On Friday, singer-songwriter, Chase Bryant will be the opening act for Brad Paisley, one of the biggest names in country music, along with Lindsay Ell, as they perform at the Giant Center in Hershey.
For the 24-year-old Bryant, performing with some of the biggest names in country music is something that he's grown accustomed to.
"I was saying to someone the other day that I used to walk around wondering if people would ever look at me to wonder if they knew who I was. I realized that's what it wasn't about for those people either, you know?" Bryant said of country superstars such as Paisley, Tim McGraw and Brantley Gilbert, all of whom he's opened for and traveled with on tour. "After being on tour with them, it's been a part of normality for me. I get to look around and see these people hanging out with normal people.
"I'm doing that, too, they're just different in other people's eyes. I do look around and say, 'What the hell did I do to get here? Why am I here? What did I do wrong and what did I do right to get here?'"
The "hell" that Bryant did was start performing at an early age, as he said that he started singing from the moment that he started to talk and picked up a guitar when he was just 2 or 3 years old.
"These guys I'm with on tours started like I did, at the age I did. I just picked it up and had nothing else better to do," Bryant said during a phone interview. "It's what I knew. It's all I wanted to strive to succeed at."
His success at a young age – and really, his early start – should come as no surprise, as music kind of runs in the Bryant bloodline.
His grandfather, Jimmy Bryant, played piano with Roy Orbison and Waylon Jennings, and his uncles, Jeff and Junior Bryant, co-founded the band Ricochet, which had a No. 1 hit with "Daddy's Money" in the 1990s.
"It did a lot of good growing up. I didn't really know anything else, and I wasn't as knowledgeable with anything like I was with music," Bryant said.
The Texas-born Bryant, who first earned fame in 2014 with his Top 10 single "Take It On Back," said the ride for the past two and a half years has been a memorable one for him, full of ups and downs.
"It's been fun. I've learned a lot in the past. We had a Top 10 single and one that just missed a No. 1 single," he said. "The third single I put out did OK, but not great. It's about learning. The ride has been awesome because of that. I didn't put it in my head that I knew it all. Years ago, I would have done it. This ride makes you work, for sure."
Following the buzz around his latest single, "Room to Breathe," Bryant promises his fans that he's going to drop his debut album soon, despite saying that "a million times before."
In the meantime, though, fans can check out his cover of "Better Man," which was written by Taylor Swift and performed by Little Big Town. Bryant, however, put a spin on the song to come from a man's perspective thanks to a little help from his girlfriend.
"I heard it a million times, and I fell in love with it. I was at a Chinese buffet with my girlfriend, and she asked what if I covered the song from a guy's perspective?" Bryant said. "I thought about it and realized how amazing it could be. I never tried to compete with them or anything like that. I just got lucky, I guess. It's making me feel really ready to put out my album."
Bryant, who was listed as one of the 10 New Country Artists You Need To Know by Rolling Stone magazine, wants to be successful, but more importantly, he wants others to know that they can be, too.
"I was told I would never make it. I've started to make it for some reason. I want to let people to know there's a chance for dreamers and believers," he said. "That's the way I've thought of it. There's something out there bigger than me, and I just try to make great music to inspire someone out there that wants to do it, too."
While Bryant is hoping to explore Hershey with his mom, who is going to be there for his show, his main focus is to put on a good, fun show for the fans, he said.
"That's our biggest goal. We want to give people what they pay for," Bryant said. "My goal isn't to impress people, but to make people have fun. I'm excited to get there and play for everyone in Hershey."
Tickets to see Bryant, Ell and Paisley for the 7:30 p.m. show are available by phone at 717-534-3911 and online at www.hersheyentertainment.com or www.ticketmaster.com.
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