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Chris Stapleton<\/a>‘s “Nobody to Blame” lyrics and arrangement brought an air of gritty authenticity back to country music in 2015, and according to one of its writers, the song came straight from real life.<\/p>\n Barry Bales jokingly added that he “hated” Stapleton before he ever met and worked with him, because he was sick of hearing so many people gush over him and his talent.<\/p>\n “Nobody to Blame” was the third single from Stapleton’s acclaimed, award-winning debut album, Traveller<\/em>, but at the time Stapleton, Ronnie Bowman and Barry Bales got together to write it, Stapleton was one of Nashville’s most highly respected best-kept secrets and had not yet signed his deal.<\/p>\n The trio all knew each other and were collaborators, but it was one of the first times they’d written together as a trio.<\/p>\n “I go walking into his little writing house that he has out back, and there sits Ronnie, who’s been a friend of mine for years and years and years. So that was great right off the bat,” Bales told Taste of Country in 2016.<\/p>\n “Ronnie’s quite a character. He came in, and he was all flustered. He and his wife had sort of had a little go-around or something, and he was telling us the story,” Bales recalled.<\/p>\n “He goes through the whole thing and he gets to the end, and he goes, ‘But you know, I’ve got nobody to blame but me.’ And me and Chris, immediately our heads just snapped, looking at each other and saying, ‘That’s our song, right there.'”<\/p>\n According to Bales \u2014\u00a0who, in addition to his successful songwriting career, is a 14-time Grammy winner and member of Alison Krauss<\/a> and Union Station \u2014\u00a0the song came quickly in a single writing session. “It really didn’t take an awful lot of time or banging our heads against the wall. With those guys, they’re so talented, it came pretty easy.”<\/p>\n “It was a group effort on lyrics, and Chris is such a force of nature that when you’re writing with him, you’ve just got to jump on it and hang on for the ride.<\/p>\n “He’s always oozing music, and words and melodies. He’ll come into the room, and he’ll be sorta scatting out an idea that he had on the way over. He launched it with a guitar riff, and we kinda jumped in with lyrics and little tweaks here and there.”<\/p>\n The “Nobody to Blame” lyrics are a clever twist on a standard country theme: “I know right where I went wrong \/\u00a0I know just what got her gone \/\u00a0Turned my life into this country song \/\u00a0And I got nobody to blame but me,”<\/em> the chorus states.<\/p>\n They made a rough recording of the song, but never recorded a formal demo. It wasn’t being pitched around Nashville, but “Nobody to Blame” still resonated with all three writers.<\/p>\n “Every once in a while I’d run into Ronnie or Chris, and they’d say, ‘Man, that song is just stuck in my head,’ and I always figured it would sure be great if we could get it to somebody to cut,” Bales said.<\/p>\n “I never dreamed it would be Chris cutting it and having success with it. That just makes it so much better, having been a friend and a fan for so long.”<\/p>\n Stapleton ended up getting his own solo recording deal and including “Nobody to Blame” on his Traveller<\/em> record, which was a much-celebrated album that was little-known outside of critical circles until Nov. 4, 2015, when Stapleton made one of the most surprising sweeps<\/a> in CMA Awards history, winning Best New Artist, Male Vocalist and Album of the Year.<\/p>\n He capped off his life-changing night with a star-making duet performance<\/a> with Justin Timberlake<\/a> that was the hands-down highlight of the show, and “Nobody to Blame” was his first new single after that.<\/p>\n The song reached No. 10 on Billboard<\/em>‘s Country Airplay chart, giving Stapleton his first-ever Top 10 hit.<\/p>\n “As everybody has said, he’s so deserving,” Bales noted.<\/p>\n “Chris\u00a0was one of those guys that I heard so much about how good he was that before I ever met him, I hated him. It’s like, ‘Enough about Chris Stapleton already!’<\/p>\n “But then you hear him and you just can’t describe it. It’s a hundred times better than anybody ever alluded to, and then on top of that, he’s an incredibly nice and humble guy. So you can’t help but really be fond of him.”<\/p>\n A new exhibit highlighting the life and career of Chris Stapleton is currently open at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in downtown Nashville.<\/p>\n Chris Stapleton: Since 1978<\/em>\u00a0includes childhood keepsakes, instruments, awards, clothing and unique keepsakes that tell the story of the Kentucky native’s journey from an aspiring songwriter to one of country music’s biggest stars.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Gallery Credit: Lorie Liebig<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nWho Wrote Chris Stapleton’s “Nobody to Blame”?<\/h3>\n
What Inspired Chis Stapleton’s “Nobody to Blame”?<\/h3>\n
How Did Chris Stapleton’s “Nobody to Blame” Do in the Country Charts?<\/h3>\n
What Is Chris Stapleton Like in Real Life?<\/h3>\n
PHOTOS: See Inside Chris Stapleton’s New Country Music Hall of Fame Exhibit<\/h2>\n