Rice goes back to roots with upocming CD

Featuring 13 tracks, including recent releases "Key West & Colorado" and "Way Down Yonder," plus a reimagined album version of "If I Were Rock & Roll," the project honors his late father, Daniel Rice, with its cover art. He died 14 years ago when Chase Rice was 22.

"My dad was one of those good guys you read about – tough, hardworking, always helping other people out," Rice said. "I try to live my life in a way that would make him proud. I haven't always measured up to that, but I get closer to that man I want to be and the man he'd be proud of every single day.

"Making this album was a big step towards that musically, too," he said. "Not only is it the most vulnerable I've ever been, it's also something he'd enjoy listening to and is full of stories I wish I could tell him. I've always wanted to honor him by using this photo as an album cover, and I know this project is the one that deserves that. I can't wait for y'all to hear it."

Building on solo songwriting sessions with his acoustic guitar plus trips with friends where songs were born from real life as opposed to Music Row writing appointments, Rice took the same approach into the recording process with producer Oscar Charles. Forgoing a traditional studio, Rice and Charles turned his rural home into their 24/7 workspace, bringing in a live band with no click track to capture a rugged, authentic sound.

"It was incredible," Rice told CMT. "He gets in there, grinds and doesn't just try to do the same old thing. If I didn't feel like we had something vocally, we didn't just tweak it. He would say, 'step up, and sing it right.' We wanted to make everything great. He pushed me, and we pushed each other. This album brought my voice and songs to life in a way people have never heard before."

Rice helped write all 13 songs, including three solo.

The track list is:
1. Walk That Easy (Chase Rice, William Reames, Barton Davies, Jonathan Sherwood, Oscar Charles)
2. All Dogs Go To Hell (Chase Rice, Joshua Miller, John Byron)
3. Way Down Yonder (Chase Rice, Hunter Phelps, John Byron, Blake Pendergrass, Corey Crowder)
4. Key West & Colorado (Chase Rice, Brian Kelley, Corey Crowder, Blake Pendergrass, John Byron, Hunter Phelps)
5. Bench Seat (Chase Rice)
6. Life Part Of Livin' (Chase Rice)
7. Bad Day To Be A Cold Beer (Chase Rice, Blake Pendergrass, John Byron, Justin Thomas)
8. Oklahoma feat. Read Southall Band (Chase Rice, William Reames, Barton Davies, Jonathan Sherwood, Oscar Charles, Read Southall)
9. I Walk Alone (Chase Rice, Jaxson Free, Josh Hoge)
10. Sorry Momma (Chase Rice, Hunter Phelps, Ben Johnson)
11. If I Were Rock & Roll (Album Version) (Chase Rice)
12. Goodnight Nancy feat. Boy Named Banjo (Chase Rice, Oscar Charles, Barton Davies, William Reames, Jonathan Sherwood)
I Hate Cowboys (Chase Rice, Michael Hardy, Ross Copperman, Brad Tursi)