. I definitely didn’t want to move. I want to stay here. I have kids so they were already going to school and things like this. I just kind of stayed here.
Did they get the artistic gene?
Yes—in different ways. My oldest son, he’s more into graphics and video editing. He’s a YouTuber. My other two, they’re drummers. My middle son sings. I think he’s musically gifted. When you hear a song, he hears beats and sounds that I didn’t even hear. You know, those background noises that we don’t hear up front? Well, he’s listening to the background noises. He also plays the violin. He doesn’t play that much anymore, but he learned how to play. The baby is a dancer and drummer. He can sing. He’s extremely talented. All of them are talented in their own way.
In your daily work with Social Butterfly Services, do you feel like an artist?
When you’re capturing video, photo—you have to be able to see past it. I can almost see the edit that I’m going to do as I’m recording something. Not everybody can do that.
When I was watching some of your reels, I was watching you move around with your camera. You move like a lot of photojournalists I work with, the way they’re observing the area and setting up shots.
It really is an art. You have to move your body a certain way, when you’re capturing, especially if you have a gimbal that you’re using. It’s a lot of details that I think people don’t realize.
Social media is a young medium, and it’s forever changing. How do you keep your footing in that kind of world?
I tell people things are going to change, but you don’t have to go with every change that’s happening, because what’s gonna happen then? Like the iPhone—iPhone keeps changing. That’s not necessarily something that you need. You might want to go with every change, but you may not have the capacity, you may not have the creative ability, you may not have the knowledge. You can [change], but at your own pace.
That’s what I always tell my clients. Sometimes you get anxiety when there’s a change. As soon as I’ve seen the CEO of Instagram on here, I’m like, what’s happening now? It almost gives me anxiety. But I know unless it’s beneficial to me in and I have the mental capacity and physical capacity, I either am going to do it or I’m not going to do it. So I think you have to just find when things do change, just understand that you don’t always have to go with the changes. Eventually, you will, you know, but go at your own pace.
You’re good at this. That almost made me want to be good at Instagram.
(laughs)
Can you tell me about your tattoos?
When I was in corporate, I always wanted a sleeve. My family, you know, Christian background, like, no tattoos. Once I knew I was about to quit corporate, I had got the tattoos I have up here on the top [of my arm] first. OK—start here, go down, so when I officially quit, I’m gonna get the rest.
It’s who I am. It’s music. It’s butterflies. Not only is that the name of my business, but butterflies are important to me. The words “dream,” “peace,” “hope”—all of those things are important to me. Even with the stages of a butterfly, that’s how I look at my life. That’s kind of a reflection of what my tattoos are. Flowers, dreamcatchers, music notes. It’s who I am.
Do you have an artistic mission?
When I was growing up, I wanted to help people. I wanted to lift people’s spirits. I wanted to make them feel good. That has not changed. Even when I sing, I’m inspiring people. I sing this song called “Free Your Dreams.”
I’m glad people understand what music therapy is. When you come here, let it go. This is the way you release it, whether you dance or sing along with me, I want you to just feel everything in this moment. Forget about the stuff that’s happening in the world. Forget about it. I want you to feel good.
I’m smiling. I’m happy when I’m singing. I feel like that sometimes rubs off on other people. I’ll tell a joke every now and then. I used to be a teacher, and basically I was a comedian.
Even what I do with my job, we talk about confidence mindset. I teach it. I coach people through it, like you have to work on your inner self before you show up anywhere in the world—especially online. You could be fake online, which, why? Why would you do want to be? But people do it.
I’m helping build that confidence that they can do it themselves, even though we do it with them. I coach them through it. If I see somebody getting overwhelmed, I’m like, “Hey, let’s talk and breathe.” I’ve had people cry. It’s a big thing. It’s not always easy for people to get on camera.
What have I not asked you?
So I was a social media manager. We have a social media agency called Social Butterfly Services. Of course social media management is a big thing. Content creation is a big thing that we do. We create with you. You don’t have to worry about it.
Now I’ve started social media coaching. I have a course that I have spent months and months building. This thing is like one of my biggest dreams and goals, and I have marked it out, finally finished it. So that is another piece that we are transitioning into—social media coaching in general. I’ve been doing a lot of speaking engagements—pretty much doing the same thing, but live. I have a content workshop starting in June. And brand partnerships is another thing that I want to get into as well so I can have multiple streams of income. Get on YouTube. Now that I finally have Instagram down I want to add another platform. All kinds of things going on over here.
Visit Cecile Jordan on the web or Instagram.
Don’t miss Cecile at this year’s Juneteenth Festival at the Chatham County Fairgrounds on June 15 from 11-5 p.m.
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