Nashville songwriter Ben Chapman has had an incredibly productive few years. Since bursting on the scene with his debut song, “Hippie Speedball,” in 2021, he’s released two albums and a constant stream of one-off singles. As a songwriter for Hillary Lindsey’s Hang Your Hat publishing company, he’s also had cuts with country headliners including Flatland Cavalry and Muscadine Bloodline.
But all things considered, many of Chapman’s fans actually discovered him by way of his live performances. Raised in the small town of Lafayette, Georgia, he moved to Nashville in 2019 and immediately got to work playing and touring extensively. His residency at the Basement East, Peach Jam, has become one of the most buzzed-about events in the Nashville live music scene and has guest starred everyone from Lainey Wilson to Hayes Carll to Lukas Nelson.
This Friday, Chapman is dropping his third full-length album, Downbeat. Produced by Grammy-nominated producer Anderson East, the 10-track LP finds him more focused than ever on himself as an artist with a singular, unmistakeable blend of country-funk and closes out 2024 as one of the strongest releases of the year.
We caught up with Chapman ahead of his release.
You have said this album shows a new side of yourself as an artist. Can you talk more about that?
I think this is the first record that really shows me and who I am as a musician. Not that I don’t like my first two records, but it was just a little more sugar-coated, if that makes sense. This one is super raw — I mean we cut it all live on the floor. So there was just a lot more risk to be taken, but I feel like with any great art, with risk comes reward. Or sometimes you fuck up, but most of the time you come out on the better side, and you know yourself a little bit more. I think this is kind of the rebirth of what I’m trying to do.
Was it intimidating recording everything live like that?
Man, to me, that way is easier. Otherwise you got the drums, then the bass goes down, then you get a guitar in there, then you sing on top of it…it’s like, to me that’s more stressful than doing no click and just laying the song down. ‘Cause we’re all musicians, you know? We all get the gist of what we’re doing.
What was it like working with Anderson East?
It was intimidating at first, but like, we were writers before he produced it. Me and him have probably written three or four songs. Originally, I was thinking about recording down in Texas, but then he [Anderson] was like, “Man, I’m building a studio in my backyard. Don’t go to Texas and spend all that money. I’ve got the players that I think would sound great, let’s just fucking do it.” I was blown away that he wanted to, because I’ve always been a fan of his.
A lot has happened since you moved to Nashville five years ago. When did you start feeling the momentum go as a songwriter?
So when I moved here, I just thumbed around for like two years. I met a group of guys, like Jobe Fortner, Matt Daniel, Nate Frederick…that was kind of my group that I ran with for two or three years. And we’re all still buddies, still best friends. But after about a year in, I met a guy named Jake Gear. Jake was a publisher of BMG, and he told me, “hey man, I dig what you do. I’m a big Guy Clark fan, and I can tell you’re a fan of him.” I was like, “I’m a super fan of that shit,” and he invited me to come hang out and talk about stuff. He was about to start another publishing company with Hillary Lindsey, and he said, “not right now, but let’s keep in touch.” The conversation kept going, and about six months later, they got everything figured out, and I signed on. So that’s been my publishing deal since then. It’s called Hang Your Hat, a co-venture with Concord. When I got with them, and Jake started scheduling writes, that’s kind of when everything really started falling into place.
But here in the last year or two is when we’ve seen the most action [with songwriting]. I always love that side of it, because you can still be you, but it takes the pressure off so it’s less like, “what do I want to say today?”
Tell me about the start of Peach Jam – how did it happen and what gave you the idea?
So the first Peach Jam I think was in 2021 at the OG Basement. You know, it was right after Covid, everyone was kinda’ haywire, we were all like “what the fuck are we doing? What are we gonna’ do next?” And it was actually Jake Gear’s idea, he said, “why don’t you start a residency somewhere?” And I was like, “Well, everyone has one of those fucking things. How do we make it cool?”
So we came up with Peach Jam, and the idea was, instead of making it an actual jam, let’s just play the songs for them. If they can play, we’ll have them jam with us, but it’s more of a controlled jam. So yeah, so the first one was in 2021, then in 2022, it moved to every month of the year. So that was a hectic year of gathering shit, gathering songs, guests…and after that I was like, “I’m not doing that again.” So in 2023, 2024, we moved to doing it quarterly.
It’s really grown into being an awesome part of the community.
Yeah man, that nails it on the head. I just wanted it to be a community. You know, half the time in Nashville, you go to a show, and everybody’s got their arms crossed, judging the guitar player…and I’m guilty of it too. But that’s the dark side of Nashville, mostly everybody is so sweet and cool. I just wanted to create a community where, you know, you can fuck up. How many times did the Grateful Dead fuck up? But also, how many fans did they have out there? It was a community and a culture, and that’s kind of what I wanted to create. Without getting too hippie-dippie, I think it’s all about the connection. The cosmic connection between the band and the people out there. That’s what Peach Jam is all about.
100% man. Especially if you’re bringing up people like Hayes Carll from Texas next to people from Nashville — everyone’s gonna bring their own flavor.
Exactly man. To me, that’s style. We all know that person who can get up and play the perfect solo or sing the perfect line. But to me, my favorite bands are those guys who get up, and it’s just freedom of expression. You know, half the time they fuck up and half the time it’s perfect.
So what’s next? I know you’re off the road currently. What’s the plan after the release?
In January, February, and a little bit of March, we’re going on our first-ever headlining tour. So I’m super pumped on that, ‘cause we’ve been the opening band for four years. And I fucking love the people we’ve opened for…they’re all sweethearts and we’re super appreciative. But I just feel like it’s time, you know?
So that’s on the plate, and then I’m doing another record with Anderson in December. After Downbeat comes out on December 13th, we’re going right back into the studio the weekend of the 16th for a full album…We’re just trying to keep it coming man. As long as we can afford to do it, we’re going to try to keep doing it, and try to keep doing it right.
Amen to that. To see Chapman and his band do it live in person, catch them tonight for the last Peach Jam of the year (buy tickets here). The all-star set will include guest appearances from Muscadine Bloodline, Cleto Cardero (of Flatland Cavalry), Bryan Simpson, and more. If you can’t make it tonight, see if Chapman and his band is making a stop in your town on their upcoming tour here.
Pre-save Downbeat here.
Photo by Zack Knudsen