I think we can all agree that Chris Stapleton has one if, if not the best, voices in modern mainstream country music.
His captivating vocals shine on every single song he’s ever released, and of course, if you’ve ever seen him perform live, then you know he somehow sounds even better in-person.
And aside from his incredible knack for songwriting, his voice has always been a huge part of what so many fans love about him… though, the ever-humble Stapleton doesn’t quite see himself the way we all do.
In an interview with TODAY’s Willie Geist on the Sunday Sitdown segment yesterday, Geist pressed him on when he first realized he was “special” and had an incredibly unique and stunning voice, and Stapleton joked:
“Well, my parents always told me I was special, like any good parent would.
I always sang, and I think at some point people only regard it as ‘special’ or something when you start to have some kind of notoriety with it… otherwise, you’re a dude that sings, you know.”
While it’s hard to imagine anyone not hearing him sing one verse and think it’s the best thing they’ve ever heard, Stapleton was Nashville’s “best-kept secret,” so to speak, for many, many years before he found superstardom.
So I guess, in a sense, he was “that dude that sings” for a long time before he ever made it big, and he went on to say that he actually spent a long time trying to “be like other people.”
He added that Vince Gill is one of his musical heroes, and he tried hard to be and sound like Vince Gill as he discovered who he was as an artist.
And while of course, Gill is an extremely talented vocalist and musician, it sounds so crazy to hear Chris Stapleton say he wanted to sound like someone else:
“I spent a long time trying to be other people, like, I love Vince Gill, I tried so hard to be Vince Gill and sound like Vince Gill. There’s lots of demo recordings of me wishing I was Vince Gill.
But I’m not any of those people, and eventually, hopefully, through all of those influences and also focusing on what it is that you do, you find out what that is and then you put that out there.
And if that’s something people think is special, thats great.”
They also talked about the range on “Higher” and how that shows a different aspect of his voice, and Chris said that his wife, Morgane, had tried to get him to record it for years, though he was always scared to touch it.
He actually said he wrote that song over 20 years ago when he first arrived in Music City, and over two decades later, it’s the title track to his forthcoming album.
They preview a piece of it in the interview, and I absolutely cannot wait to hear that song when the record is finally released because it’s unlike anything he’s ever recorded before.
Higher is due out everywhere here very soon on November 10th, and thus far, we’ve heard three great singles in “I Think I’m In Love With You,” “White Horse” and “It Takes A Woman.”
You can watch the full interview here:
“Think I’m In Love With You”
“White Horse”
“It Takes A Woman”
Higher Tracklist:
What Am I Gonna Do
South Dakota
Trust
It Takes A Woman
The Fire
Think I’m In Love With You
Loving You On My Mind
White Horse
Higher
The Bottom
The Day I Die
Crosswind
Weight Of Your World
Mountains On My Mind
