{"id":65238,"date":"2026-05-24T14:09:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T14:09:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/24\/ben-chapman-of-peach-jam-makes-his-became-a-man-album\/"},"modified":"2026-05-24T14:09:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T14:09:31","slug":"ben-chapman-of-peach-jam-makes-his-became-a-man-album","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/24\/ben-chapman-of-peach-jam-makes-his-became-a-man-album\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben Chapman of ‘Peach Jam’ Makes His ‘Became a Man’ Album"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n\tBen Chapman<\/a> rang in 2025 the same way a lot of grind-it-out songwriters did: By throwing a rager at his Nashville home. Chapman and his girlfriend at the time, Meg McRee<\/a>, welcomed friends into their home, counted down to a midnight toast, and made resolutions like \u201cGive zero fucks for the next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTwo days later, McRee told him she wasn\u2019t feeling well. She took a pregnancy test. \u201cIt lit up like a Christmas tree,\u201d Chapman tells Rolling Stone.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n\tThe shock for Chapman and McRee quickly turned into a life-changing year. They were married in the spring. In September, they welcomed<\/a> their firstborn \u2014 a boy they named George.<\/p>\n

\n\tOn the list of things eternally altered that holiday weekend for the 28-year-old Chapman was his latest studio album, Feet on Fire<\/em>, which dropped this past Friday. He had been about halfway through recording what became a 12-track project \u2014\u00a0his first record since 2024\u2019s Downbeat<\/em> \u2014 when he and McRee got the news that they were going to be parents.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI had about six songs done that I knew for sure were going on there,\u201d Chapman says. \u201cThe other six were during that period of, \u2018Oh my God, my life is gonna change. I don\u2019t know what this looks like. We are so excited, but scared as fuck.\u2019 It was a two-part record.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWith Anderson East \u2014 who had previously produced Downbeat<\/em> \u2014\u00a0at the controls, Chapman worked through the uncertainty with songs steeped in change, new beginnings, and hope.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAll 12 songs fit together,\u201d Chapman says. \u201cIt\u2019s by far my favorite record that I\u2019ve ever been a part of. I think I dig it because it\u2019s so true. Not that the other ones aren\u2019t true, but this is the record where I became a man.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOn the song \u201cBaby Blue,\u201d which he and McRee co-wrote, he sings about \u201ctradin\u2019 the old for the new, and painting it baby blue,\u201d over a heavy, room-filling piano riff. His twangy Georgia vocals are front and center, marking a sharp contrast from \u201cEverything\u2019s Different,\u201d which was written before he and McRee learned they were expecting. On that song, Chapman laments about his unwillingness to evolve. \u201cStill ain\u2019t seeing no one in the mirror\/I don\u2019t recognize the face\/Everything\u2019s different, but ain\u2019t nothing changed,\u201d he sings.<\/p>\n

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\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

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