Meet || Chance McKinney
We had the chance to talk with Chance McKinney and see what he’s been up to lately. Check out our interview to see what’s coming, favorite road memories with Dierks Bentley, guilty pleasure road snacks, and more!
How did you get started in music?
Ahhh… let the karaoke jokes begin. Yes, karaoke. I’d never sung in high school or college, but right after I graduated I went to a karaoke bar in Pullman with some of my teammates and we kinda got hooked. I moved to Seattle shortly after that to work for the Seattle Seahawks. I didn’t really know anyone over there so I grabbed a book, headed to a karaoke bar and sat at a back table reading in between my turns… yes, by myself. One of the first nights I did this, a bunch of dudes approached me and asked if I’d be interested in singing in a Motown Revue. I said “sure, what’s Motown?” Having grown up in Montana, we didn’t have that many Motown stations… ha. Strangely enough, they still invited me to a rehearsal and I bet it wasn’t 2 months later and we were touring the West Coast, Canada, Australia and the Virgin Islands playing corporate events and singing in clubs. It was quite the baptism into performing. Being expected to sing and dance in all kinds of environments was pretty foreign to me. But, I loved it. I soon started writing music, but that came out VERY country. So I started a country band with a buddy of mine from the Pacific Northwest. I’d cut a HORRIBLE CD of 9 of the first 13 songs I’d ever written. I’d walked it in to the 7th largest country station in the nation (KMPS – Seattle) and listened to them tear it apart. But, having made that contact with the PD (program director), she hired us to open for Kenny Chesney as our first country concert. Who knew?! Ha… there’s actually a lot more to the story, but that’s the gist of it.
Tell us a little bit about the new music you will be releasing next month?
Considering this is going out to a national audience, I shouldn’t assume they’ve heard of Chance McKinney OR “industrialized country” for that matter. See, when I won the CMT Music City Madness competition a few years back, I hustled down to finish a CD in Nashville to capitalize on the momentum. I remember sitting in the studio when it was being cut and overhearing one of the musicians say “it’s just a bunch of industrialized country.” I knew it was meant to be a slam, cause we were pulling elements from all different genres of American music to create this, but I decided to own it. That is literally what “industrialized country” became… a combination of country lyrics, country vocals, metal guitars, Motown backgrounds and a pop structure. So when someone asks, “what can we expect on your next release?” I kinda have to lay down some context before answering. Instead of being a self-titled EP, we decided to go with something a little simpler… I. “I” serves several purposes. It is “I”, the short-hand version of Chance McKinney and it is “I”, the Roman numeral 1. Considering there are VIII more of these coming in the next III years, we figured we’d start laying the ground-work with people right now.
When can we expect it? What can we expect?
We’re finished up mixes and mastering last week. I bet “I” will land for distribution close to May 20th, 2018. The first single off of “I” is slated to go to radio in mid-June, 2018. What that single is, has yet to be determined, but “I” will let us know shortly. Sorry… got caught up in that and went a little too far. You can expect something a little “outside the box” when it comes to what’s being heard on the radio right now. There will be something very familiar to it, but it’ll be my little corner of what’s acceptable. I heard first mixes the other day and all I can say is it’ll make you feel good, it’ll make you hurt and it’ll give you a better idea of who I am.
What is 1 song you wish you wrote and a writer you’d love to collaborate with?
There are a ton of songs I’d wish I’d written, narrowing it down to ONE would be like asking someone NOT to undo the top button on their jeans after Thanksgiving dinner… it’s virtually impossible. I could tell you one writer I would like to collaborate with though… Craig Wiseman.
If you could do a CMT Crossroads with anyone, whom would you choose?
You’re killin’ me! Seriously. I wouldn’t condemn anyone from any genre to have to perform with me. There are artists I’d like to share the stage with, but can you imagine Adam Levine having to raise all of my songs 5 full steps to get into his range? And the opposite would hold true… I’d have to take a Chris Daughtry song down just shy of an octave to cover it. Now, it’d be cool and unique, but a lot of times those crossover performances are 1-to-1 trades in range… and there ain’t a lot of people out there like me.
Name 1 personal and 1 professional bucket list item?
I have a bucket-load of bucket-list items on both the personal and professional sides of my being. I’d love to be able to do a full flip or a full spin when jumping the wake. I wasn’t really allowed to do water sports (because of athletics) growing up, so wake boarding is relatively new to me. I started clearing the wake a summer or two ago, but I really want to go to one of those wake boarding camps for a week and learn a ton of new stuff. On the professional side, I’ve really got too many to lay down on paper. There are venues (Red Rocks, Tuachan, etc.) I’d like to play… there are artists (Jake Owen, Thomas Rhett, etc.) I’d like to tour with and chart spots (Top 30, Top 20, etc.) I’d like to hit. But, for now, let’s just make good music that resonates with people and do the thing I love… I’d be good with that.
What is one of your proudest accomplishments so far?
Musically… the CMT win. That single moment took me from a regional artist to a national/worldwide artist. Oh, and by the way, it was with a song “I” wrote and a song “I” sung… is the “I” thing starting to make sense yet?
What is on of your favorite memories from out on the road?
I tell the Kenny Rogers story all the time, so let me shift gears to my run of shows with Dierks Bentley. A couple years ago, I had an opportunity to do a week’s worth of shows with Dierks. My band dropped out last minute, so I hired a great guitar player/vocalist to get ready for a 2-man acoustic show. We jumped on stage for a 45 minute show ahead of Dierks. It was the most “naked” show I’d ever done in front of a crowd that size. As we walked on stage, Mufasa’s guitar pack came unplugged. Here we are, standing on stage in front of 5,500 people and zero sound coming out. You could see the guys at the FOH board just shrugging their shoulders because we’d sound-checked 2 hours ago and everything was solid. Mufasa looks down and sees the dangling cord, plugs it in, the crowd comes to their feet cheering and we were off and running. It was awesome! That moment of sheer panic followed by sheer ecstasy was amazing. I still remember Dierks coming off stage at the end of the week and pulling me into the green room for a chat after the last show of the run. He asked me “where do you want this to take you?” and told me to “stick with what you’re doing”, meant the world to me at the time. It validated I was on the right track .
What is your favorite guilty pleasure food while touring?
Oreos. We all have our downfalls! I think Nabisco went out and hired some magician to concoct that unbelievable (and sometimes undeniable) combination of evil goodness. I could eat an entire row in one sitting with a good cup of ice, cold milk. Dang ! Don’t they know skinny jeans on stage don’t have room for the consequences of an Oreo binge?!
What is your favorite memory from out on the road? Where were you and what made it so special?
My favorite memory changes daily. Today, it’s the show from the Sandy Amphitheater we did last September. It was the last show my dad would ever see. After a 15 year battle with Parkinson’s, he passed in October of 2017. I will forever see him (as difficult as it was for him to attend) sitting there in the crowd with my mother one last time. Love you Skins!
What is the best way for fans to keep up with you?
All the socials… Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Website, BandsInTown, SongKick, etc. But, my personal favorite is Instagram. If you can find me on there at @ChanceMcKinney then you can find ME anywhere.
Special thanks to Chance for taking the time to answer some questions for us! Make sure you follow Chance on the socials listed below so you get all the details on the new album!
FB – @ChanceMcKinneyMusic
IG – @ChanceMcKinney
T W – @ChanceMcKinney
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Love this interview with Chance and so glad you were able to share with his HUGE fans all this fun information. HE’S THE BEST!!!