Kentucky-born Adam Chaffins has perfected the Nashville ‘survival strategy’. Rather than arriving in town with a couple of songs under his belt and stars in his eyes, through hard work and an astute understanding of what was required to establish himself in the town, Adam has several irons in the fire. He now divides his time between his solo recording and performing career, working as a hired gun for Billy Strings, Lee Ann Womack, Kendall Marvel, writing songs for The Infamous Stringdusters and many others, and producing his wife Brit Taylor’s recent release LAND OF THE FORGOTTEN. His talent as a writer was underlined in 2022 when he signed a publishing deal with the Spirit Music Group’s CEO Frank Rogers. Adam recently spoke with Lonesome Highway about his sixteen-year experience in Nashville and his new fourteen-track album, TRAILER TRASH: DOUBLEWIDE.
I understand that your musical studies included voice, traditional and jazz studies.
Yes, technically, I have a degree in jazz studies. Still, during that time, I was also in a traditional music program; toward the end, I didn't really take classes, but I was in all the ensembles and played in orchestras as well. Although my love for music started with country, I definitely tried to learn as much as I could about music in general before I started making my own records.
Moving to Nashville, was your focus on songwriting, session playing or a solo career?
All of it, honestly. I didn't know exactly how it was going to happen. I think some people previously moved to Nashville with, like these three songs, and I'm going to be a star. Well, that was how it used to be. Now it's “I have two viral videos, so now I'm gonna move to Nashville.” But when I got here, I wanted to learn how I could be part of the fabric of this town, learn from folks who've come before me, and try to honour what's come before me, while also making a new statement for the art form moving forward.
You are in the optimum spot: writing, session playing, touring and a solo career, the perfect mix.
I've really been considering that lately; it honestly just all fell into place. But if I'm being honest, it probably was by design. I think I wanted to be a part of all those things. I remember moving here and just thinking that, at that time, I just wanted to be in a van full of pickers, playing bluegrass music at festivals. However, I could get that, and it didn't have to be my name on the bus or whatever, once I could get on the road. I just wanted to be on tour so bad. It was a physical thing; I was aching to travel, see stuff, and get out there. And I think that's what pushed me to jump into the mix of it. Then there's such an ebb and flow; music is different. It's not like there's this job offering, and everyone puts in an application, and you get called. It's whatever tends to happen for you. You wait for the phone to ring for gigs, for co-writes, for sessions, for all of it, and I've been lucky that my phone has stayed constantly ringing since I moved here.
East Kentucky has produced megastars in the past like Loretta Lynn, Dwight Yoakam, Tom T Hall, Ricky Skaggs, Patty Loveless, Gary Stewart, Chris Stapleton, and, in more recent years, Tyler Childers, Kelsey Waldon, Sturgill Simpson, and S.G. Goodman. What is it about that State that produces such talent?
I don’t know, they say it's something in the water, and I always say it's probably the mercury from all the coal mines. Music is a huge part of the culture there, which is funny because in East Kentucky, there's not necessarily a ton of venues. That's changing. But when I was growing up, you know, there were local fairs and things like that and there was a little coffee shop in my hometown where me and Tyler Childers used to hang out growing up. Chris Stapleton is not far from where I grew up, and obviously Ricky (Skaggs) is from my hometown as well, and most of those folks made their way to Nashville.
You followed in the footsteps of some very big hitters who also made that move.
I was inspired by that too because Nashville is turning into a major city. It's still pound for pound the best music-making town in the world, just as far as writers and players are concerned. Whatever project you want to make, you can do it in Nashville, and that's why I'm always inspired by being here. In the sixteen years I've lived here, I always feel like I have a good handle on it, and then you open some door, and there's this whole thing that you never knew existed, or maybe it's brand new, and you've just been doing something else at that time. I'm constantly inspired by living here.
TRAILER TRASH: DOUBLEWIDE is very much an East Kentucky record.
The record pays homage to where I grew up. In some ways, I'm also fantasising about some things I want the rest of the world to perceive about Kentucky. So, there's a lot of influence there. That's why there are so many songwriters from there. The subject matter lends itself to songs about larger-than-life people, so it's definitely a hotbed of things. I know it's funny, but I know so many people who stayed at home to work jobs and are some of the best pickers and singers I've ever heard in my life. People who inspired me, like local players, that really pushed me to want to be better.
You released the five-track EP, TRAILER TRASH, last year, and the latest record is an extension of that EP.
We recorded those five songs first, and we had the rest of it recorded afterwards. Nowadays, especially as a new artist, I consider myself an album artist. I love to have one collection of thoughts on one record, one solid cohesive thing, and I think all the songs from DOUBLEWIDE kind of did that. Fourteen songs is more than normal; it's almost a double record at that point. But it seemed like there was nothing we wanted to cut; every one of those songs fit the entire idea I had with TRAILER TRASH, and I think the rest of the songs support the project's message. We recorded the rest of DOUBLEWIDE in a few days, and then two days after that, we went in the studio, and I produced Brit’s (Taylor) record. So, we made both of those records literally in less than two weeks. Within seven days, we recorded all that music.
How does writing for others compare with writing songs for yourself?
I always say I let the song decide if it's for me to record or for someone else to record. That can be tough because I write hundreds of songs; only a very small portion of them feel truly like my voice, because whatever happens in the ether just comes out. So, there are songs that Brit and I have written, and I think maybe I'll get to them first. There are tons of songs off Brit’s LAND OF THE FORGOTTEN record that I would record as well. You know, there's a song on there called Bars Closing that I feel could be from a male or female perspective. A good song is universal; we're reminded of that here in Nashville, especially with the passing of Dolly Parton, and seeing so many different tributes to her. It's like her songs were just so universal, and I think Brit and I both are just inspired by songwriters who write universally, and that's just what we try to do all the time.
Getting a publishing deal with Frank Rogers at Spirit Music Group must have been a major career endorsement for you?
In Nashville and the music business, often one entity is only necessarily attracted to you because all these other entities are. They're like, “What are they into? If they like it, I should like it too.” I had a pretty good back-and-forth happening, and I had a few different opportunities. I got to write with Mike Fiorentino, who's also a producer on my record. We were in his office at Spirit; we were writing songs, and he asked, “What are you working on? Can you send me some more songs that you’ve got?” I've written hundreds with a publishing deal, but at that time I felt very reserved about sharing that many songs. So, I was only sending certain songs, like a small batch of things, to some others, but with Mike and knowing that Frank (Rogers) and Derek Wells and some other people that were there, I trusted these people. So, I sent them a ton of songs I was working on, and they were instantly interested. The next week I went in for a meeting, and Frank offered me a deal before I left his office, which I felt pretty good about.
I’m not surprised you felt good, being only the only the third songwriter to receive such an offer from Frank Rogers, alongside Chris Stapleton and Josh Turner.
Yes, and before the ink was dry on the contract, I got a call from one of the other publishers saying Kenny Chesney's looking for songs right now to record for a project. I was on tour in Spain with Kendall Marvel, at a festival just outside Madrid, and I got a text message saying I'd been called by Kenny's label, and they put my song on hold. It didn't make that project then, so it seemed like it was in limbo, but it's on his next record coming out this next year. One minute you're just sitting around thinking, "How am I going to keep doing this? And the next minute, Kenny Chesney's cutting your songs. So that's another testament to Nashville and the magic that can happen here if you stay around long enough.
Is the song King Of Coal Dust County, from the new record, based on a particular individual?
One specific character spurred the whole idea, and then we wrapped it in tales of what some other people had done around there, taking some creative artistic liberties. A few different things led into that song. We tried to write him a better ending than the one this particular character faced. The guy that we were writing the song about was actually apprehended at a Pizza Hut in Honduras for evading the country. People thought he was hiding in a whale mine, and a lot of people didn't turn him in until they caught him. So, that was based on true events.
Does the song You Get Drunk, I’ll Get High reflect the perfect formula for a happy marriage?
I think so (laughs). We were writing another song that's on Brit’s LAND OF THE FORGOTTEN record; I think that other song was Lately I’ve Been Thinking. And in the middle of writing that song with Adam Wright, we spun off and wrote You Get Drunk, I’ll Get High, and then we went back and finished the other song. We wrote both at the same time; it was a really productive day.
Was it your ambition to marry a fellow Kentuckian?
I gotta be honest, I think my intention was the complete opposite. I was thinking of something far more worldly. And what's funny is, we were connected via a mutual friend from Alaska. When Brit and I go home for the holidays, both our families are within an hour's drive of each other in East Kentucky, so it just seemed like we shared so many similarities in our thought process, our life path, and our understanding of what we do. And also, coming from East Kentucky, and I'm sure you know, we have a lot of, you know, Irish descendants from there. It’s the same thing where there's a mindset or a way of life: when you walk into a room with a fellow Irishman, you have a camaraderie, and that's the same thing with people from Appalachia. You have this complete understanding; there's a cadence to the way you talk. Also, Brit and me had the same ambition: to move to Nashville, write songs, release them, and eventually talk to people like you from around the world.
A character like the one you write about in Dive Bar Moses could probably be found in every town.
It was funny; the great Russ Paul played the pedal steel on that, and when we were in the studio, listening back, he said: "Man, I see a bar in Ireland and people singing along to this song and just sloshing beer back.” That was another song that just wrote itself, and when you write a song like that, why would I not record it?
We’re looking forward to your showcase event at AmericanaFest in Nashville in a few weeks at Bobby’s Idle Hour. You have a super lineup with yourself, Brit, Adam Wright, The Reeves, Brothers, Dee White, Levi Foster and Silverada all due to perform.
That's going to be an outdoor venue; it’s not in Bobby's Idle Hour, the bar itself. Weather permitting, we're planning to put a stage out back and do a little street party. I just wanted something to create an event that's just a true honky tonk, and a bunch of people just getting together in a tight circle and jamming out. That's going to be so much fun. I've been as excited about that. It's going to be really fun, and that's the first day of the festival. Like, literally, we get to be one of the events kicking off all of AmericanaFest in the heart of Music Row at a venue that I think is anti-establishment in a lot of ways. Yeah, we're excited for that.
Interview by Declan Culliton