Chase Rice – Giving His Very Best

“I’ve always written songs like these but was never inspired enough to put them out,” he shared with the Tennessean. “Now I’m at a place where records I wasn’t inspired to let see the light of day define my career. Come hell or high water, this is the kind of music that I now make. For the first time in my career, people are buying into me more than drinking beers and enjoying the vibes I’m singing about.”

“Maturity and clarity are the reality on Chase Rice’s new album, Go Down Singin’,” declares Cowboys & Indians of the honest and vulnerable project, continuing, “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.”

“Stripping back to raw, acoustic elements, the album presents an authentic and deeply personal exploration of Rice’s life, career, and the emotional experiences that come with it,” adds Entertainment Focus. “Blending folk, country, and rock influences, Rice crafts songs that are both musically diverse and lyrically profound… From soulful acoustic ballads to anthemic rockers, each track tells a story, offering listeners a raw and heartfelt glimpse into Rice’s world. With its blend of introspection, nostalgia, and storytelling, this album solidifies Chase Rice’s growing reputation as a nuanced and mature voice in country music.”

As made evident by that introspective approach taken with the new music, Rice recognizes that life has to happen before you can really understand it. Playing football, getting hurt; NASCAR pit crews, moving on. Being swept up in a dream, hit singles, massive tours, stalling momentum. Growing up a good kid, but never quite becoming a man – and then suddenly the man you look up to the most is gone. 

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.” He also knows that in the end, the things that matter about what you love have little to do with fame or money. Like every great athlete, it’s about the heart: how hard it beats, how deep it reaches into whatever it is. 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. With Go Down Singin’ Rice emerges as a spirit settling into a more philosophical place yet still wildly committed to living wide open in pursuit of his dream and being the best man possible. Whether measuring the pitfalls and triumphs on the lean fiddle’n’harmony assessment of “Oh Tennessee,” the cascading acoustic guitar passage of simple wisdom from father to son in “Numbers,” or the smoky looking back at first loves in “Little Red Race Car,” there’s a knowing appreciation for how he got here.

In a voice sturdy as a retaining wall, Rice confesses, “I’m 39 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.