Maturity and clarity are the reality on Chase Rice's new album, Go Down Singin', out September 20. C&I speaks with Rice about his new sound.
One of Chase Rice’s last big songs was called “I Hate Cowboys.” But rest assured, he is one. With a 150-acre buffalo ranch outside of Nashville to prove it, and an Airstream he takes out West when he needs an escape from Tennessee.
As for his new music, it is all very country. There’s not a bro-country song in the bunch. Even though Rice launched his singer-songwriter career as a bro-country prodigy in 2011 when he penned “Cruise” with Florida Georgia Line, that isn’t who Rice is. It’s who he was.
Nowadays, Chase Rice is the seasoned artist behind what is sure to be one of 2024’s most well-received country albums of the year. When his Go Down Singin’ is released on September 20, the world’s going to hear the songs Rice penned about his real life: losing his dad at 22, his love/hate relationship with Music Row, the Kubota tractor he got from Kenny Chesney, the racecar that became his first love, going hunting on Christmas, and writing every song with an acoustic 1922 Martin guitar in his arms.
C&I: Is that mandolin I hear on “Hey God It’s Me Again”?
Chase Rice: It is! And I would never allow a mandolin in my music before. I hated it. But now, I love that the older I’m getting, I love music I can listen to that’s easier. As opposed to really slick and pop. I used to be the guy saying, “Absolutely not. No mandolin.” And now it’s all over it. There’s even some fiddle on this album, too.
It sounds like getting out of Nashville for songwriting retreats has been the best move for you. Where has your songwriting taken you so far?
When we’re out of town, nobody’s gotta pick up their kids at 3:00. So we can write into the night. That’s what happened in Colorado, and we wrote nine songs in three days. The first trip we took was in Bitterroot Valley in Montana. And another retreat was in Gulf Shores, Alabama. And we went to a bar in Wilmington, North Carolina, to write. Then to just outside of Boston to write with Lori McKenna at her house.
And how has your songwriting method changed since you wrote “Cruise” when you first landed in Nashville?
I used to always write to tracks, but now I write with this 1922 0-28 Martin guitar I bought. It took me a while to figure it out, but then through Covid and writing more and more songs on this acoustic guitar, it’s like, “This feels right at home.” It’s my chance to be intentional. I’m not gonna purposefully show people who I am – I’m just gonna be who I am now and if that doesn't work, I don’t care. I have to do this.
If “Oh Tennessee” is true, it is the saddest song on the album. Where did such a poignant idea come from?
I just really wanted to write a song about how you move to Nashville, you get everything you ever dreamed of, and then your life falls apart. I’m blaming Tennessee, but in reality, it’s my fault for letting that machine getting ahold of me.
The title track of Go Down Singin' is pretty heavy, too. But you end up as the victor, which is a cool plot twist.
Before I left my record label, I was like, “Man, I’m doing this, come hell or high water. If I go down, at least I go down singing.” You know? And if people don’t like it, that’s okay, because this is the best version of me. It was the perfect song to start this new album.
And then how therapeutic was it to write a song about your late father, and what he must’ve been like when he was the age you are now?
It felt so good to picture him in 1985, as a grown man. It changed my perspective on my dad as we wrote it and recorded it. It was just not a sad thing anymore. It was a celebration of that moment would really look like.
I’d never really thought about that. And it changed my own perspective on losing my dad at such a young age, and thinking about what it would be like to drink a beer with him and just talk to him, ask him questions, get to know him as a man, and have him get to know me as a man. My dad would come home with his Kubota tractor and he’d pay me and my brothers to bush hog on that tractor. And now that I have my own farm, and Kenny Chesney gave me a Kubota tractor, that all so feels great.
Say more words, Chase. What prompted Kenny Chesney to give you a tractor?
Because he’s awesome and he’s so thoughtful. It was after I toured with him, and Kenny’s known for giving really cool gifts at the end of every tour. And then outta nowhere, Kenny invited me over to his house in Nashville, and I’m just sitting there drinking wine with him, and then he walked me around to the front of his house. And right there was freaking Kubota tractor.
I had just bought my first farm and he knew that, and through those conversations, without him asking me, he learned that I needed a tractor. Because I’m a buffalo rancher when I’m not singing songs. It’s the best life I could live. I have an Airstream, too, so I can travel around and go live my life and get inspired. And then when I go write songs, I actually have something to write down. So even though I don’t live on the farm all the time, it’s still a real nice place to come home to.
Track List for Go Down Singin’
- “Go Down Singin’” (written by Chase Rice, Blake Pendergrass)
- “Fireside” (Rice, Jackson Dean, Jonathan Sherwood, Oscar Charles)
- “That Word Don’t Work No More” (feat. Lori McKenna) (Rice, McKenna, Charles)
- “Hey God It’s Me Again” (Rice, Corey Crowder, Randy Montana)
- “Oh Tennessee” (Rice, Charles, McKenna)
- “Haw River” (Rice, Pendergrass)
- “Arkansas” (Rice, Rob Baird)
- “Numbers” (Rice, Jeff Hyde, Charles, Ryan Tyndell)
- “If Drinkin’ Helped” (Rice, Charles, McKenna)
- “Little Red Race Car” (Rice, Jackson Nance, Heath Warren)
- “You in ‘85” (Rice, Charles, McKenna)
Find out more about Chase Rice at the artist's official website, and look back on past C&I coverage here. (Photography by Ben Christenson)
