Chris Stapleton has been around Nashville for a good bit now as a songwriter, “Drink a Beer” sung by Luke Bryan was a co-write of his, but he recently released his debut album Traveller and is giving it a go as a solo-artist.
Artists like Sturgill Simpson have paved the way for that old-school sound to become popular in Nashville, and that’s the chance that Stapleton’s label is taking. The title-track to the album could have been cut by James Taylor and no one would have thought it out of place. It’s no wonder then that Stapleton jumped at the chance to record parts at the famous Studio A in Nashville, where Elvis and many others have done the same.
“Every song that was played in there was affected by the fact that we were in there,” Stapleton tells Radio.com. ”It’s like playing in the Ryman Auditorium: You can’t help but know that you’re in the Ryman when you play the Ryman.
“It can elevate you and frighten you at the same time,” he adds. “In this case, for me personally, I think the location elevated what we were doing.”
Recording in the historic studio brought out a special sound for Stapleton, especially since the size of the room was massive enough for the entire band to record together.
“Certainly the room has a sound, and if you don’t want that sound, you don’t need to be in that room. But yeah — we recorded with all of us in one room, because it’s large enough to do that, and we’re using the sound of the room,” he says. “… It’s all kind of a blur for me. I could tell you moments that happened within the course of doing it, but we were just having fun, which I think was the way the music should be played.
“We have a tendency in Nashville to put restrictions on it, with set times to start and finish. We tried to eliminate as much of that as we could, to make it just guys playing music and enjoying music. To make it feel like hanging out …” Stapleton continues. “It was kid in a candy store for everybody involved.”
“Traveller” by Chris Stapleton
