Before he became the star we know him as today, Chris Stapleton was best known as a songwriter who wrote hit for other artists.
Stapleton told Dax Shepard on the Armchair Expert podcast that he was writing songs with a man named Mike Henderson, and while some of them were getting recorded by major country stars like Luke Bryan and Kenny Chesney, there were a handful of bluegrass songs that the two knew wouldn’t make it to commercial country radio.
What Was Chris Stapleton’s First Band?
So the two men decided to start a band to play just those songs. They formed The Steeldrivers in 2007.
The band wound up doing really well and got signed to a bluegrass label.
But Stapleton was then fired from the band he helped create.
He explained, “One of the guys in the band developed a fear of flying and I had an opinion about what we needed to do and everyone else in the band had a different opinion, so they got somebody else.”
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Stapleton even capped off the comment by saying, “I probably shouldn’t be saying that on here, but that’s technically the truth.”
Was Chris Stapleton’s Band Experience a Good One?
Although he got fired, he explains “That made me a better writer, I learned a lot from the guys in the band, they were all session players, pros. I learned how to be in a band, in that band.”
The “Starting Over” singer explained how looking back, he needed that experience to get him ready for touring as a solo artist.
Did Chris Stapleton Always Want to Be a Singer?
No, he sure didn’t. He says, “I moved to Nashville to be a songwriter. But, I also took a pretty big hit in songwriting income because I was touring in that band. I was losing money playing in that band. It was stressful for my wife. “
Stapleton kept going though because he was enjoying what he did and felt he needed that creative outlet for those bluegrass songs to go and live forever.
Want more Chris Stapleton in your life?
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