Attention to Artists: Chase Wright

I’ll be honest, I never used to be a big country music fan. I found it cliched and felt it all sounded the same. Even with my South Dakota roots, I grew up in the biggest city in the state where pop and rap were what played in my friend’s cars and at school dances. I’d tolerate country when I would go to my lake cabin, but it was never something I would’ve put on the aux cord. 

Let’s go back to the fall of 2023. When I was cleaning out the horde of screenshots in my photo album, I came across a screenshot of an artist named Chase Wright promoting his song “Hurt No More.” I decided to add it to my listen-to playlist and continued cleaning out my photos. When I returned to the song later at night, my standards of what I thought country music was were blown.

What the hell was going on? This was a country song I actually liked!

“Liked” is even putting it lightly. “Hurt No More” is making my top 10 most-listened-to songs this year and I practically scream the lyrics. It was so damn catchy I had to check out the rest of his discography. While there wasn’t much released then, it didn’t take me long to become a fan of his. 

Wright didn’t grow up aiming to become a country artist. Growing up in Indiana, he started playing guitar when he was at DePauw University, running track while getting a degree in economics. Once he graduated, he headed to Nashville and started working on what would become his debut album, “Intertwined,” released in 2021. 

I think in part what drew me to his music and what set him apart from the rest of the country songs I heard was his storytelling through his lyrics. They weren’t songs about driving down dirt roads and drinking beer on the farm. His songs tell about relationships and love from a man’s perspective that doesn’t have to do with the way several rap artists talk about it (you know exactly what I’m referencing.) 

When I first listened to “Intertwined” all the way through, there were moments where it seemed it was going to be a “little too country” for my tastes, but the more I listened to it, the more I grew to love all his works. “Drive” takes the stereotypical theme of driving along dirt roads and turning it into a romantic night away from town. “Missing You” is a surprisingly upbeat tune of feel-good energy despite the lyrics of Wright ruminating on how his ex is “living it up with every drink she downs” and how she’s loving that he’s missing her. 

Songs like “Hangin’ On” and “Lying with You” encapsulate the energy of young love. The former describes drawing out a perfect summer evening and “hangin’ on” to the feeling of making a moment last while the latter is a play on words about how if he tries to deny his feelings, it’ll only lead to him calling up his ex and they’ll spend the night together.

I think what also makes Wright stand out from other country artists is his unflinching ability to get vulnerable through his lyrics. “Never Loved Before” sounds like a confessional about relationships that never quite fit until Wright found the one for him. “Wish You’d Miss Me” is a beautiful blend of piano and drums in a ballad about how, despite all the contrasts of what a previous relationship brought, Wright’s still hoping his ex would reach out of longing.

Wright isn’t afraid to talk about his past wrongs and the self-work reflective of it. “What She Sees in Me” covers some of Wright’s insecurities and how he can’t believe his partner is with him despite his flaws. “Who I Want to Be” is a motivational gospel-sounding song with Wright making the journey to become the man he wants to be. Wright is ahead of the game, showing men they don’t have to be what the media would call “the tough guy” and, in a way, shows true masculinity is showing emotions.

His most recent ballad is a cover of the Keith Urban hit “Tonight I Wanna Cry.” In an interview with People Magazine in March, Wright said he had split from his ex-fiancee Brittany Norris after three years together and the birth of their son, Ashur. When it came to the cover, Wright said “I would have loved to be able to write a song that sort of encapsulates this feeling, but I don’t think any song that I could write could say it as well as this one does.” 

Wright admitted in the midst of the breakup, he “cried every day for a month and a half” and how he felt strongly about recording the song as “mental health is such an important thing for men to talk about.” Having a man talk openly about mental struggles and emotions is a huge breakthrough for music and I hope more artists think about following in Wright’s footsteps. 

The fact Chase Wright’s music converted a girl who never thought she’d be blasting country music in her car says something about how amazing his work is. While I haven’t fully embraced a Nashville personality, I have started to listen to other country artists like Megan Moroney and Chris Stapleton. I hope Wright soars into stardom as he continues to take country as we know it and make it his own, but even better than before. 

Photo Caption: Growing up in Indiana, Wright started playing guitar when he was at DePauw University, running track while getting a degree in economics. (Alexa Campbell/Billboard)

Write to Emma Johnson at emma.johnson.5@mnsu.edu