The Austin native has released the first single from his upcoming EP Lost and Found.
Back in 1975, country music singer-songwriter Sammy Johns scored a million-selling Top 5 hit — and scandalized quite a few radio listeners — with “Chevy Van,” his county/soft-rock tune about a one-night stand on the road. Since then, other country artists — including Waylon Jennings, Eric Church and Sammy Kershaw — have recorded covers of the song. And now up-and-comer Chris Roberts is taking his own unique approach to “Chevy Van,” the first single from his upcoming EP Lost and Found.
“I always thought it was a cool song and had a country twang when Sammy Kershaw covered it,” Roberts says. “I always dug the hippie vibe and the story. I thought it fit perfectly for my style of hippie country and ‘that’s all right with me.’”
During his salad days in Austin, Roberts admits, launching a musical career was the last thing on his mind. After working on ranches and construction sites throughout Texas, and doing everything from laying carpet to washing cars, he eventually founded Aspen Hatter, a highly successful hatmaking business with celebrity fans.
“I never thought I would play music,” he says. “I never desired to play music. It’s just that music kept falling into me and out of me until I had no choice.
“I’m happy to be able to share more songs with the world,” Roberts says of the Lost and Found EP. “These are from the same Joshua Tree sessions that the Red Feather EP came from, and they’ve been a long time coming. In fact, we’ve been in the studio again since then and have an entire full record in the bag already to go.”
Here is the exclusive C&I premiere of the music video for “Chevy Van” performed by Chris Roberts.
