Interview: Chase Bryant Chats With Us At Tortuga Music Fest

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Red Bow Records artist Chase Bryant finished performing on the main stage at Tortuga Music Festival in Florida and joined The Shotgun Seat beachside to chat about his newest single, opening for Tim McGraw and about his flirtatious bulldog Harley.

Bryant recently found out that his single “Little Bit of You” hit top three on the Billboard charts. He was sitting at a truck stop in California where he bus had broken down when he got the call. “It was the day Merle Haggard died too, and we were in Bakersfield… so there had to be some kind of juju going on, you know?” he says. Turning a pretty horrible day into a great one, he tells us his the news was humbling and he is so proud to have a moment like that to look back to and remember in his career.

Some other special moments Bryant has gotten to experience include opening for acts such as Tim McGraw, Kip Moore and Brantley Gilbert. Bryant first picked up a guitar at the tender age of two years old, so such accolades could well be considered the fulfillment of lifelong dreams. After charming the entire Tortuga crowd by with songs from his debut EP and doing covers including Stevie Wonder’s “Superstitious” and Tom Petty’s “Free Falling,” he proved that he is on his way to the stardom he has seen opening for country’s biggest hit makers.

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Bryant goes on to tell us about his adorable bulldog Harley and how he walks around flirting with all the ladies backstage. The 22-year old is dealing with topics like new love and heartbreak, and is channeling all of that emotion into his songwriting. “It may start with the guitar; it may start with a hook or a melody… it just changes every day. For me, I think the key is just to listen to whatever that idea is,” he says.

Bryant’s debut album is finished and due this fall. “If you listen to “Little Bit Of You,” you’ll see that there’s a Top 40 side to it,” he says. “But if you strip all the drum beats, and pull out all the pads, and the crazy mainstream side of things – you’ll feel a lot of that old school Tom Petty or Vince Gill. You feel some of those things in the melodies and the way that the guitars are played and stuff in the dry version of it. But the record, it’s fun! It’s a lot more… I always say it’s more sexy but kinda sentimental. Not because of me, but just because that’s the story I know to tell right now.”

Bryant is one of the only male solo artists to have a top ten hit in 2015, demonstrating an understanding of what it takes to stand out. “Be yourself,” he says. Nobody ever said you had to wear a cowboy hat to play country music. Just tell the truth and be yourself. The fans read right past that really fast… so the only thing I ever try to do is be a good Chase Bryant and be the best that I can be.”

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