Whether you were raised by two parents, one parent, a relative or someone entirely unrelated to you...
This playlist, it’s for them. The ones who raised us. The ones who gave us the space to grow when we needed it and a loving embrace when we needed that too.
So I’m raising one up to the ones we raised me up…
You haven’t lived and loved country music
completely until you’ve seen Mr. Take It On Back hit the stage and rock out.
You’ll be in awe when you see him shred on guitar.
You’ll struggle to catch your breath when he turns
on the charm.
And that voice.
Oh that voice will have you swooning every single time.
Chase Bryant found success with his top ten hit
“Take It On Back” earlier this year and is now looking forward to releasing a
new full album and beginning a tour with Tim McGraw this summer.
I sat down and talked with Chase about his musical
inspirations, his new single, his “Give A Little Bit Of You Campaign”, his
romantic side, and his future.
Got my wheels pullin off that highway
My headlights pullin down your street
I got your song cranked up on the radio
Meet the man behind the lyrics.
Chase Bryant.
(photo credit: Chris Tuite)
Chase, I'm curious…what made you want to start
singing/writing?
I
think growing up in a musical family. I was always, always singing. It always
made me the happiest. And just being around my family helped me realize that it
was just the right thing for me to do. I saw how much they loved it and of
course I fell in love with it too.
We all know you can kill it on
guitar, did you teach yourself?
Ha! Well yeah, I did. I mean I play upside down and
backwards. I play right-handed guitar, left-handed. Nobody else really does
that!
Who are your biggest musical
inspirations?
Oh wow! There are plenty of those. Michael
McDonald being one of them. Vince Gill, Keith Urban, Tom Petty, Brian Adams.
Yeah, all those guys were pretty big to me.
Where do you get inspiration to
write?
Well for me, I think it’s all about whether you are
in love or had your heart broken. Whether you’ve just been to a great party or
really anything. It’s all about what is happening in life at the time.
Do you tend to go into writes with a
plethora of ideas in your head or just with a blank slate? How do you like to
write?
I go in with ideas sometimes but then other times I
just like to go off the moment. I also try to feel out my other writers also.
That’s really important. It’s one of those things where you kinda just have to
feel them out. Every single day and write is different. Y0u may walk into a
write one day and your mood may change.
Do you have a favorite song that
you’ve written or co-written?
Change Your Name is the one I wrote that is
probably my favorite.
You had a hand in writing your new
single “Little Bit Of You”, how did this song come together?
I was with Ashley Gorley and Derek George and as
a matter of fact I actually think it was a title that had gotten thrown around
multiple times. We’d messed with a bunch of stuff and other ideas but finally
came back to that one. It was one of those things where it didn’t take long at
all. I mean it DID take a while for it to come together because we had moved on
to other ideas but once Ashley started playing piano and I picked up banjo or
guitar and we came up with the signature lick of that song it just all came
together.
Did you have the moment instantly
where you knew it would be one of your singles?
No actually! The label and Benny Brown called and
told me I needed to cut the song. The record was basically already done. We had
already cut everything we had planned to cut. It was kind of a last minute
thing.
Tell us a little bit about the “Give
A Little Bit Of You Campaign” that was recently extended until April 13th.
It was an idea from the label. There is a lady who actually came up with
that idea. I’m always about that. I am always brainstorming and coming up with
ideas of what we can do to try and give back to fans and do stuff like that.
I’m just very glad that people caught on to it and helped shine light on those
who don’t always get the credit they deserve.
We actually got the first 500 people in like an
hour. We had hoped to reach 500 in a couple of weeks. We’ve now extended the
date (April 13th) and upped the number to 1,000.
What moment in your career is your
favorite thus far?
I mean there were many but two really stick out.
One was recording with Michael McDonald. I got to
cut a song with him and that was huge.
The second has been having a top ten single. That
was one of the best days of my life.
If you could tour with anyone it
would be….?
Tim McGraw! Oh, wait ha! I already am!
Maybe Shania Twain? I would love that!
If I weren’t a singer/songwriter I
would be…?
A professional bass fisher.
What is one thing people may not know
about you?
Oh gosh! Um, I hunt and fish more than anything
else. I mean I’m an outdoorsman! A lot of people may not actually know that.
As far as it comes to like love-life stuff, I’m a
sentimental guy. I’m actually very, very sentimental.
We are four months into the New
Year, what does the rest of 2015 look like for you? New music? Festivals? Etc.
New music! We are hoping for a number one this
year. That would be awesome! Other than that, I'm just looking forward to whatever
comes my way. Hard work and determination are always most important. I’m just
trying to make sure I follow through with that
I know you are gonna release a full
album! Anything you can tell us about that?
We are! There is gonna be like 16 songs on it. It’s
gonna be a big record. It’s the record I’ve always wanted to make. I’m just
really glad it worked out like it did.
LITTLE BIT OF YOU LYRIC VIDEO
Special thanks to Chase for taking time out of his busy schedule to talk with The Tennessee Life.
Catch Chase Bryant on tour this summer with Tim McGraw. For complete tour dates visit http://www.chasebryant.com/tour/
BACK TO SCHOOL, BACK TO SCHOOL, BACK TO SCHOOL! AUGUST IS THE MONTH WHEN SO MANY PEOPLE RETURN TO SCHOOL/COLLEGE! HERE IS AN ENTIRE MONTH OF SONGS TO HELP THE YEAR START OUT ON A GOOD NOTE! I TRIED REALLY HARD TO BE DIVERSE WITH THE ARTISTS I CHOSE. BUT LET'S FACE IT, SOME OF THEM ARE WAY TO GOOD TO ONLY BE FEATURED ONCE!
