As pissed as I am about CMA Fest being cancelled, it's great to see artists being able to get out and perform some live shows. It looks like (I hope) we are headed back to some sense of normalcy and things are moving in the right direction. I don't think there is anything better than buying overpriced beer, screaming your face off back at your favorite artist, while you got Jake and Suzy tonguing each other to your left and a drunk dude passed out to your right. The good old days... WE WILL BE BACK!
Get To Know Chase
"I'm from Rome, Georgia, Floyd County, which is up by Chattanooga, Tennessee. I was born and raised here. I'm 24 years old and got into music when I was probably like 16. Me and a few of my buddies were bored and sitting around after school and had nothing to do, so we learned how to play guitar. After picking up the guitar, I didn't want to keep playing unless I was singing along with it. I worked on my voice and a few people told me I was pretty good. From there I worked up my confidence to bring it to the bonfires and other places where people were around. People really seemed to like my voice and I wanted to dive even further into music. I also wanted to start writing songs and telling my story. The first song I wrote "In My Bed Again", like 4 years ago now and it got me playing this show at the Brew House in Rome, Georgia. Sidenote - Trey Lewis actually just played there recently. After that show, I started writing with my buddy Hunter Chastain and played some shows together. We did the acoustic thing for a while and then went our separate ways and got our own bands. Now here we are touring all around the southeast on our own. I’m working on getting some more music out and I've been in the studio a lot. Life is going well and I'm really focusing on where I want to be in music and life in general. Music is my life and my band is like family. We are hoping for a big year."
Raw Talent That Can't Go Unnoticed
Chase Baker came out swinging with his single "Heart Attack" released on December 1, 2020. Chase ain't looking back as he follows this jam with his most recent single "Forget About You". Personally, music is about artists being able to portray raw emotion and being able to go from top to bottom, verse by verse and feel the genuine feelings being belted out. Not only is it clear Chase put his blood, sweat and tears into "Heart Attack", but it's easily relatable for anyone dealing with heartbreak and losing that person who you were once so close with. Intertwine some wicked guitar riffs, show stopping vocals and a stellar delivery and you whip up one of my favorite songs in the last 5 months. "Heart Attack" is worth the listen.
Inspiration Behind "Heart Attack"
Written By: Chase Baker, Produced By: Andrew Preavett
"Man, to be honest, I do a good chunk of my writing alone. It's definitely great to write with other people and hold each other accountable, but my personal opinion as a songwriter and artist is that I think you should be able to write a good song alone. For me a song really can tell a story of my past experiences and what I'm going through and that's special to me. It's cool to write with other people and I do that as well. Me and Hunter (Chastain) wrote a good bit, but I love writing my music alone because I pour my heart and soul into each song I write and don't get lazy. "Heart Attack" was one of the songs I wrote by myself and the inspiration behind it, well, is a funny story. The one line "I gotta have my brown eyed baby girl back", when I wrote it at first, I was talking with a girl who had green eyes and she wanted me to write a song about her. Originally it was "green eyed baby girl back". I was playing it out and people were loving it, but the more times I sang it, the more I realized that most of my girlfriend's had brown eyes. I guess I loved some of them more. Basically, when you're going through a breakup you want your ex back and really miss that person. I just tried to pour my feelings into this song and really connect not only what I was going through at the time, but what a lot of people go through. I wanted to go with a Luke Combs style and I think the song came out like that. I wanted to use heart attack as a metaphor for breaking up in a relationship, because that's the kind of pain I went through."
Q & A With Chase Baker
Q: Growing up what made you fall in love with music?
A: "Honestly man, growing up my parents were divorced and my grandparents were divorced. I listened to music from all different genres. My dad would always have on 80's Rock and Rap and Hip-Hop, but nothing really Country. I was pretty much raised by my grandpa and we always would sit outside. He had a produce stand where he would be for the whole day. We would sit and listen to Traditional Country all day. Like Alan Jackson and George Strait. When I would see my mom on weekends we would listen to everything. Growing up I got a little bit of all genres so I was pretty diverse in that aspect. I remember my first favorite country song was "She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy" by Kenny Chesney. That was the song that really made me fall in love with Country Music. I gotta say, my step grandad was also a big inspiration for me starting to play guitar. He would always be playing his guitar and singing Hank Williams, that old school stuff. From seeing him play music first hand and all the music I listened to growing up, it all played a part in me falling in love with Country Music."
Q: What's a song you wish you wrote?
A: "Neon Moon by Brooks & Dunn. Man, they really just paint the perfect picture in that song. Going back to what I was saying earlier about being an artist, it's one thing to put a voice to some words, but when you can sing a song that paints a picture that people can relate to, that's special. Like the verse "There's a run down bar across the railroad track, I've got a table for two way in the back", I can envision that in my head clear as day. It was such a huge hit and I love Brooks & Dunn."
Q: So far in your music career, what are some valuable things you've learned?
A: "Oh man, one thing I've learned not to do is drink a lot on stage. It's not a bad thing and I'm not dissing anyone, but personally, when I do I get a little mouthy on the microphone I think that takes away from the show. Another thing I've learned is that it’s a dog eat dog world and you have to put in the time because there are other talented performers out there and they will step right over you if you aren't always at the top of your game. Such a big thing I've learned from getting to perform live is it's so important to find your own style if you are going to perform live. If you aren't going to be yourself and be original, it's hard to be successful in this industry. You will only get you so far. Over the years I've been so grateful for music, everything it entails and getting to put my heart and soul into it."
Q: If you could have your dream concert line-up, who would be on the ticket?
A: "First off, I would want me and my boy Hunter (Chastain) on the line-up because we started out together and it would be fun to get back to that. I would definitely love to see Hank Williams in concert. I really wish I had a chance to see him play when he was alive. Then throw in Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley. You said dead or alive, so I would really want to see some performers who aren't around anymore, to study everything about them and what it takes to get to the top."
If You are just discovering Chase Baker follow him on Apple Music, Spotify, Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok and Twitter