CHASE RICE – Being The Best Man Possible

Mirroring the cover art of that critically acclaimed I Hate Cowboys album, which features an image of his late father holding two Coors Banquets during the late ‘80s in Wyoming, Rice recreated that photo himself for Go Down Singin’ as he continues to honour the man who not only served as his childhood hero, but who also still shapes his music and the person he is today.

Marveling at being a work-in-progress, he considers the 11-song cycle an arrival on the brink of “being the man my father always believed I could be.” Now, after what seems like so many chances, the Florida-born, North Carolina-raised dreamer is making good on what his father told him so many years ago, “Boy, anyone can play guitar, but no one is gonna really listen to you until you start singing.”

And writing. Though he co-wrote ‘Cruise’, arguably one of country’s biggest songs this century, Rice realized he’d only been skimming the surface. A kid when he started, he faced challenges, loss, soul-searching and gained a new appreciation for the art instead of the craft. With Go Down Singin’ Rice emerges as a spirit settling into a more philosophical place, still wildly committed to living wide open in pursuit of his dream and being the best man possible.

In a voice sturdy as a retaining wall, Rice confesses, “I’m 38 now, and that’s part of it. I’ve journaled since I was 15 years old, but there’s something about being able to tell other people. I’m a deep person, but I don’t know to show it in real life, so I’m trying to do it in my music.