Nashville-based country duo Chris Chistey and Bee Smith bring together two distinct musical backgrounds and a shared love of authentic country storytelling. With roots stretching from Texas to the UK, the pair have found a natural creative connection in the heart of Music City. Chris Chistey is an award-winning singer, musician, actor, and producer originally from Texas who has made Nashville his home.
A seasoned performer with a passion for country music, Chistey brings a versatile blend of traditional influences and contemporary Nashville sensibilities to everything he creates. His experience both in front of and behind the microphone gives the duo a distinctive musical foundation, combining performance, musicianship, and production into one creative vision.
Originally from the United Kingdom and now pursuing her country music career in Nashville, Bee Smith has developed a sound that reflects the storytelling tradition of country music while showcasing her own distinctive voice. Her rich, expressive vocal style has been compared to the warmth and character of artists such as LeAnn Womack and Jo Dee Messina, while remaining unmistakably her own.
Together, Chistey and Smith create a dynamic male-female country pairing that blends classic country emotion with a modern Nashville edge. Their music highlights the chemistry between two artists from different sides of the Atlantic who share a passion for songs that sound genuine, relatable, and overall mature.
Following their first release together, the duo’s second and current single, the excellent “Be Mary,” continues to showcase their vocal chemistry and growing musical partnership. The song represents another chapter in a collaboration that brings Texas, Nashville, and the UK together through the universal language of country music.
“Be Mary” isn’t exactly a holiday song, but it does come along just in time, as well as mentioning Christmas Eve in the first line, just after the tune begins. But as the song goes, it’s about believing in yourself. This is the type of thing that comes with the usual words of wisdom, and Chistey and Smith deliver a masterful vocal duet, which complements their previous release “Summer Before The Fall” with a winter themed number to take their collaboration together to the next level.
Both singers get the spotlight as they trade lead parts around a dual chorus which repeats “Be Mary” and gives each of a chance to shine in the process. This is pure country music released in the wake of losing Dolly Parton, and even though Smith has her own contemporary style, hearing “Be Mary” instantly reminds of singers like Parton, keeping Chistey’s traditional voice. You just swear you’ve heard the likes it this before, because the two are so professional and the song is so good.
The acoustic guitar and strings really match the singer/songwriter with every note weighing in with precision behind the duo’s vocals, making “Be Mary” the entire package for the second consecutive release. And it goes very well with their first release, making them perfect for country playlists across all platforms, and the usual airwaves the duo make across the country and beyond. These voices are simply contagious.
Claire Uebelacker