Chaz Schroeder AKA Pickle Chaz

Words by Teresa Spencer

At the age of 8, Chaz Schroeder (a.k.a. Pickle Chaz) saw rapper Vanilla Ice in concert at Wild Adventures. And that’s where it all began.

“I thought that was the coolest thing in the world, and I wanted to be just like that. Looking at the crowds cheering, that’s what I wanted,” Schroeder recalled.

In fact, he started his musical journey singing Vanillia Ice’s smash hit “Ice Ice Baby” at karaoke which then evolved to participating in singing competitions. It wasn’t long before he began writing his own songs to perform.

“The love of music is what inspires me. I am inspired by the beats I hear, and I start to write music to go with the beats,” said Schroeder, who added another title to add to his collection as winner of the Clay County Fair Star Search junior division.

As one of the only contestants in the junior division who wrote his own lyrics and music for the competition, Schroeder, now a pre-teen, said his song “Face Your Fears” came out of his own experience (and a