The Album changed the game for Chase Rice in 2020. The project showed an utterly different side of the star who had earned a reputation for being one of the bad boys in country, as a more emotional and powerfully vulnerable side that struck deep. Now, Rice has taken this new voice a step further into uncharted territory for the star, with the release of his new album – I Hate Cowboys & All Dogs Go To Hell – out this Friday. It’s a record that is outstanding from start to finish, and feels more personal at every turn, even to the extent that a few of the songs are solo writes, and he co-wrote all the rest – although there is still plenty of room left aside to throw back a cold one to.

On the record, Rice dives into newer, more personal themes – from the recent loss of his father to personal growth and mental health – and he approaches them with care, yet this is not to say that the mood of the record is despondent. There is still all of Rice’s trademark party songs, but even here, there’s a lot more attention paid to the production of the album, with blistering guitar solos and outros that make the project feel ever more rounded.

The record kicks off with opening track, ‘Walk That Easy,’ a gorgeous restrained track about the impossibility of walking away from love. ‘Kids grow up and dogs get old / Paint turns to rust and trucks get sold / But love don’t walk that easy.’ It’s a thrumming, guitar-driven and breezy track that is a seamless addition to Rice’s catalogue – doubtless it will prove an easy hit in its live rendition.

Indeed, there is a lot to enjoy here that will be great additions to his live set – with big, bombastic rock-edged tracks. Later track ‘Bad Day to Be A Cold Beer’ proves just that, here Rice shows his growth as an artist, in comparison to the days of ‘Ready Set Roll,’ even the pithy lyrics here are more clever and thought through – nothing throwaway. The track feels like a joyful celebration that is intoxicating in its draw but feels like a fully-fledged artist, in command with his sound, complete with a fully rounded production, with an easy sing-back refrain. Not to be outdone, ‘Sorry Momma’ is a straight-up honky tonk track about his apologies to his momma for the way he has lived his life. ‘Wasn’t supposed to drink / Wasn’t supposed to shut down bars and break good hearts / Wasn’t supposed to sing these songs I sing… So, I’m sorry momma for the hell you raised.‘ It’s a track born to be sung along too in a honkytonk bar – and the production and instrumentation does just that, with backing murmurings, a bar piano and a raucous chorus. It’s as intoxicating as the beers he sings about. It’s a track born to be shouted back to Rice in a stadium setting. Finally, of the bigger tracks ‘Way Down Yonder’ supplies the jauntiest, rock-fuelled edge – complete with a touch of bluegrass and funky edge that is perfection. ‘Way down yonder, where the outlaws wander / You can feel that thunder in your bones / Rippin’ high pride runners under moonlight cover / There’s some backglass gunners on the road.’ Still, as with some of his quieter tracks, there’s an earthiness to the track that gives you the feeling that this would be the perfect song to be sung round a campfire – an idea followed through on later track ‘Goodnight Nancy.’

Of course, alongside the drinking songs there’s a lot of heartbreak, but the heartbreak feels more mature and the themes more flushed out than in his previous projects. So, the second track ‘All Dogs Go to Hell’ is a clever track, following the line of Dolly Parton’s ‘The Grass is Blue,’ where Rice shows how impossible it is to lie that he doesn’t miss an old flame. It’s an important marker of the transitions in his music that his references in the track look back to the greats of country music and his own blue-collar roots. ‘Johnny Cash ain’t cool, and George Strait ain’t king / Boots ain’t made for cowboys and Chevy don’t make trucks / Fall ain’t made for football.. Sippin’ a cold beer don’t help and I don’t miss you baby / And all dogs go to hell.’ Even his little laugh to himself in the last third of the track, feels like we’re finally peeking behind a curtain to the true Chase Rice and it is immensely charming. The second part of the album title comes on, ‘I Hate Cowboys,’ on which Rice narrates losing a great love to a cowboy. ‘Man, they think that they’re John Wayne walking through the door… They ask her to dance while you’re at the bar / Starts talking bout them Texas stars / Next thing you know you’v’e got a broken heart.‘ It’s a beautifully mellow and restrained song to round out this behemoth of a record, and is another witty yet emotionally sound take on heartbreak.

This is not to say though that Rice is always the subject of heartbreak – he still has a few hearts left to break. So, on ‘If I Were Rock & Roll,’ Rice sings about how if he were a different man, he wouldn’t have left a lover. ‘If I were rock & roll / I’d be a middle finger in your face… If I weren’t a fool, I’d still be with you.’ It’s a swirling, thrumming track, with a memorable chorus that shows he’s still capable of being a casanova, but now with plenty of regrets in his back pocket.

Rice’s development as an artist and man is clear throughout – he continually seems to return to the idea of finding himself in his own journey. Even on the summery road trip track ‘Key West and Colorado’ he sings about running away to find yourself and find love at the same time, finding himself in his roots. ‘Somewhere between Key West and Colorado / I found God in a gold Silverado / Had to get a little lost to get a little found / Learned you can’t find love if you can’t slow down.’ His personal journey comes to its climax in the incredibly restrained emotional and lyrical song ‘I Walk Alone.’ This plucky little track shows how less can be more. It’s a beautiful acoustic, swirling track about Rice’s own personal journey. It’s brave in its very simplicity and extraordinary to see what Rice does vocally with that simplicity to the refrain of ‘I walk alone.’ Of course, most obviously, these life lessons are laid out on ‘Life Part of Livin.’ In this solo write, Rice details all his life lessons, from the grief of losing a parent (‘I’ve learnt that losing Dad can make you pretty tough’) to not being afraid to show emotion (‘When the tears build up, just let ’em fly’), and above it all that love is where you find the ‘life part of livin.’ It’s another track that takes all the country tropes and stereotypes yet under Rice’s masterful songwriting, is turned into something elegant and universal.

Two tracks though stand out in demonstrating his progress as an artist. ‘Bench Seat’ is the lynchpin of the record – a powerful statement of intent for Rice as an artist. ‘First light arrives, the best view in Tennessee / And then I’ll say I saved your life / Oh, but I know that’s a lie between / You, me and a bench seat / You saved mine.’ It’s raw emotion a its finest, an intimate story about the power of pets to change our lives – based on the story of a man saved in his battles with addiction and his own mental health, by adopting a dog. It’s safe to say, if you ever need a cry – give the music video a watch. It’s a showcase in masterful country songwriting that imbibes all of the tropes, but is unique and poignant. Finally, ‘Oklahoma’ is another easy highlight on the record. ‘Ain’t coming’ home, probably should have told ya / But I just can’t leave Oklahoma.’ The double whammy of the Read Southall Band feature and the experimentations with production, with bluegrass layered notes, a searing guitar solo and even some acapella moments, lift this track to something truly extraordinary – not to be passed by (given its length at 8 minutes, we hope country radio doesn’t sideline this one and it gets the attention it deserves).

Without doubt, I Hate Cowboys and All Dogs Go to Hell is Chase Rice’s magnus opus and his statement of exactly where he wants his artistry to land. It’s both intimate and vulnerable, but brash and bombastic – built for the live circuit. It’s clear that Rice handled all the changes of his life, including his loss with an immense amount of care and love – down to the selection of the album cover – and that effort is clear in the finished project. The album demonstrates his immense power as a songwriter and lays a line in the sand between his previous bad boy image and this new project. No skips here – we’re sold.

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You’d be forgiven that an idea for a song about a guy and his dog driving around together, would fulfil every country cliche – Chase Rice did when his buddy approached him with the idea. Once he sat down with his acoustic guitar to craft what would become one of three solo writes on the forthcoming project, the result was anything but. ‘Bench Seat‘, available everywhere now, is a moving, tender and poignant tribute to that friend – and the dog that saved his life. It’s Rice at his most vulnerable and continues to show the breadth of Rice as an artist.

“My buddy was in a really dark place – to the point where he was ready to end his own life. It took a lot for him to take me back to that moment, but when he told me what stopped him it stopped me in my tracks: his dog came and laid his head on his lap, and that connection saved him,” Rice explains. “I wrote this song by myself with the point of view from the dog’s perspective – which might not be obvious right away – and what that moment might have meant for the two of them if not for that intervention.”

Building upon the emotional backstory of the song, the official music video directed by Kaiser Cunningham offers a seven-plus-minute short film spotlighting the mental health struggle that affects countless people and is one of the most moving music videos we have watched. The video’s intention is to encourage viewers to feel comfortable talking about the topic and seeking the assistance they need, with its conclusion pointing to available resources via wannatalkaboutit.com.

“For the first time in my career, I could envision the whole video as I was writing the song,” notes Rice. “I wanted to shine a light on the topic of mental health because this is something that makes way too many people feel alone and especially when addiction becomes part of the picture, one bad moment can have horrible consequences. I personally know how hard it can be to ask for help when you need it, but I hope this helps start a few more conversations and lets people know they really aren’t alone.

“When my friend was in that moment, it was impossible to see anything but the heaviness. He was able to get the help he needed, though, and now he’s living a beautiful life and starting a family. That’s what this video is really about – showing you the potential for a happy end to the story if you are able to find a way to get help through the dark times.”

The powerful song is one of 13 tracks on Rice’s forthcoming album, I Hate Cowboys & All Dogs Go To Hell, set for release Feb. 10 and showcasing a more raw, vulnerable side of Rice. Recorded during an immersive two-week period at Rice’s farm outside Nashville with producer Oscar Charles and a live band using a makeshift recording setup, the album ranges from admiration of a Western way of life in recent releases ‘I Hate Cowboys‘ and ‘Way Down Yonder‘ to emotional reckoning in ‘Key West & Colorado‘ and today’s ‘Bench Seat’.

I Hate Cowboys & All Dogs Go To Hell Track List:

1. Walk That Easy (Chase Rice, William Reames, Barton Davies, Jonathan Sherwood, Oscar Charles)

2.  All Dogs Go To Hell (Chase Rice, Joshua Miller, John Byron)

3. Way Down Yonder (Chase Rice, Hunter Phelps, John Byron, Blake Pendergrass, Corey Crowder)

4. Key West & Colorado (Chase Rice, Brian Kelley, Corey Crowder, Blake Pendergrass, John Byron, Hunter Phelps)

5. Bench Seat (Chase Rice)

6. Life Part Of Livin’ (Chase Rice)

7. Bad Day To Be A Cold Beer (Chase Rice, Blake Pendergrass, John Byron, Justin Thomas)

8. Oklahoma feat. Read Southall Band (Chase Rice, William Reames, Barton Davies, Jonathan Sherwood, Oscar Charles, Read Southall)

9. I Walk Alone (Chase Rice, Jaxson Free, Josh Hoge)

10. Sorry Momma (Chase Rice, Hunter Phelps, Ben Johnson)

11. If I Were Rock & Roll (Album Version) (Chase Rice)

12. Goodnight Nancy feat. Boy Named Banjo (Chase Rice, Oscar Charles, Barton Davies, William Reames, Jonathan Sherwood)

13. I Hate Cowboys (Chase Rice, Michael Hardy, Ross Copperman, Brad Tursi)

(Produced by Oscar Charles)

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Chase Rice has released the full version of his audience favourite track ‘Key West & Colorado‘ – available everywhere now. The track received a worldwide first play on The Country Show with Bob Harris on BBC Radio 2 last night (28 July), with Harris calling it a “wonderful new track” – followed by release day spins on Absolute Radio Country and Downtown Country. 

“When we wrote ‘Key West & Colorado’ in Grayton Beach we weren’t necessarily planning on writing a song that day,” recalls Rice of the song’s origin. “We went out on Brian Kelley’s boat that day – it was me, him, John Byron, Blake Pendergrass, Corey Crowder and Hunter Phelps – and he told me that I’d actually posted about a trip I did from Key West to Colorado and he thought it’d be a cool title. Within less than a minute I twisted it to what the song turned into.”

The impromptu songwriting session was emblematic of Rice’s recent bout of creativity away from the traditional confines of Music Row, with the bulk of his forthcoming album written on trips with friends or alone with an acoustic guitar at his Tennessee farm. The shift in setting suited the man Billboard celebrates as “having storytelling details tumble from his lips, his portraits created quickly and efficiently,” with CMT noting, “The vocalist worked day in and day out to find the courage to knock down the wall he had kept up his entire career. Once he demolished the barricade holding him back, he left his heart and soul on the writing table.”

“The aspects of songwriting he’d always been naturally good at, he began to hone in on with more skill and attention,” adds Country Now. “Earlier songs like ‘Jack Daniels & Jesus’ and ‘Carolina Can’ proved Rice’s innate love of imagery-rich, potent songwriting, for example, but this time around, he dug his heels deeper than ever into that vivid storytelling style.”

With today’s release as a preview of the full-length project to come, Rice shares what he describes as “a story about a man trying to figure his life out – trying to figure out his past, trying to figure out his satiation with the breakup that he had or the woman that was in his life that he lost – and the trip that he took to help him along that journey.”

Somewhere between Key West & Colorado

I found God in a gold Silverado

Had to get a little lost to get a little found

Learned you can’t find love if you can’t slow down

Somewhere between that sand and the snow

Salt in the air and salt on the road

Finally let myself let her go

Somewhere between Key West & Colorado

Not long after the spontaneous writing session that spawned ‘Key West & Colorado,’ the song quickly found its way into Rice’s live sets as a fan-favourite acoustic moment, particularly throughout the Blessed and Free Tour with Kane Brown earlier this year. Immediately after wrapping that run of shows, the man praised by American Songwriter as “one of country music’s most intriguing and lasting acts” hunkered down in his living room with producer Oscar Charles and Jordan Rigby to set up a makeshift recording environment, intent on capturing a new, raw sound unlike any of his previous studio projects.

“It felt really good to dive into recording with ‘Key West & Colorado’ translating right away from on stage to the studio,” explains Rice, “and it’s the perfect bridge from where I was to where this album’s going. We spent two weeks recording with no click track, a live band, no fake instrumentation at all – really getting in there and grinding and making it right. It’s been the craziest, coolest thing I’ve ever done since I’ve worked in music and I’m excited for people to hear it.”

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Following the digital release of the multi-part project, The Album, multi-Platinum entertainer Chase Rice is bringing a physical version to fans in the UK. The Albumwill be available to order on CD from Friday, 1st October 2021. Fans can pre-order here.

Rice first surprised fans with The Album Part I in January 2020 while touring the UK/Europe, releasing seven songs (including US Top 10 hit “Lonely If You Are”), and The Album Part II brought four additional songs, part of Rice’s desire to give fans new music more frequently. The full project includes all 11 previously released songs in addition to this month’s multi-week US #1 single “Drinkin’ Beer. Talkin’ God. Amen.” (featuring Florida Georgia Line) and three brand new songs.

“It’s crazy to look back now and see the journey this album has taken us on throughout writing and recording it,” notes Rice. “We shared so many of these songs with the fans as they were being written and got their input along the way – so it’s their journey that lives in these, too. I think this new music will always mean a bit more to me since it has carried us all through some strange and uncertain times.”

With a wide range of themes and musical influences throughout the project, Billboard praises Rice’s “deftness at melding a number of styles, while always staying firmly within country confines,” remarking that “Rice has a way of having storytelling details tumble from his lips, his portraits created quickly and efficiently.”

From Part I opener “American Nights,” planting a flag in eclectic new territory while celebrating a nation of diversity, to standout tracks “Messy” and “Forever To Go” as well as the uplifting “Belong,” a timely message which Rice added to Part II in direct response to the uncertainty caused by the worldwide pandemic, the Tennessean commends the project’s breadth of “stories from uncontrollable longing to time-tested love.”

“The Nights,” sees Rice acknowledge the difficulty of moving on, toggling between singing and speaking to emphasise his most vulnerable moments; “Bedroom,” a sultry midtempo ode to romance; and “If I Didn’t Have You,” a reflective track that recognises the way our loved ones push us to be the best versions of ourselves.

Following a run of headline shows, festival appearances and intimate Bud Light Seltzer Sessions this summer, Chase Rice joins Kane Brown on the NBA arena Blessed & Free Tour early next year. For a full list of dates, click HhereERE.

Official Site | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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Following the release of The Album, Chase Rice has stripped back all 15 songs on the record for a reimagined version of The Album (Acoustic), available now.

The journey of The Album first began in early 2020, when Rice surprised fans with a diverse collection of music, mixing heartland six strings and keys with EDM-laced drama. As the year progressed and Rice returned to his roots with an acoustic guitar while spending time off the road, he was inspired to reimagine the project in a whole new way.

“As we all slowed down this year, I found myself gravitating back to how it all began for me – writing songs with just myself and a guitar,” notes Rice. “I started sharing videos of me playing some of the new music that way and fans really loved it, so that inspired me to go back to each song and create these acoustic versions, which give The Album a whole new perspective.”

Included among the 15 tracks is Rice’s current single “Drinkin’ Beer. Talkin’ God. Amen. (feat. Florida Georgia Line).” Rice, joined by FGL’s Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley, recently sat down with Ashley Eicher to discuss the magic of the song as well as their storied musical history together, including as co-writers of FGL’s Diamond-certified and then-record 24-week No. 1 smash hit, “Cruise.”

“We haven’t done music together in 10 years,” notes Rice when describing the decision to collaborate again on the new track, “and all of a sudden it all comes back around for guys who literally lived in a house together and were just trying to figure it out for themselves.”

“We called it the ‘fun house,’ just to sum it up in two words. We had a whole lot of fun, we played a lot of music, we drank a lot of beer and talked a lot of God,” laughs Hubbard. “Honestly, that’s sort of why this song resonates so much for all of us. We were all kind of finding ourselves as adults, but we were also really grounded in who we were, in our faith, in our passions, in what we were pursuing, in what we loved — so it was fun just doing it all together when we were green as could be and had nothing to lose.”

“It was a nonstop creative house,” adds Kelley. “There were so many days when we wrote so many songs, and then we’d get ready to go out and we’d be making up more songs and keeping the whole creative flow going. That’s hard to replicate… We try to somewhat re-create it when we’re writing songs and hanging out, but in those early days we couldn’t get away from songwriting and I still feel like that’s in us.”

The Album / The Album (Acoustic) Track List:

(Produced by Chris DeStefano & Chase Rice unless otherwise noted)

1.   American Nights (Kevin Griffin, Martin Johnson, Francois Tetaz; produced by Martin Johnson)

2.   Lonely If You Are (Chase Rice, Lindsay Rimes, Hunter Phelps)

3.   Everywhere (Chase Rice, Zachary Kale, James McNair; produced by Zachary Kale)

4.   Best Night Ever (Chase Rice, Chris DeStefano, Matt Jenkins)

5.   Messy (Seth Ennis, Kylie Sackley)

6.   In The Car (Chase Rice, Jesse Rice, Hunter Phelps, Mark Holman)

7.   Forever To Go (Jordan Minton, Casey Brown, Geoffrey Warburton; produced by Casey Brown)

8.   You (Chase Rice, Jon Nite, Zach Kale)

9.   Break. Up. Drunk. (Chase Rice, Hunter Phelps, Jordan Schmidt)

10. Down Home Runs Deep (Daniel Ross, Michael Hardy, Mike Walker, James McNair)

11. Belong (Chase Rice, Chris DeStefano, Jon Nite)

12. The Nights (Chase Rice, Zach Kale, James McNair; produced by Zach Kale)

13. Bedroom (Chase Rice, Jon Nite, Jimmy Robbins; produced by Corey Crowder)

14. If I Didn’t Have You (Chase Rice, Channing Wilson, Jonathan Singleton; produced by Jimmy Robbins & Jonathan Singleton)

15. Drinkin’ Beer. Talkin’ God. Amen. (feat. Florida Georgia Line) (Chase Rice, Hunter Phelps, Cale Dodds, Corey Crowder; produced by Chase Rice, Florida Georgia Line & Corey Crowder)

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Chase Rice first entered the country scene back in 2013 with his EP ‘Ready Set Roll,’ staking his claim in Nashville with his mammoth co-write ‘Cruise’ recorded by Florida Georgia Line. He’s since made his name in the industry for a raucous, fun and party-filled live set. Last year though, he took us completely off guard with the release of The Album Part I and Part II. On the projects, Rice demonstrated his maturity as an artist, diving into a more tenderly introspective sound that showed his vulnerability and revealing more layers to Rice as an artist and songwriter. Though there are still big party songs (American Nights), there are far more quiet and tender moments that reflect on the journey he has undergone (Down Home Runs Deep)  – quite simply, his vocal and artistry has never been better.

Bringing the two halves of the project together and adding three new tracks, along with a collaboration with Florida Georgia Line posits Rice as an artist capable of more than just huge and fun party songs. Highlights of the record include the tender ‘Messy’ and the nostalgic ‘Down Home Runs Deep.’ For this release, Rice first adds ‘The Nights’ to the mix that is a more mellow, traditional country hued ballad, where Rice opines on the difficulty of getting through the hardest time – the nights – in the process of moving on. As always, Rice seamlessly infuses his raw vocal with stripped back spoken moments that demonstrate the full depth of his emotion in a very real way. ‘The Nights’ is flawlessly followed up by ‘Bedroom’ that is a swaggering and sultry track about not being able to resist a lover – it’s an intoxicating track, as Rice sings ‘that bedroom don’t stand a chance.’ The highlight of the three unreleased tracks though is without a doubt ‘If I Didn’t Have You’ – a swirling soundscape of production accompanies Rice’s vocal as he celebrates his love, and it’s the best we’ve yet heard Rice’s vocal. The final track on the record brings Rice back to where he started sonically in a mammoth collaboration with Florida Georgia Line – ‘Drinkin Beer Talkin God Amen’ – a bombastic and heady track that will be a huge part of Rice’s new live set.

Rice has firmly pushed the limits of his artistry on this record with aplomb. It’s a phenomenal body of work that will surprise many listeners with its sonic depth and complexity.

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Multi-Platinum entertainer and UK favourite Chase Rice has revealed to fans that the final chapter of his multi-part project, The Album, is set for release on May 28th 2021.

Rice first surprised fans with The Album Part I in January 2020 while touring the UK/Europe, releasing seven songs (including Top 10 hit “Lonely If You Are”) with the promise of more to follow shortly thereafter. The Album Part II brought four additional songs, part of Rice’s desire to give fans new music more frequently than traditional album cycles allow. Available on all digital and streaming platforms on May 28th, the full project will include all 11 previously released songs in addition to “Drinkin’ Beer. Talkin’ God. Amen.” (featuring Florida Georgia Line) and three brand new songs.

“It’s crazy to look back now and see the journey this album has taken us on throughout writing and recording it,” notes Rice. “We shared so many of these songs with the fans as they were being written and got their input along the way – so it’s their journey that lives in these, too. I think this new music will always mean a bit more to me since it has carried us all through some strange and uncertain times.”

With a wide range of themes and musical influences throughout the project, Billboard praises Rice’s “deftness at melding a number of styles, while always staying firmly within country confines,” remarking that “Rice has a way of having storytelling details tumble from his lips, his portraits created quickly and efficiently.”

From Part I opener “American Nights,” planting a flag in eclectic new territory while celebrating a nation of diversity, to standout tracks “Messy” and “Forever To Go” as well as the uplifting “Belong,” a timely message which Rice added to Part II in direct response to the uncertainty caused by the worldwide pandemic, the Tennessean commends the project’s breadth of “stories from uncontrollable longing to time-tested love.”

Brand new on The Album is “The Nights,” which sees Rice acknowledge the difficulty of moving on, toggling between singing and speaking to emphasise his most vulnerable moments; “Bedroom,” a sultry midtempo ode to romance; and “If I Didn’t Have You,” a reflective track that recognises the way our loved ones push us to be the best versions of ourselves.

Fans will have the chance to hear the new music live as Rice joins Kane Brown on the NBA arena Blessed & Free Tour at the top of 2022. For a full list of dates and to purchase tickets, click HERE.

For more information on new music and upcoming shows, visit www.ChaseRice.com and follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

The Album Track List:
Produced by Chris DeStefano & Chase Rice unless otherwise noted

1.   American Nights (Kevin Griffin, Martin Johnson, Francois Tetaz; produced by Martin Johnson)
2.   Lonely If You Are (Chase Rice, Lindsay Rimes, Hunter Phelps)
3.   Everywhere (Chase Rice, Zachary Kale, James McNair; produced by Zachary Kale)
4.   Best Night Ever (Chase Rice, Chris DeStefano, Matt Jenkins)
5.   Messy (Seth Ennis, Kylie Sackley)
6.   In The Car (Chase Rice, Jesse Rice, Hunter Phelps, Mark Holman)
7.   Forever To Go (Jordan Minton, Casey Brown, Geoffrey Warburton; produced by Casey Brown)
8.   You (Chase Rice, Jon Nite, Zach Kale)
9.   Break. Up. Drunk. (Chase Rice, Hunter Phelps, Jordan Schmidt)
10. Down Home Runs Deep (Daniel Ross, Michael Hardy, Mike Walker, James McNair)
11. Belong (Chase Rice, Chris DeStefano, Jon Nite)
12. The Nights (Chase Rice, Zach Kale, James McNair; produced by Zach Kale)
13. Bedroom (Chase Rice, Jon Nite, Jimmy Robbins; produced by Corey Crowder)
14. If I Didn’t Have You (Chase Rice, Channing Wilson, Jonathan Singleton; produced by Jimmy Robbins & Jonathan Singleton)
15. Drinkin’ Beer. Talkin’ God. Amen. featuring Florida Georgia Line (Chase Rice, Hunter Phelps, Cale Dodds, Corey Crowder; produced by Chase Rice, Florida Georgia Line & Corey Crowder)

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It was only a few months ago that fans and critics were delighted by Chase Rice’s The Album Part I, now Rice is back with the second instalment of the record and it’s yet more epic than the last.

The modest opening piano melody homes in on a flashback to a simpler time on ‘You’. The backing track here is stunning, capturing a raw intimate sound on the piano that sounds like you are listening to the track from inside the piano itself. The feathery, fragile vocals are panned in a way that immerse listeners into the story and the reinvented pop and blues ballad is covered in splashes of vibrant and acrobatic percussion. Rice’s lyricism is taken up a notch, where he paints the story of the song in bright multitudes, in correlation with the well balanced relationship of synths and natural instruments that support the curveball love story sung between Rice and his female duet partner.

Rice revisits a more traditional country sound during the opening of his next track entitled ‘Break. Up. Drunk’. As he sings ‘Let’s split a fare for Tennessee and drink until it’s dry/ make love to the radio and kiss it all goodbye’, the rhythm of the song is tighter than a railway track – the energy of the track moving full speed ahead. Rice’s vocals cut through the track’s layers of instrumentation – fusing together a folkier sound (full of banjos and double time twanging) with components of a gleeful summer smash.

On ‘Down Home Runs,’ the Northern California artist raises a proud flag for his hometown. While lyrically the song rekindles the fond memories of his small town, sonically Rice carves a new path aside from his fellow Northern California singers – Charlie Daniels, Randy Travis, or evening fellow Asheville native Luke Combs. Instead, the track has a more explosive quality than a bluegrass touch, which drives the emotion of the song to the edge.

‘Belong’ is probably one of the most sentimental tracks of Rice’s career. Known for having bro-country stitched in the neck of each of his albums, Rice closes the album with a song that shows that he is able to stray from the party scene to tell stories of ‘An entire generation raised in a phone/ But hey this thing takes notes and those notes make me able to remember melodies that put food on the table.’ Out of all of the four new tracks on the album it is the most humble instrumentally, which in turn makes Rice’s voice stand out from the mix.

Part II of The Album enables Rice to continue to develop his songwriting, delving into deeper songwriting and more creative production. They retain their ‘Chase Rice’ hallmarks that make for a huge live performance, but imbibe them with a newly sentimental streak that lays out a new path for Rice.

Follow Chase on Instagram / Twitter / Facebook

Standout Tracks: Belong / Break. Up. Drunk.

The post Chase Rice’s The Album Part 2 Takes Us Off Guard Again appeared first on off the record.

1.Tanya Tucker Wins Big at the 2020 Grammys

Fantasy Records artist Tanya Tucker took home two GRAMMY Awards for her album While I’m Livin’. Tanya earned the first GRAMMYs of her career in the categories of Best Country Album and Best Country Song (“Bring My Flowers Now”), along with her co-writers Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth and Tim Hanseroth. Tucker and Carlile offered a stirring performance of “Bring My Flowers Now” during the telecast. Watch here: Tanya’s YouTube Channel or download it.

“After 14 nominations, this is the first win and I can’t believe it,” she said during her acceptance speech. “No matter how young or old you are, never stop following your dreams. Keep going.”

The original female country outlaw, Tanya Tucker will make a much-anticipated visit to the UK in March to perform on the main stage at C2C (Country To Country) Festival 2020. 

2. Eric Paslay announces that he is to join The Shires on their UK tour

UK favourite Eric Paslay is set to join The Shires on their UK tour later this year, including a date at the Palladium.

Get tickets here.

3. Morgan Wallen is set for his first ever headline European tour with special guest Hardy

4. Florida Georgia Line have parted ways from their long-time managers

Florida Georgia Line announced on Friday that they were amicably parting ways with their management, Big Loud, after nine years.

5. Chris Stapleton Announces All-American Roadshow

Chris Stapleton’s ‘All American Road Show’ will return this summer with an epic line-up of guests, including The Highwomen and Jason Isbell.

6. Lauren Alaina announces new EP ‘Getting Good’ will be released on March 6th

7. Chase Rice gets involved in Bachelor drama and feels screwed over by production

Chase Rice featured last week on The Bachelor as a music guest on a date, yet the date took a turn for the awkward when the girl on the date turned out to be Chase’s ‘ex.’ 

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Release Reviews in 10 Words

Carly Pearce, ‘You Kissed Me First’: Every release so far from CP2 is stellar, including this.

Rob Mayes, ‘Building Us’: Mayes best track to date, reinvented modern country.

William Michael Morgan, ‘Whiskey Kinda Night’: Renowned rich vocals on a gorgeously tender and emotional ballad

Brandy Clark, ‘I’ll Be The Sad Song’: Bringing country music back to its heartbreaking origins.

The post Your News Round-Up – 27th January – 3rd February 2020 appeared first on off the record.

Chase Rice has been a perennially popular force in the UK, having dedicated himself to his UK fanbase on a regular basis – his last visit at C2C 2019, less than a year ago. I, for one, was not completely overawed by this performance. However, at Shepherd’s Bush Empire on Saturday night, my view of Rice was transformed. Buoyed up by the strength of Kozak’s performance in the opening slot, the audience greeted Rice’s standard ‘Lions’ intro with a frenzy of excitement. He is the kind of performer built for a Saturday night performance, breathing energy into the crowd with his first track and encouraging them to be similarly rowdy. He gave a performance that felt relatably humble, connecting with his audience and asking them to give as much to him as he was to them – and boy did he give a lot.

The audience seemed particularly clued in for ‘Jack Daniel’s Showed Up,’ lifting their glasses to toast their serenader, and it was clear that Rice was having just as much fun with his audience as they were with him. Frontloading the set with big tracks like this did the trick of amping up the energy that carried Rice through to the end of the set. Arguably, at points, Rice’s vocal was not as strong as Kozak’s in her support slot, however, this is not why you go to a Rice concert. He is a born performer and made to be on a stage, exhuming energy in every lyric, and the combination of Kozak and Rice on stage for ‘Unforgettable,’ was hugely powerful. Hopefully, that performance showed Kozak just how enraptured the UK audience can be, and why she should keep coming back.

You often forget just how many big hits Rice has, including ‘Eyes on You’ and ‘Three Chords & The Truth’ that were two raucous numbers, the audience singing along to every word. The most special moments, personally, though were the ones when Rice sat alone on the stage and performed acoustically. You managed to get a sense here of Rice the person, not just Chase Rice the star – telling the story of his back-catalogue of songs, including Florida Georgia Line’s unforgettable hit ‘Cruise’ and personal favourite ‘Carolina Can.’

More excitingly, Rice also played a number of his new forthcoming tracks – if the tracks are anything to be believed, these tracks are bound to raise Rice’s profile up a level, and even just a small taster was enough to excite even the most borderline fans to his cause.

Ending the night with one of his biggest tracks ‘Ready Set Roll,’ we were left as amped as Rice must have been as he left the stage. Perhaps he will not win vocalist of the year any time soon, but Rice should win Entertainer of the Year ten times over, he’s a born performer and delivers time and time again.

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Setlist: 

Lions

Jack Daniel’s Showed Up

Take It To The City

Beautiful Blur

Gonna Wanna Tonight

On Tonight

Unforgettable (with Madison Kozak)

Lonely If You Are

Three Chords and the Truth

Ride

Carolina Can

Best Night Ever

Jack Daniel’s & Jesus

Eyes on You

Cruise

All The Small Things / Sweet Home Alabama / Sweet Carolina

Ready Set Roll

Follow Chase Rice on Instagram / Twitter / Facebook

The post Chase Rice Stakes His Claim for Entertainer of the Year in London appeared first on off the record.