Bryant focuses his muse on the commonalities people share. "We all have a destination," he says. "We all have dreams we want to follow. I’m no different than anybody else, I just sing about it. It's my job to put the party on and give people a good reason to have fun." And that he does, whether it's in the soaring groove of "Summertime Saturday High," the sparkling "Fire,” unabashed romanticism of "Change Your Name” or the vocally-charged, guitar-shredding debut single "Take It On Back."
Raised in Orange Grove, TX (pop. 1,200), Bryant's grandfather played piano in Roy Orbison’s first two bands and, later, for Waylon Jennings. His uncles co-founded the group Ricochet, which had several hits in the '90s. "From the time I was a kid, the only thing I wanted to do was play music," he says.
"I was two or three years old and heard Jerry Lee Lewis’ 'Lewis Boogie' come on my grandfather’s record player. I remember hearing him say, 'My name is Jerry Lee Lewis and I’m from Louisiana' ... and I had an identity crisis! I thought I was Jerry Lee and would walk around saying that. In school, I was the odd kid. There were 20 guitars in town and I owned all of them."
Conway Twitty, Merle Haggard, Tom Petty, Vince Gill, Bob Wills, Steve Wariner, Bryan Adams and more were early influences, but a confluence of releases brought him to a turning point. "Keith Urban's Love, Pain & The Whole Crazy Thing and records by Sarah Buxton and Jedd Hughes did it," he says. "I knew I wanted to play mainstream country – I always knew. But those records told me that I could be that and still write guitar riffs that would stick in somebody’s head."
"I never wanted to be anybody else," he says. "My grandfather always told me ‘you can't be good at being anybody else. You can only be good at being yourself.’"
Songwriting was an integral part of his development. "It goes back, of course, to getting my heart broken in school," he says. "Some girl broke up with me – I may have been 11 or 12, and I just wrote it down. I was never great at reading, but I liked words, phrases and sentences. The only way I knew to let people know me is through writing. I'd just look at my life, grab some paper and put it down.
"The other thing I'd do is have melodies playing in my head. Something would pop up and I'd just go, 'There it is.' " Encouraged by his parents, particularly his school-teacher mother, he graduated early and moved west. "All I wanted to do was play music and Los Angeles was my first attempt," Bryant says. "Somebody asked me to go out there and write for this little company and I took the first flight. The dream was that simple, but you can't stop before the miracle happens. You have to keep going. And I feel like it was a miracle just making it out of Orange Grove. I loved L.A., but Nashville is where I wanted to come. I probably wrote 400 lousy songs before I wrote my first good one. But one good one was enough to get Nashville managers, pluggers and publishers on board."
Because of his Roy Orbison connection, someone suggested a meeting with Roy's widow, the late Barbara Orbison, a prominent Nashville publisher, who signed Bryant on the spot, making him her final signing before she passed.
That road led Bryant to BBR Music Group imprint Red Bow Records, to which he signed in August 2013. During one early meeting, Founder Benny Brown, notoriously picky about working with producers, surprised Bryant. "He'd listen to my demos and say, 'Where did you cut that?' or 'Who produced that?' And I'd always say, 'In my closet. Cut it myself. Played it myself.' Benny trusted me enough to co-produce with Derek George (Randy Houser, Joe Nichols). He gave me the reins, which was something I always wanted."
Brown's confidence was noteworthy if for no other reason than the fact that Bryant is completely self-taught as a producer. "There were no studios in Orange Grove," Bryant explains. "My parents took me to a Guitar Center and let me get what I needed. From there, I started building little tracks that I would listen to in the car and compare with what I heard on the radio. I taught myself how to make stuff sound bigger and better.”
Despite being on the cusp of exceptional achievement for someone so young (having recently been named one of “The Best Things We Saw at CMA Music Fest 2014” by Rolling Stone) Bryant sees little difference between himself and the audience. "We're all fans," he says. "We're all friends. And the music is our connection. To me, it's a lifelong relationship and we'll all get where we're going together. That's the beauty of music. This is the first chapter of my book, and I think people will find it defines where they're at just as much as it defines where I'm at -- because we're the same – I'm just the guy with the guitar. If I wasn't, I'd be the guy on the front row with his arm around his girl raising a glass to the guy onstage. No question. It's just who I am. Music is everything."
Take It On Back
Chase Bryant Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Take it on back to where the grass is greener
Yeah.
Alright
She was a south Georgia stunner
Hotter than hell in July
We tasted heaven that summer
We'd park down by the river
Steam up them windows real good
Wish I could go back and see her
You know I would Lord if I could
Take it on back, take it on back
Take it on back to where the grass is greener
Take it on back, take it on back
Back to when she and me were true believers
In love and all the things that come with it
Moonshine kisses, man I miss it
Take it on back, take it on back
Back to the best I ever had
Take it on (take it on, take it on)
Take it on back
Yeah!
Well I wonder if she ever wonders
If I'm thinkin' 'bout her too
'Cause I'm thinkin' I still love her
If she only knew all I wanna do
Is take it on back, take it on back
Take it on back to where the grass is greener
Take it on back, take it on back
Back to when she and me were true believers
In love and all the things that come with it
Moonshine kisses, man I miss it
Take it on back, take it on back
Back to the best I ever had
Take it on (take it on, take it on)
Take it on back
Take it on back to the truck bed blanket
Holdin' that girl 'til the sun come up
Take it on back to our song and crank it
Turn it up loud I can see her now
Take it on back, take it on back
Back to where the grass is greener
Take it on back, take it on back
Back to when she and me were true believers
In love and all the things that come with it
Moonshine kisses, man I miss it
Take it on back, take it on back
Back to the best I ever had
Take it on (take it on, take it on)
Take it on back
Take it on back
Take it on back (take it on back, take it on back)
Yeah I said take it on back (take it on back, take it on back)
Whoa yeah!
Take it on back (take it on back, take it on back)
(Take it on back to where the grass is greener)
Take it on back
Take it on back
The lyrics of Chase Bryant’s song “Take It On Back” talk about his yearning to go back to the past, a place where he felt free and happy. The song is about his memories of an intense relationship with a girl who was from South Georgia. Bryant reminisces driving down to the river with her where they shared steamy and blissful moments in the backseat of his truck, enjoying the pleasures of moonshine and each other’s company. He regrets letting it slip away without any clear reason why they parted. He longs to relive those moments and the feeling of being young and in love. He wishes he could travel back in time to the innocence and exuberance of that time and place, where everything seemed possible and the grass was greener.
Line by Line Meaning
Take it on back, take it on back
Let's go back to a better time
Take it on back to where the grass is greener
Back to a place where life was more beautiful and things were more perfect
Yeah.
Agreement or satisfaction
Alright
An expression of approval or agreement
She was a south Georgia stunner
She was an incredibly attractive woman from southern Georgia
Hotter than hell in July
Extremely attractive or appealing in the month of July
We tasted heaven that summer
We experienced a perfect summer together
Then said good-bye and I don't know why 'cause
We parted ways for no apparent reason
We'd park down by the river
We often parked our car by the river
Steam up them windows real good
We fogged up the car windows with our breath due to making out
Wish I could go back and see her
I desire to revisit our time together
You know I would Lord if I could
If it were possible, I certainly would
Back to when she and me were true believers
Return to the time when she and I would fully entrust and believe in each other
In love and all the things that come with it
The joys and struggles of being in a romantic relationship
Moonshine kisses, man I miss it
I miss the drunken kisses we shared
Well I wonder if she ever wonders
I am curious if she ever thinks about me
If I'm thinkin' 'bout her too
Does she think that I think about her too?
'Cause I'm thinkin' I still love her
I am thinking that I still love her
If she only knew all I wanna do
If only she knew all the things I desire to do with her
Take it on back to the truck bed blanket
Let's go back to cuddling under a blanket in the truck bed
Holdin' that girl 'til the sun come up
Holding her until sunrise
Take it on back to our song and crank it
Let's crank the volume up on our song and relive the moment
Turn it up loud I can see her now
Crank it up so loud that I can relive the moment and actually see her
Whoa yeah!
An expression of excitement or anticipation
Take it on back
Let's rewind the clock and revisit the past
Lyrics © Spirit Music Group, BMG Rights Management
Written by: CHASE YAKLIN, DYLAN Y ALTMAN, TOMMY LEE JAMES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
mspixiedust100
this needs to be on country radio more often
John Balascio
I have had this great song in my head since chase Brian put it out thank you so much man hope you come out with a lot more great songs like this one
Melissa Blakeway
Love him❤ he has such an attractive voice
Chill101
bounddrummer Actually, I have to say, I just saw him open for the Rascal Flatts and he sounds the same! It was a nice surprise!
aflores1078
That's called auto-tune, sweetheart.
Saundra Waller
I love this song! It's awesome!
Saundra Waller
@Chase Bryant you're welcome! I'm still here. I cannot get this song out of my head. :) It always came on the radio on my commute home. One day, I looked down and realize I was speeding WAY too fast. I was so into the music, I wasn't paying attention. It's a wonder I'm not a jailbird telling that story. :)
Chase Bryant
Thank you so much Saundra and I sincerely hope you never stop listening to my music 🎶❤️
Melissa Rubel
Saw him perform live at Stoneys in Las Vegas and he sounds so amazing!!! Perfect voice
Chase Bryant
Thank you so much Melissa and I sincerely hope you never stop listening to my music 🎶❤️