Chase Matthew Interview- Love You Again, Writing His Songs

In the past three years, country singer/songwriter Chase Matthew has risen from indie artist to major label artist with a Top 10 hit single, “Love You Again.” Last year he released his album, Come Get Your Memory on Warner Nashville Records, and he’s now headlining shows and opening big concert tours for Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean and Keith Urban.

Matthew’s single, “Love You Again,” has spent a remarkable 67 weeks on the Billboard Country Airplay chart and it’s now in the Top 10 and still moving up. The song has also spent 45 weeks on Billboar’sd Hot Country Songs chart and is still climbing. “Love You Again” was written by Matthew, Casey Brown & Taylor Phillips.

Matthew is a strong, expressive lead vocalist who has a likable personality, and he sometimes adds a hip-hop flavor to his country style. In addition, Matthew co-writes almost all of his songs.

Following the release his album, Come Get Your Memory (in June 2023), Matthew has been busy writing and releasing new music. In February of this year (2024), he released his EP called We All Grow Up, that includes the key songs “Darlin’,” “We All Grow Up” and “Small Town Shit.” Then two months ago he released his latest EP, Always Be Mine. This EP features his songs “Saltwater Cinderella,” “First” and the title cut, “Always Be Mine.”

Currently, Matthew is the supporting act on Jason Aldean’s major tour, and he recently completed shows with Luke Bryan. He has also been writing and recording songs for his next full album, which he’ll release in 2025.

Matthew, who is 26, was born in the small city of Sevierville, Tennessee, and then he moved with his family to Nashville. He mainly grew up in Nashville and fell in love with music, and he started writing songs when he was 13.

In his early 20s. Matthew signed with indie label Holler Boy Records, and he released his first album (Born For This) and EP (County Line). Notably, Matthew’s single “County Line” received wide exposure and has become a fan favorite.

Here’s the video of Chase Matthew’s hit, “Love You Again.”

Despite his indie success, Matthew wanted to reach a larger audience and get more radio airplay, so he signed with Warner Nashville Records. Soon after, his single “Love Me Again” started receiving airplay and began its steady climb up the Billboard charts.

While “Love Me Again” has continued its run on the charts, Matthew is also becoming known for his newer songs like “Saltwater Cinderella” and “Darlin’” which are favorites that he plays in his shows.

We are pleased to do this new Q&A interview with Chase Matthew. He tells the story behind his hit “Love Me Again,” and how he wrote his songs “Saltwater Cinderella,” “Darlin’,” “Still Got My Truck” and others.

DK: I read that you’re from Sevierville, Tennessee. How did you get started with music, singing and writing songs?

Chase Matthew: I was born in Sevierville, but I’ve been in Nashville since I was three months old. Growing up in Music City, you’re always surrounded by music. So it’s kind of hard (laughs) to not be a part of it in some way.

DK: On some of your songs, you mix a hip-hop flavor with your country music style. Have you always been a hip-hop fan?

Matthew: Being in Nashville, it’s not just country music here. I think that’s one of the biggest misconceptions of Nashville…that it’s all country music. It’s really music in general. So I’ve been around all kinds of music growing up, and I’m just being myself with music…the way I operate, the things I listen to. And I think that’s what makes me unique, too.

DK: Early on as an indie artist, you signed with Holler Boy Records. Can you talk about that period in your career?

Matthew: I did a record deal with Holler Boy Records and I put out an album and EP. The album did really well, and it had a single on it called “County Line’ that started everything for me. And it spiraled into being everybody’s favorite song to sing at my shows.

Here’s the video of Chase Matthew’s song, “Darlin’.”

DK: From your first album, I like your song “Still Got My Truck.” Can you talk about writing that song?

Matthew: I wrote that song with a buddy of mine, Will Pattat, and it’s cool how that one came to be because I’ve had that truck since day one…for a long time. Early on I would sell my truck to fund my music, and I would buy it back when I made some money. And for a long time I would sell it, and I never knew If I was gonna get it back. Finally, I got it back and I wasn’t gonna sell it anymore (laughs). So I’ve still got my truck and that’s where the idea came from. I love that song a lot.

DK: After your first album, you signed with Warner Nashville Records. How did you connect with them and decide to sign with them?

Matthew: I felt like we had hit a limit with the independent side of things, and I knew there were more levels to accomplish. I wanted to build myself more into the mainstream side of things. So it was cool to build a bridge with Warners because I needed radio play. I’ve always dreamed of hearing myself on the radio. Warners were interested in what my goals were and they’ve been an awesome partner. They’ve never tried to cage me and they let me be Chase. That’s what I love about it, and now we’ve got a song in the Top 5 and we’re super excited about it.

DK: Last year you released your single “Love You Again,” which became a hit and is still on the charts. Can you tell the story of writing that song and how it became a hit?

Matthew: Yeah we wrote that song in like 30 minutes. It’s kind of a crazy story. I sat down with my buddy Taylor Phillips for the first time. We had talked a bunch about writing together and we finally did it. We went over to our now good friend Casey Brown and we wrote the song and it happened fast. And the demo we made that day pretty much became the record that you hear today. Sometimes you can’t replicate that energy in the studio, so we just used what we had. The vocal that you hear is just me holding the microphone in my hand…it wasn’t even on a stand or anything.

Here’s the video of Chase Matthew’s song, “Saltwater Cinderella.”

That song has shown me what it takes to be a household name someday, and to have a song that’s not only streaming big, but you’ll hear on the radio for a long time. So I’m grateful that I got to partner with some guys and write a timeless record.

DK: Your first album on Warner Nashville Records, Come Get Your Memory, has 25 songs on it. Can you talk about this album, and what are your favorite songs on it?

Matthew: With Come Get Your Memory…I had so many songs to choose from. I wanted to do something different, but I also didn’t want to do something that was too far out of the box. The title track “Come Get Your Memory” is one of my favorites from that album. “Rainy Days” is also one of my favorites. I think “Rainy Days” is a song that a lot of us can relate to. There’s a lot of ups and downs. There’s a lot of things in life that we beat ourselves up about. But we gotta remember that without the rainy days, the sunny days wouldn’t mean anything to us.

DK: In February this year, you released your EP, We All Grow Up. I like your songs “We All Grow Up,” “Small Town Shit” and “Darlin.” Can you talk about making this EP?

Matthew: The We All Grow Up EP was kind of crazy, because we threw it together really fast. We wrote “Darlin’,” which is a featured track, in a casino. We went out to this casino when we had a couple days to kill out west. So we stayed at this casino hotel for two days, and we wrote this song that changed everything for us recently. “Darlin” was an instrumental from Jake Angel the producer out of the U.K, and we wrote it to the track and we took it back to Nashville. We finished it up with my buddy Alex Maxwell who’s an amazing producer at Sony. And it’s currently become the hype track. “Love You Again” is one they go crazy for; the same thing with “County Line.” But when we hit that four on the floor (with “Darlin’”), people can’t deny it.

DK: I like your video of “Darlin’” which has a story that’s very funny. How did you come up with the idea for this video?

Here’s the video of Chase Matthew’s song, “We All Grow Up.”

Matthew: The video (laughs) is probably the most mind-blowing part of that whole release, because it came to be overnight. I work with a guy named Wes Webb and he’s been one of my video friends…he’s always supported me. Whatever idea I have, he’s ready to run with it.

No kidding—we came up with the idea just 12 hours before the video shoot. It was midnight when we were hanging out in the studio of my house, and I said, “Man, we’ve gotta shoot a music video tomorrow, and I have no idea what we’re gonna do.” It was then that we came up with the whole concept. So I called my band at midnight and said, “I need you guys to be at my house in the morning. I’ve got this awesome idea.” We called an audio guy, a lighting guy, got extra helpers and Dude, it came to be so fast. We called all our friends from Nashville—it was a Tuesday night and they all pulled up and we filmed the whole thing. It was like run & gun. We came up with the whole storyline as we went, and we all had a hand in it. It was really cool. (The “Darlin’” video now has over 5 million views on YouTube).

DK: Two months ago you released your latest EP, Always Be Mine, and I like your songs “Saltwater Cinderella” and “First.” What’s the story behind writing “Saltwater Cinderella”?

Matthew: I got the idea for “Saltwater Cinderella” when I played at Tortuga Music Festival in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We were on the beach, and I thought it’d been awhile since country music had a beachy song, especially about a girl. I was thinking… how do I say Princess of the Ocean? Then I came up with the title Saltwater Cinderella, and I immediately called Alex Maxwell, Will Pattat and Jacob Rice. Then as soon as I got home we wrote the song together. It was such a great team to write that song with, and the music video came out really well.

DK: This year you’ve released two EPs. Are you currently working on your next full album?

Matthew: Yes I am. I’m working on my next full album right now. I plan on releasing it the top of next year, around a lot of other things as well. So it’ll be a cool rollout and I’m excited for you to see it.

Here’s the video of Chase Matthew’s song, “Still Got My Truck.”

DK: I visited your website and saw your tour page. It looks like you’re playing a lot of shows across the country. Can you talk about your live shows and tour?

Matthew: I just wrapped up my portion of the dates with Luke Bryan on his tour. And right now, I’m out with Jason Aldean on his Highway Desperado Tour. Those are two A-1 teams that I can learn from, and it’s amazing to be out on the road with them. Then a couple days ago we announced that we’re going to Australia with Keith Urban. So we have a lot of touring happening this year, and next year is full throttle as well. We’re also doing a run of headline shows this fall and we’re always doing headline shows in-between. So I’m always on the road—I never really take time off unless it’s around Christmastime when I unwind and spend time with my family.

DK: Thank you Chase for doing this interview. Is there anything that we haven’t talked about yet that you’d like to mention for this article?

Matthew: Man, just keep your eyes peeled because next year is going to be absolutely massive and I mean it. I’m not just saying it (laughs). There’s a few things I wish I could say, but I can’t tell you just yet.