Chris Stapleton and Travis Tritt: How 1999 Kentucky tribute band for country star solidified a music career
Chris Stapleton’s artistry in country music is a long legacy. Within a decade of writing his own music, the Kentucky singer-songwriter went from working for a publishing house to getting recognition on the bluegrass chart, platinum sales and critical acclaims, which solidified his claim in country music. His debut album ‘Traveller’ in 2015 got him his first number one on the US Billboard 200 and was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). His second album ‘From A Room: Volume 1’ earned him his second CMA album of the year award along with ‘From a Room: Volume 2’ bringing Grammy Award for the best country album.
Stapleton started his career in music in 1999 when he started a Travis Tritt tribute band in his home Staffordsville, Kentucky for a few months. He still listens to Travis Tritt to feel at home, the singer shares. In 2001, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue a career in songwriting and creating music. He also signed a deal with a publishing house, Sea Gayle Music shortly after moving to Tennessee. Reflecting on his earlier days when Stapleton moved to Nashville, he says, “I was never a hustler. I would write my songs, go home, send them to a publisher, and they would find their way … or not. I might’ve pitched a song to maybe two people in my entire career. There were always much better salesmen than me.”
Though Stapleton’s national fame and acclaim came in abound with his debut solo album Traveller, he got his first recognition with the 'The Steeldrivers', a bluegrass group where Stapleton as a lead singer brought their self-titled debut album, a Grammy nomination and No. 57 on the U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums chart. Stapleton later founded a Southern Rock band ‘The Jompson Brothers’.
Stapleton is often regarded as the modern-day helmsman who makes people curious about the traditional roots of country music. His first album ‘Traveller’ made a lot of non-country music enthusiasts look this way as his unique approach to country with bluesy beats and an undeniable influence of rock lent the dynamic album a different character while maintaining its inane "countryness".
But in a recent interview with Vulture, the five Grammy awards winner shared that he doesn’t feel boxed in to just being committed to a particular genre while appreciating people finding new-found interest in country music for him. He said, “If part of what I do is send people looking at more traditional elements of country music, I think that’s a good thing, not that anything progressive or new is necessarily bad. I’m not someone who picks some kind of standard and says, “Yeah, this is good, and this sucks.”
“I don’t feel boxed in, and I don’t feel in any way held back by anybody at any time” adding “But, I also play things that are probably extremely contrary to whatever people think I am sometimes. If something’s interesting to me musically, whether as a writer or as an artist, we’re going to hop in there and see what happens. That’s the beauty of music.”
Stapleton’s first solo single ‘What Are You Listening To?’ released in 2013 which was a part of a record that never came. Stapleton co-wrote the theme 'All-Nighter Comin' for ‘The WSM All Nighter’ with Marcia Campbell, a popular radio show. He also wrote music for feature films, including ‘Valentine's Day’, ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip’ and ‘Hell or High Water’. After his debut solo album’s overwhelming success, Stapleton performed at NPR Tiny Desk Concert in November 2015 with his wife Morgane. Stapleton started ‘Traveller’ a story of love, loss, and unwinding tales with weed and whiskey and in 2020, with his latest album ‘Starting Over’, Stapleton is very much referring to his past or clinging on to whatever feels ‘home’ to him. The Album featuring 14 songs has one for each of Stapleton’s hallmark characteristics. His ‘Arkansas’ is southern-rock influenced while ‘Maggie’s Song’ is a warm, feel-good number, the album at once cherishing domestic joy and the highs of weed.
From 1999 to 2020, Chris Stapleton made a different genre within country music itself as the singer says, “There’s two kinds of music: good music and bad music. I try to lean into the good as much as I can. We’re all figuring it out. If you accidentally do something that’s not so happening but felt like it was in the moment, that’s just trying to find it. That’s continuing the journey. That’s attempting to be an artist. I don’t even like to call myself an artist because I feel like that’s for someone else to do. Artist is a word I feel is pretty holy. I’m an entertainer. If somebody else thinks I’m an artist, that’s the highest compliment.”