In January, it was announced that a major country star would be coming to campus for the annual Spring Concert. This announcement was met with varying levels of speculation because the idea that a major artist would be coming to our little hamlet seemed a little inconceivable (cue The Princess Bride Vizzini gif). On the 29th of January, Chase Bryant, via a CAB email, announced that he would be the big act for the Spring Concert on May 3rd.
In all honesty, I was in the dark about who Bryant was. I hadn’t consciously heard his music before, so in preparation for this article and the concert, I buckled down with my mental cowboy hat and got to listening.
One of Bryant’s most popular songs, “Little Bit of You” from his 2014 self-titled EP, is a classic good-time country song. This tune has a little bit of a rockin’ country feel- emphasized through the sporadic electric guitar presence and sturdy drums. He sings, “I don’t wanna be lonely with the stars all out/Need you here to help me or I might lose count”. It’s a toe-tapping tune perfect for a summer night drive.
On March 1, Bryant released a single from his upcoming EP, Ashland City, set to be released on April 12. This single, “Wild Than Tame,” has a vague similarity to Chris Stapleton’s “Outlaw State of Mind” but with Bryant’s distinct rock twist.
“Hell If I Know” is Bryant’s 2017 single. This song is an upbeat country swingin’ song and beckons the listener to sing along. Bryant’s smooth vocals complement the country rasp and epic guitar implementations. He sings, “Hell if I know/Why the stars align/Getting lost in your eyes and a Friday high/Never gets old when the Rock ‘n’ Roll on the radio knows/Just how to make you slide close.” It’s a new-feeling country song, but you can still feel Bryant’s older influences.
A little about Bryant: he was born Chase Yalkin in 1993, later using the stage name Chase Bryant. His grandfather, Jimmy Bryant, played guitar and piano for Roy Orbison and Waylon Jennings’ individual bands. Jimmy was a big source of inspiration for Bryant; he exposed Chase to the music of Jerry Lee Lewis and showed him how to be an original. Bryant remembers his grandfather saying “‘you can’t be good at being anybody else. You can only be good at being yourself.’” Chase was born in Orange Grove, Texas, and has been playing music since he was a kid. Chase notes his first song being about a girl who broke up with him when he was 11. If only he was old enough to drive, he could’ve added in a line or two about his beat-up truck to fulfill the tried-and-true country pipeline. He signed with RED BOW Records, a BBR Music Group Label, in 2013. On the BMG (a division of BBR) website, an interview with Bryant said, “I knew I wanted to play mainstream country – I always knew. But those records told me that I could be that and still write guitar riffs that would stick in somebody’s head.” This is exactly what Bryant accomplishes in songs like “Take It On Back” from his self-titled EP, and one of my favorites, “I Still Do” a 2023 single.
Bryant made his way out of Orange Grove and LA and down to Nashville, where he started writing songs. He claims in the BMG article that he “probably wrote 400 lousy songs before I wrote my first good one. But one good one was enough to get Nashville managers, pluggers, and publishers on board.” His first big success came a year after signing to Red Bow with “Take It On Back” and later “Little Bit of You.”
The Spring Concert will take place in the Sullivan Area on May 3rd at 7 pm. Doors open at 6 pm. Tickets are on sale now for $50 and will drop to $30 at special events so keep an eye out! You can buy tickets on the school website- anselm.edu. Check-in with CAB if you have any questions.
