Like most of her original songs, Claire Leslie wrote her latest offering, “Full 180,” on the keyboard in her bedroom in San Antonio, Texas. “I just wanted to write a fun, upbeat Jesus song,” the bubbly newcomer enthuses over a Zoom call. “This is my testimony and something I want to share with the world: No one is too far gone or out of God’s reach. He can take anyone’s story, anyone’s life, and turn it around, a full 180.” While “Full 180” garnered a lot of social buzz prior to its release, K-LOVE listeners are likely most familiar with Leslie’s “Passenger Seat,” an effervescent pop gem streaming on K-LOVE Future Hits.
Not only is Leslie launching her music career with a string of frothy singles that are as authentic as they are playful, she’s crafting earworms for a next-gen audience that’s eager to press play on a pop playlist that fuels their faith. In between wedding planning (she’s getting married in September), worship leading and music making, the 24-year-old called in from her native Texas to share the inspiration behind “Passenger Seat,” the reason she started singing at church at 14 and the key thing she learned from opening shows for Katy Nichole, Josiah Queen and Forrest Frank.
KLOVE.com: Your music draws a lot of comparisons to artists like Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter from a sonic perspective. How do you feel about that comparison?
Claire Leslie: Well, when I read those comments or someone comes up to me after a show and tells me that I’m like the Christian Sabrina Carpenter or the Christian Taylor Swift, I honestly take it as a compliment, because those girls — obviously — have been a role model for a ton of young girls all over the globe. And the fact that I get to be a faith-centered, Jesus-loving, authentic version of that is a massive honor for sure.
KLOVE.com: You recently got engaged. How did you and your fiancé meet?
Claire Leslie: Landon and I met at church. We met four years ago. He is the pastor’s son at the church where I lead worship. So every Sunday I would see him on the front row, but we were both in different seasons. He was a college football player at ACU [Abilene Christian University], and I was just kind of starting up my music career. And so it was almost like we were ships in the night. We would see each other, and I would smile and wave before I led [worship].
But then, this past December, I looked over and I saw him again; but this time our eye contact lingered a little longer than usual. We both smiled, and then he ended up asking me to get coffee. We sat for hours and talked, and I pretty quickly realized, all right, this man is like no other. He is like sunshine in human form and is so supportive of my music career. He’s a high school youth pastor at our church; and so, it’s been amazing to have the church community surround us.
KLOVE.com: Did you grow up in San Antonio?
Claire Leslie: I did. I am a Texas girl 100%. I’ve lived here my whole life. Grew up in San Antonio alongside my three brothers, two dogs and four cats. I love it here. I have been leading worship since I was 14, all around the San Antonio area. And so Texas definitely has my heart.
KLOVE.com: One of your brothers really inspired you to start singing and writing songs. How did he encourage you to find your voice as an artist?
Claire Leslie: So I grew up in the church. I’m a church girl. Went to youth group and Sunday morning church with parents who both were on fire for Jesus. But it wasn’t until high school, for me, where I really started a true personal relationship with God. I grew up listening to my older brother play piano, and he was just this freak pianist, where he would play by ear. And he started playing and singing at church.
One day, he walked into my bedroom and just said, “Hey, Claire, I hear you singing in your room.” I dealt a lot with stage fright growing up. I loved to sing, but I never wanted to sing in front of people because I had really low self-esteem. But he believed in me and said, “Claire, you should just go for it.” And so I started playing piano for my youth group when I was 14. Then they put a mic in front of my face, and I was terrified; but I started to fall in love with singing and leading worship in the church. Through that, I started writing songs at my piano. I never showed anyone, but I would write my own songs. I think the first song I ever wrote was a song called “A Song To All The Boys.” I don’t even know what “boys” I was talking about, but I had this great imagination.
KLOVE.com: Has there been a specific time in your life when you recognized the power music holds?
Claire Leslie: Yes. My grandma, she believed in me so much. She dealt with dementia; but through it all, she would ask me, “Claire, could you sing for me?” Because she grew up Church of Christ, she would say, “Would you sing a cappella?” I grew up singing hymns for her, but at the very end of her life, I realized that music has such a connecting power to it. Getting to sing over my grandma at the very end of her life was something that really opened my eyes to how music is healing. It connects all generations, all ages.
KLOVE.com: You’ve gotten to tour with Katy Nichole. You were on the “Campus Nights” tour last year with Josiah Queen and Hulvey. You even got to open a show for Forrest Frank. What have you learned through having the opportunity to share the stage with these artists?
Claire Leslie: I think the thing I learned from being on the road with those artists is that God will bless integrity. I’ve had the privilege of getting a front-row seat behind the scenes, watching how Katy, Josiah and Hulvey treat their bands, their crew members, how they treat the bus drivers, how they treat the ice cream scoopers at the ice cream shops we would go to. That goes a long way. It has been really eye-opening and really moving to be around those artists specifically. They’ve inspired me to be a person of integrity. And whatever I say onstage, I better be walking it out offstage, too, because people are watching no matter where we are, especially the next generation. If it’s in the grocery store, at the gas station, in the lobby at a Josiah Queen concert…people are watching and listening. I think of CeCe Winans, Chris Tomlin, Phil Wickham, Brandon Lake. I mean, when you meet them in person, they are the same people offstage as they are onstage. And that’s what sticks; that’s what people see.
KLOVE.com: K-LOVE Future Hits is playing “Passenger Seat.” What’s the inspiration behind that song?
Claire Leslie: It’s been so cool to see K-LOVE Future Hits playing “Passenger Seat,” because I grew up listening to K-LOVE in my mom’s van driving to different soccer practices and [homeschool] co-ops. I mean, we would just blast K-LOVE. So now, getting to have my music playing on [K-LOVE Future Hits] is a pretty surreal, mind-blowing thing.
But I wrote “Passenger Seat” from a place of surrender. I’m somewhat of a control freak, wanting to have my life look a certain way, my future to go exactly how I planned it. And I’m learning, day by day, that the Lord loves to keep us on our toes. And maybe that’s because He desires for us to lean on Him and depend on Him because, truly, at the end of the day, He’s the one who should be behind the wheel in our lives. He has already gone before us and has paved the way and written our stories. We have the blessing of sitting in the passenger seat. We can obey Him, full send it in life, walk through the doors He opens; but ultimately, we have to surrender our lives, our future, our dreams and our fears to Him.
In the chorus, I say, “I put up my feet. We can go anywhere. I’ll take the passenger seat.” I mean, my parents never liked me to put my feet on the dashboard for safety reasons, but it’s more portraying the feeling of letting go and letting God take the lead in our lives.
KLOVE.com: What’s the coolest place you’ve heard “Passenger Seat” being played?
Claire Leslie: You know what’s been really, really cool is that it’s a Christian song — it’s a song about Jesus and about surrendering to Him — but yet, there’ll be moments where I walk into my local Michaels or Home Depot, and I hear it playing. The thought of that message being declared and sung over people while they’re shopping [or just going about their day] is amazing. It really is. It makes me want to keep writing for Jesus and keep writing for people who need that reminder, including myself.
