This week, three former housemates, struggling songwriters and aspiring artists manage a noteworthy feat, as Chase Rice and Florida Georgia Line top the country chart with “Drinkin’ Beer Talkin’ God Amen.”
While Chase, Tyler Hubbard, and Brian Kelley have already made it to #1 on their own, this is the first time they’ve done it together as artists.
“It’s a full-circle moment…” Chase tells ABC Audio. “Ten years later, we’re doing music again together.”
“We’ve had very, very, very different careers,” he continues. “But when you can come together and collab and everybody’s happy for everybody’s success, that’s a special thing.”
Chase admits FGL’s rise to the top pushed him out of his comfort zone.
“They skyrocketed so fast that we just went two completely different directions,” he reflects. “And it had nothing to do with anything other than that’s just the way it happened.”
“So when they started going, it was like, ‘Man, okay, I gotta figure this out. I don’t have my guys that I write songs with anymore,'” he remembers. “So I had to go figure out who I was as an artist. And that’s been an amazing journey. And it’s helped me become who I am as a man as well.”
Looking back, Chase says the lean days were worth it.
“To see it come… from where we were — which was nowhere and struggling and partying — to full circle, to families, to kids for Tyler, to dogs for me and BK, it’s pretty cool,” Chase says. “It’s pretty cool to see everybody stick to their guns and figure out who they are as men as well as artists.”
Of course, Chase also had a hand in writing FGL’s breakthrough, crossover smash, “Cruise.”
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
