On The Road With Chase Rice

Since performing for audiences of a few dozen in small bars, he’s sold out gigs like the 2,425-capacity House Of Blues Boston and is currently touring with Kenny Chesney.  

Rice is known for a lot of things. Two of them are the single “Ready Set Roll” and for co-writing Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise.” His major label debut album, Ignite The Night, arrived at No. 1 on the country music album chart last summer. Years before that he was a contestant on “Survivor: Nicaragua” and part of a NASCAR pit crew for Hendrick Motorsports, working as the rear tire carrier for Ryan Newman’s Nationwide series car. He also worked on Jimmie Johnson’s Cup car and won two championships with the Lowe’s team.

“Ready Set Roll” was also, unfortunately, included in a recent YouTube mashup that showed how similar country music hits are – which is worth mentioning because during the candid interview Rice addresses how he plans to shake things up.

Have you been doing a lot of interviews? Do you find yourself discussing the same topics?

I do about a couple a day and it’s usually, “Well, start at the beginning. … ‘Survivor.’ You did NASCAR, you’re doing the music thing now.” Honestly, it just bores me. That’s my life. I’ve talked about it enough times – but, if that’s what you want to talk about, I’m down for it.

Pollstar is more about live performance and touring. We followed you for more than a year on Facebook and it seems like back then it was just a dude in a van.

Yup! That’s about what it was.

It was, like, “I can go anywhere.” That was the impression.

Well, that’s a big part of how I built my career. It was, “Let’s get in my van; let’s get in my truck.” This was just a couple years ago. “Get in the truck and let’s [play for] whoever will let us do a show at whatever venue will take us.” … And we slammed the place out and sold them out of alcohol.

We’ve played the underdog role our whole career, which I love and the band I’m with loves. … It’s my truck and a van, touring like crazy. I figured if we go into a place and there’s 40 people, those 40 people are going to have the best damned time of their lives, and me and my band are going to make sure of it.

Then, the next time if we go back, if there’s 200 people, we’ve succeeded because we’ve more than doubled. We took that aspect and we’re continuing to do that all the way to the arenas. We started playing bigger bars and then Dierks Bentley started recognizing what we were doing. Keep in mind that this is because of one single on the radio. That’s it. And I was, “You know what? Screw that. I hope radio will take me in and accept the songs but if they don’t I want to make damned sure we continue to sell out every damned venue we play all the way up to a stadium. No matter what song is playing on the radio, if radio disappears we still have our career if we build it that way.”

So we built it to bigger bars. We built it to House of Blues. Last fall’s tour was House of Blues. Last summer with Dierks Bentley, people were telling him, “He’s only got one song on the radio.” Dierks said, “I don’t care. He’s selling tickets.”

That’s all that really matters. After the Dierks tour we went to the House of Blues, sold out that entire tour. And then, this summer, Kenny Chesney recognizes that we’re selling tickets. We still only have one song on the radio. They’re saying, “Why do you want to take this guy on the road with you? He only plays one song on the radio. Oh. He sold that many tickets? Oh, well, let’s bring him out and give him a shot.”

Every single tour we go on … they say, “What the hell man? People are showing up earlier than they normally do. Your merch numbers are selling like crazy” – because people believe in the product. That’s a simple way of measuring success. Are they buying your merch; are they coming to your shows? I’ve had conversations with Kenny [and] his tour manager and they say, “What the hell’s going on? You’re the first of three (acts on stage). You’re just there to make noise to get people into the arena, but they’re showing up and singing your songs.”

They’re doing that not because we have so many songs on the radio. They’re doing it because they’ve seen me playing these bars since day one. Now they’re showing up at these arenas, feeling a part of this whole career – because they are. They’re here because they bought the records early and believed in the music and live show.

This mirrors Eric Church. He was the one person who had fans at honkytonks. Most people who go to them are fans of country music, not of the artist, but he had his own fans. You’re saying the same thing.

I did that on purpose. I saw guys like Corey Smith, who has never been on the radio. I saw Brantley Gilbert back in the day.

And I’m a big fan of Eric Church and his music. I saw him do it the same way. So when I moved to Nashville and all of these record companies were saying, “You know what? You are a waste of time. You’re not going anywhere. Your music’s horrible. You can’t sing. Yadda yadda whatever.” …  I will never say names but – “We’re going to focus on these guys because they’re talented. They’re going to go somewhere.”

I’m not trying to be this way as much anymore but I immediately gave them the finger and said, “Cool. I’m not going to prove you wrong because that’s me wasting my thoughts on you, but I’m going out here [to] prove it to all the people who have believed in me” – and you could count them on one hand in the very beginning. “I’m going to go out and prove to these five people, who are band members, who are out busting their ass. We’re going to prove each other right and we’re going to kick ass come hell or high water.

“And we’re going to do that by making sure the 40 people in the crowd have the best fucking time of their life.”

They leave that show saying how fun it was and [telling] their friends. Eventually, if you keep doing that, you’ll play yourself into an arena because so many people want to be a part of that, and they want to show up.

And if there’s one person I would want to model my career after, for me – and I don’t think it’s right for everybody – it’s Eric Church. He’s going to make people show up, and people want to be a part of that. People want to be part of a team, and this team could go to an arena.

I remember when Eric got kicked off the Flatts tour. He said, “I believe most artists would say, ‘Well, damn. The summer’s gone, we’re off the tour.’” Instead he said, “Screw that. We’re going to go to every single bar we can this summer.” Bars are not popular to play during the summer. Summers are about big tours and festivals.

We’re out there, right now, with Chesney, but we haven’t had any offers yet for next summer to be the direct support of the main artist, rather than the first of three. So if people want to keep throwing these first of three offers out at me, I’m more than honored – for Chesney. That’s a big thing, as it is for Dierks. But now we’re looking at doing a direct support for somebody.

We haven’t had the offer though, and maybe it’s not time for that yet but, if we don’t, my summer won’t be over. I’m not going to sit here and say, “OK, we’re going to take the first of three anyway because that’s all we’ve got.” Or, “Nobody offered a direct support slot so, shit, we’re just not going to play any shows this summer.”

No! We’re going to pack out as many bars as we can, and do the opposite of what most people do. We’re going to pack out those bars and make sure they have the best damn summer of their life.

I’ve had this theory, and I’m sure it’s true in cases like Kip Moore, that if you spend your time in smaller rooms, trying to grab the attention of drunks, it can’t hurt larger shows. If you can’t grab three people’s attention you’ll never grab a 100,000.

Exactly. There’s something to be said to playing to 100 people. It’s very intimate, it’s very close. If you can get those 100 people to tell their friends, next time it will be 600 people. You continue to do that every single show, you’ll one day be looking up at a stadium and think, “Holy shit, how did this happen?”

It [took] a shitload of time, a shitload of energy and a shitload of discipline to know, “This is how we’re going to do it, and nobody is going to stop us.”

So back in the honkytonk days. Even then Eric Church had “The Choir.” They were inviting him to all the hotel parties, etc. What’s your equivalent?

Same exact thing. We don’t have a name. We tried to think of a name, like “The Crew” or whatever. Something clever. But I don’t think they need a name. We just call them friends.

It’s the same thing. They try to get you to the parking lot, try to get you hammered, try to get you to the party and (laughs) for a long time they succeeded. I literally would go to some after party at a house. I remember I went to a party after a show and they said, “Holy shit! He showed up!” and then, by the end of the night it’s, “All right, get out of here dude. You’re drinking all our beer and partying too much.”

But it’s a good relationship, man. And most of the ones that were there early don’t think “he’s a singer.” They think, “He’s just a normal dude who happens to be doing some really cool things.”

Country music fans don’t want a rock star that they can’t relate to that is big-wigging them all the time, taking their money and running. They want a fan up there onstage.

So let’s see: Kenny Chesney, Eric Church … I’m trying to figure out when (promoter) Louis Messina will be –

Ha ha! Oh he already is. Louis and I have gotten to know each other pretty well this summer. He’s a big supporter. And Louis sees it. He saw it in Kenny, he saw it in Church. But, at the same time, I’ve had Brian O’Connell at Live Nation be there for me from day one. It’s business but, at the end of the day, I’m going to be loyal to who believes in me.

As long as I’m playing in front of – not even a bunch of people. Just a bunch of people who are ready to raise some serious hell and just party their asses off. If you come to a show ready to sit down and have someone sing to you? Go see someone else’s show. If you don’t want to stand and sing along to ever single song? Go see a different show.

What are you plans for the next year?  

As far as the shows go, I just want to keep going, as long as people show up. As long as those people are crazy as shit, I’m happy. I’d rather see 100 people who are rabid about the music than 100,000 staring at me.

But I’d like to get some more music out there. More mature music. Ignite the Night was huge for me but, at the end of the day, I don’t think I said everything I wanted to say on the record. I think I talked a lot about tailgates and a lot about girls – and that’s cool! I think there’s a place for that, and there’s a place for that on my next record. But there’s also a lot of other things

to say. There’s some more real life things to talk about, more depth that will be on the next record. If it take two years to write, I’m going to write it.

I’d like to talk to you a half hour about that alone.

Yeah!

It seems country music has become constricted and it’s happened quickly, like within the last eight months.

Yeah, I think people try to follow what’s been popular, including me. But I’m doing my best to get away from that. I don’t mean get away from the tailgates and trucks and all that, but to do it in a different way. Not every song has to be about that stuff – for me.

And I’m not even talking about country music. Country music’s great. I’m a huge fan of a lot of country music artists. I’m talking about my music. I think it needs more meaning. It needs more depth. It needs to show a deeper side of me than just a guy in a truck, with a girl. There’s way more to me than that.

And that’s something I’ve learned from doing these shows. “I can sing about that. Now, what else can I tell these people about me?” I want to get more depth with my music and I love wording it that way. So many people say, “Country music needs this, country music needs that.” Well, I think country music singers need to figure that out on their own. It’s not my job to say, “Country music needs this.” It’s my job to figure out what my music needs, and that’s what I’m working on.

For some reason that reminds me of The Warren Brothers.

Oh man, they’re awesome!

What happened to them? Haven’t thought about them for a while.

They’re songwriters now. They’re killing it as songwriters.

Back in the day, they were seriously considering doing a country disco album, but they figured nobody in the industry would get behind it.

Well, I think if you do it in the right way, you’ll find people will get behind it. People just want something to believe in. They just want to hear songs they can enjoy, and if they can enjoy country disco, if there’s one person who can make it happen, it’s The Warren Brothers. Those guys are insane, they’re awesome writers, and they’re good people.

Upcoming dates for Chase Rice:

May 22 – Houston, Texas, BBVA Compass Stadium (appearing with Kenny Chesney)
May 24 – Forest City, Iowa, Heritage Park Of North Iowa (Tree Town Music Festival)
May 25 – Herrin, Ill., Downtown Herrin (Herrinfesta Italiana)        
May 27 – Columbia, Md., Merriweather Post Pavilion (Kenny Chesney)    
May 28 – Raleigh, N.C., PNC Arena (Kenny Chesney)
May 29 – Virginia Beach, Va., 5th Street Stage (Virginia Beach Patriotic Festival)
May 30 – Pittsburgh, Pa., Heinz Field (Kenny Chesney)          
May 31 – Boston, Mass., House Of Blues Boston (Country 102.5’s Street Party) 
June 4 – Evansville, Ill., Ford Center (Kenny Chesney)
June 6 – Chicago, Ill., Soldier Field (Kenny Chesney)
June 9 – Nashville, Tenn., Nashville Gun Club (Tug McGraw Celebrity Sporting Clay Pro-Am)
June 11 – Charlotte, N.C., Time Warner Cable Arena (Kenny Chesney)
June 12 – Nashville, Tenn., Riverfront Stage (CMA Music Festival)           
June 13 – Atlanta, Ga., Georgia Dome (Kenny Chesney)
June 18 – Sioux Falls, S.D., Denny Sanford Premier Center (Kenny Chesney)
June 19 – Rockton, Ill., Old Settler’s Park (Old Settlers Days)
June 20 – Louisville, Ky., 4th Street Live!    
June 25 – West Vancouver, British Columbia, Ambleside Park (Kenny Chesney)
June 26 – Brainerd, Minn., Lakes Jam Festival Grounds (Lakes Jam)
June 27 – Milwaukee, Wis., Henry Maier Festival Park (Summerfest)         
June 28 – Cadott, Wis., Chippewa Valley Festival Grounds (Chippewa Valley Country Festival)
July 4 – Cape Coral, Fla., Downtown Cape Coral (Red, White And Boom)
July 8 – Canandaigua, N.Y., Constellation Brands – Marvin Sands PAC (Kenny Chesney)
July 9 – Cleveland, Ohio, Quicken Loans Arena (Kenny Chesney)
July 10 – Fort Loramie, Ohio, Hickory Hill Lakes (Country Concert @ Hickory Hill Lakes Inc.) 
July 11 – Philadelphia, Pa., Lincoln Financial Field (Kenny Chesney)        
July 16 – Lincoln, Neb., Pinnacle Bank Arena (Kenny Chesney)
July 17 – Grand Prairie, Texas, Lone Star Park At Grand Prairie
July 19 – Minot, N.D., North Dakota State Fair Center Grandstand (North Dakota State Fair)
July 22 – Stateline, Nev., Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena At Harveys (Kenny Chesney)
July 23 – Fresno, Calif., Save Mart Center (Kenny Chesney)  
July 24 – Sacramento, Calif., Cal Expo Grandstand  (California State Fair)
July 25 – Mission Viejo, Calif., Lake Mission Viejo Park (Lake Mission Viejo Concert Series)
July 29 – Southaven, Miss., BankPlus Amphitheater At Snowden Grove (Kenny Chesney)
July 30 – Rogers, Ark., The Walmart AMP (Kenny Chesney) 
July 31 – Urbana, Ill., Champaign County Fairgrounds (Champaign County Fair)
Aug. 3 – Harrison, Mich., Clare County Fairgrounds (Clare County Fair)
Aug. 6 – Salt Lake City, Utah, EnergySolutions Arena (Kenny Chesney)  
Aug. 8 – Kearney, Mo., Kearney Amphitheater
Aug. 11 – Honesdale, Pa., Wayne County Fairgrounds (Wayne County Fair)
Aug. 13 – Bangor, Maine, Darling’s Waterfront Pavilion (Kenny Chesney)
Aug. 14 – Malone, N.Y., Franklin County Fairgrounds (Franklin County Fair)
Aug. 15 – Berryville, Va., Clarke County Fairgrounds (Clarke County Fair)
Aug. 19 – Ottawa, Ontario, Canadian Tire Centre (Kenny Chesney)
Aug. 20 – Hamilton, Ontario, FirstOntario Centre (Kenny Chesney)
Aug. 22 – Detroit, Mich., Ford Field (Kenny Chesney)
Aug. 27 – Sayreville, N.J., Starland Ballroom
Aug. 28 – Chesterfield, Va., Heritage Amphitheater at Pocahontas State Park (Pocahontas Live)
Sept. 2 – Pueblo, Colo., Colorado State Fair Grandstand (Colorado State Fair)
Sept. 3 – Oklahoma City, Okla., Diamond Ballroom
Sept. 5 – Quapaw, Okla., Downstream Casino Resort
Sept. 10 – Columbia, Mo., The Blue Note
Sept. 11 – Fort Madison, Iowa, C.E. Richards Arena (Tri-State Rodeo)
Sept. 12 – Grand Rapids, Mich., The Intersection

For more information please visit ChaseRice.com.