Chase Bryant

Rock-influenced country singer and songwriter Chase Bryant was barely old enough to order a beer when he first made an impression on the country charts with his song "Take It On Back." Fusing contemporary country melodies and production with a beat and a swagger that hark back to classic rock, Bryant's debut EP, Chase Bryant, made him an artist to watch, and he enjoyed commercial success with the slick 2017 single "Hell If I Know." After a period of personal turmoil, Bryant returned with a more mature and personal outlook on the 2021 album Upbringing. This phase of personal renewal continued on 2024's introspective Clio.

Born in 1993 and hailing from the small Texas town of Orange Grove, Bryant was a youngster with music in his blood -- his grandfather was Jimmy Bryant, the legendary Nashville session guitarist, and his uncles Jeff Bryant and Junior Bryant were founding members of the country band Ricochet. Chase's passion for music was sparked when he was just three years old by his grandfather's Jerry Lee Lewis records, and in his teens he developed broad tastes in rock & roll (Tom Petty and Bryan Adams), classic country (Bob Wills, Conway Twitty, Merle Haggard), and mainstream country (Vince Gill and Keith Urban), and wrote his first song when he was 11 (in classic country fashion, it was about a girl who broke his heart). With little access to recording studios in Orange Grove, Texas, Bryant assembled a home studio in an empty closet, and after completing high school he headed to Nashville, hoping to find a market for his material. Jimmy Bryant had worked extensively with Roy Orbison, and the connection helped Chase land a publishing contract with Barbara Orbison, Roy's widow and a Music City publishing mogul. A record deal soon followed with Red Bow Records, and the label's A&R staff were so impressed with Chase's demos that they agreed to let him co-produce his own material. In the summer of 2014, Bryant released his debut single, "Take It On Back," which went Top 40 on the country singles charts and rose to 27 on the country airplay listings.

The song would later appear on a five-song EP, 2014's Chase Bryant, that included two other country hits, "Little Bit of You" and "Change Your Name." The 2017 single "Hell If I Know" was a more polished and commercial effort, with dance-friendly beats, and it would also fare well on radio and streaming services. A period of severe depression put Bryant's career in a tailspin, and in 2018 he attempted to commit suicide, though he was saved when his shotgun failed to fire. After re-evaluating his life and career, Bryant chose to return to music on his own terms, and he made his comeback with the 2021 album Upbringing. In addition to re-igniting his career, making new music helped unburden Bryant's conscience and over the next few years he became an advocate for mental health awareness. He continued recording, releasing a handful of EPs in the lead-up to his self-produced 2024 album Clio. The philosophical and introspective set was named after the Greek god of history and examined the singer's own personal journey. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi