Ben Chapman isn’t afraid to call out some of the Nashville artists that both don’t know country music history and tend to put forth “phone in” records.
The “Don’t You Dare” singer sat down with us on the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast and discussed his favorite places in Nashville, how it’s been to watch Music City change in his lifetime, and how he and his wife – fellow artist Meg McCree – juggle music and raising their little one. Chapman also touched on the music that helped shape who he is, having Channing Wilson as a mentor, and his latest album, Feet On Fire, being called “funky tonk.”
Ben also talked about how he approaches songwriting, trying to have songs that jam but avoiding being a “jam band,” and his concern that no cool music will be made in 20 years. Why is he worried about that? Well, Chapman thinks a lot of modern artists are making “phone in” records, and he thinks some of the young artists out there don’t know the history of country music:
“I feel like more people should be nerds about country music… there’s a lot of people that don’t know the history of country music, in this town doing music. I don’t know how you do it if you don’t know the history behind it.
I’m not saying you have to go and read the country music encyclopedia, and I’m not saying you have to know every person who ever did country music. But it is good to hear some of those legendary songwriters, and legend songs.”
Chapman kind of sees it as the “School of Country Music.” How could you make music and add it to the genre if you don’t have some knowledge on the foundation that country is built on?
The “Out In The Country” singer also feels as though there’s not as much passion in some of the music that’s coming out of Nashville. As a big Beatles fan, Chapman always appreciated how much creative freedom the group had from album to album. With some artists in country music, he feels like they are just making the same record over and over again:
“I’m not knocking any of these artists, because they are all bigger than me and they have more fans than me, and they always will. But I feel like in Nashville, there’s a lot of phone-in records. A lot of people make the same record over and over again. Which if I’m making millions a year, and people are expecting that of me, how could you not fall into that trap?”
@whiskeyriff @Ben Chapman #whiskeyriff #whiskeyriffraff ♬ original sound – Whiskey Riff
You can hear about all of that and more from Ben Chapman by checking out the interview on YouTube or making sure to download the podcast on Apple Podcasts by searching “Whiskey Riff Raff.”
We’re also available on Spotify and wherever else you can listen to podcasts.
Cheers, y’all.
