Artist Spotlight: Chase Rice

Chase Rice hasn’t exactly had a boring life, to say the least. He’s gone from playing college football, pro bound, to a NASCAR pit crew, to a season of Survivor, to co-writing one of the BIGGEST country songs in history and finally to focusing on himself as an artist all in an extremely short amount of time. Go big or go home? Guess so! Some people can’t even dream of having accomplished one adventure, let alone five!

The EP Chase has out right now is called Ready, Set, Roll and he actually co-wrote every song on it. I downloaded it when it was first released and had it on repeat for at least a week if not longer. The thing about Chase that’s so interesting is that he has a very unique sound, not only in his voice, but in his writings. I asked him how he seems to manage that and he told me that it’s because he doesn’t listen to what others are putting out there. He doesn’t want to fall out of being himself by accidentally mimicking what somebody else is doing.

Chase attended the University of North Carolina playing college football, with going pro clear in the cards. Unfortunately, he tore a tendon, so that dream quickly faded. I personally don’t know that I’d call it an unfortunate thing though. Chase went from one extreme to another. So he can’t play pro, oh well! Instead, he just jumped in the pit crew at Hendrick Motor Sports and won a couple championships with Jimmy Johnson. No big deal! As if NASCAR wasn’t big enough, Chase decided to try out for Survivor: Nicaragua. Ever tried to Google Chase Rice Survivor? Go ahead, click the link ;) Chase was actually the runner up on that season. Bet you forgot about that, didn’t you? I did! We didn’t do it on purpose, Chase has just tried his best to cover that up, and clearly he’s done a pretty good job. He doesn’t want people judging him based on past experiences. He wants people looking forward to what he can do in the future.

After Survivor, Chase decided to visit his good friend from childhood who we happen to know pretty well. His name is Brian Kelley, and he’s half of what we know as Florida Georgia Line. BK actually had an extra room in his house, so Chase moved in. It’s kinda weird how things work out! That was a huge turning point in his life. Not long after Chase moved in, they wrote the song that helped to change country music forever. Cruise made history as being the most downloaded song in country music, and Chase credits that as his biggest musical accomplishment up to this point.

Since football was always the goal for Chase, I asked him how music came about. Chase would mess around with the guitar in high school, but he didn’t actually learn how to play until his sophomore year of college. Chase lost his father due to an illness during his senior year of college, and found that the best way to deal with what he was feeling was through music. His father was one of the biggest support systems Chase has ever had. Chances are Chase has surpassed any dream his dad ever held for him, including finishing college with a double degree in both Management and Communications.

One of my favorite parts about Artist Spotlights are digging deeper into who that person really is. For instance, I learned that Chase would rather drive than fly, hunts everything and loves dogs without a doubt. I asked him what the weirdest thing a fan has ever done was, and his response was preeeetty funny. You’ll have to listen to the audio below to find out exactly what happened, but basically, it involved alcohol, Charleston, SC, and getting naked! Peaked your interest, huh? That was the goal! ;)

Chase learned quickly how powerful social media could be. I asked him what he normally gets from fans and he said Double Stuffed Oreos and Fireball Shots. Hopefully he’s not chasing the cookie with the shot, but ya never know! Even though he sings about Fireball Whiskey, if he is out at a bar, Jack and Coke is what he’ll be drinking! That bar scene is what Chase started out playing. He loves playing there because it’s easier to connect with his fans, but he’s really excited to start playing the amphitheaters.

Chase is everywhere, so you can stay connected with him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and you can always keep an eye on his schedule at chaserice.com. Below, I’ve got the music video for his current single Ready, Set, Roll so be sure to check it out! If you want to hear everything Chase had to say in my interview, you’ll also find that audio below :)