I featured Chase Rice in 2018 when he celebrated achieving number-one status with his blockbuster hit, "Eyes On You." Early on, Rice was a fixture in the Bro-Country scene with other megahits like "Ready Set Roll,” "Ride,” "Lonely If You Are," and "Gonna Wanna Tonight," to name a few.
But something shifted in the artist recently, who splits his time between Montana and Nashville when, in 2023, he released I Hate Cowboys & All Dogs Go to Hell. Even by the retro picture of his hero, his dad, Daniel (Danny) Rice, on the album cover, you knew this record would be different. For anyone anticipating the usual new country vibe, boy, were they in for a surprise. With unexpected songs like "Bench Seat" and "Key West & Colorado," Billboard Magazine called it "one of 2023's most unexpected artistic pivots" across all genres last year.
And while I Hate Cowboys received critical acclaim, it didn't produce the results Broken Bow had hoped for. They amicably parted ways after Rice found a way out of the record deal. His I Hate Cowboys producer, Oscar Charles, suggested, "Why Don't we just do this on our own?"
But instead of adding a couple of songs and releasing a deluxe version of I Hate Cowboys & All Dogs Go to Hell, they turned their original songs into a new record. Master songwriter Lori Makenna, who was fond of Rice's I Hate Cowboys record, offered to join him in making his next album.
One thing that profoundly impacted Chase Rice was the loss of his father when he was 22 years old. Though he is now 37, his father's memory still haunts him. Rice was captain of his college UNC football team, and when he got injured, he turned to music. He moved to Nashville, and shortly after that, his father passed. He also did a stint with Nascar and was on CBS's Survivor.
After writing "Cruise" for Florida/Georgia Line and scoring multiple charting singles as a staple Bro-country artist, the effortlessly good-looking country singer was a sensation with the younger set but had not addressed his internal woes. It was not until his I Hate Cowboys record that he started writing songs that he really cared about.
His producer, Oscar Charles, also co-wrote five songs on the Go Down Singin' record. He told Rice, "Dude, this is not a sad situation. This is you getting to celebrate what that moment would look like if you could finally sit down and talk to your father as a grown man."
The title track to Go Down Singin' is an honest look at Rice's experience with Nashville and the music industry. He has no animosity toward the industry, but anyone who has been there knows that you have to expect the bad alongside the good.
The chorus And I did my best/ I went for broke/ Breathed in every drop of neon covered honky tonk bar smoke/ When this town did it's worst/ I just smiled and said bring it/ Said if I go down, hell at least I go down singin' sets the tone for the rest of the record.
He further explores the two-edged sword that is the music industry in the song "Oh, Tennessee," another cathartic song that he co-wrote with McKenna and Charles. A line from the song honestly states, "How dare you make this dream come true?"
I asked him if he had regrets about being in the music industry. He stated, "I have regrets about a lot of stuff I've done the last ten years. I don't believe the whole "no regrets" thing. I think the key is you have to at least learn from it and change it. But what's the point of regret if you're not doing that? But I couldn't control it. I could not find the right person. And Oscar [Charles] wasn't here. Oscar, along with the songwriters, is the guy who's helped me change my career. We work so well together."
"Haw River" is a haunting murder ballad about a crooked "Holy Man." He got the idea when somebody introduced a girl from Haw River, North Carolina. Rice was with his pal, Blake Pendergrass and he said, "Dude, we should write a murder song. There aren't any good murder songs in country music anymore."
The next day, when Rice was watching the Yellowstone spin-off, 1923, the storyline was about a priest beating the hell out of these Native American girls. They took the plot a bit further, adding rape, murder, and abuse. "There was no record label to stop me," he said
"Haw River" is about the girl's sister getting the ultimate revenge on the holy man. The song is a favorite at shows and will stand the test of time alongside other classic murder ballads like Willie Nelson's "Red Headed Stranger" and Waylon Jennings's "Cedartown, Georgia."
Rice shows his thoughtful side with "Hey God, It's Me Again," a truthful tune about leaning into his faith. The song "Numbers" reflects on making your days count. The honesty continues with the philosophical song "If Drinkin' Helped." Life lessons have proven to the singer/songwriter, "If drinking helped, there'd be a little hope/ But I'm living proof it don't."
But every song isn't as serious-minded. "Little Red Race Car" is about his love for a little red (toy) race car when he was a toddler versus finding his first love as a teen in a little red race car.
Based on a true story, "Arkansas," a light-hearted tune about hunting on Christmas and mom getting mad.
But the absolute finest song on the record is "You In '85," which is a tribute to his father, Danny Rice. Written by the holy trifecta of Chase Rice, Lori McKenna, and Oscar Charles, the song shows how much Rice has matured since his "Eyes On You" days. If the words Still cut rows on a tractor, drink beer after work/ Live life a bit faster but still get to church/ You always said I was gonna look just like you/ Now this man in the mirror's the proof/Ain't no wonder we're so much alike/ Me right now, and you in 85 doesn’t get you misty-eyed, the music video will do it. It uses pictures and footage from his childhood, bringing his mother to tears.
"It was the first time I had seen my dad moving, aside from a picture in 15 years," he explained.
Rice admitted, "I didn't cry when I wrote [the song], which is weird, but I couldn't sing it like the line, 'I ain't got kids yet, but bet when I do, when I'm coaching third base, I'll be thinking of you.' I just couldn't sing that line."
Writing and releasing Go Down Singin' has been therapeutic for Rice.
"It changed my whole perspective of losing my dad. I knew I had to stop being mad. Writing this record has caused more healing than I had in ten years," he stated.
Rice has nearly finished writing the third record of the set, Eldora, an album written entirely on the first guitar his dad ever gave him. You know it will be gold if it's anything like his previous two records.
Thank you, Chase Rice, for bringing us along on your healing process. By sharing your authentic experiences with the world, you are releasing the best music of your career.
Chase Rice continues to tour throughout America and will visit Australia in 2025. Follow his website, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X, TikTok, and all streaming platforms.
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Bethany Bowman is a freelance entertainment writer. You can follow her blog, Facebook, Instagram, and X.
Go Down Singin' Track List:
- Go Down Singin' (Chase Rice, Blake Pendergrass)
- Fireside (Chase Rice, Jackson Dean, Jonathan Sherwood, Oscar Charles)
- That Word Don't Work No More feat. Lori McKenna (Chase Rice, Lori McKenna, Oscar Charles)
- Hey God It's Me Again (Chase Rice, Corey Crowder, Randy Montana)
- Oh Tennessee (Chase Rice, Lori McKenna, Oscar Charles)
- Haw River (Chase Rice, Blake Pendergrass)
- Arkansas (Chase Rice, Rob Baird)
- Numbers (Chase Rice, Jeff Hyde, Ryan Tyndell)
- If Drinkin' Helped (Chase Rice, Lori McKenna, Oscar Charles)
- Little Red Race Car (Chase Rice, Jackson Nance, Heath Warren)
- You In '85 (Chase Rice, Lori McKenna, Oscar Charles)