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| Photo credit N.V Photography |
By Kevin Broughton
Adam Chaffins has been a fixture in Nashville for years now – though you might not know it -- getting his start as an in-demand session and touring musician, working with artists like Billy Strings, The War and Treaty, Lee Ann Womack and more. He also had a stint in Town Mountain for a while before releasing his solo debut in 2020 and earning a streaming hit with “Gone As It Gets” featuring his wife and collaborator Brit Taylor, Meg McRee and Ben Chapman. But then last year, Spirit Music Nashville President Frank Rogers offered him a record and publishing deal on the spot, and thus Trailer Trash was born.
Honoring his origins in an East Kentucky doublewide trailer, Trailer Trash is equal parts poetic and unflinching. He doesn’t just write about the American dream – he dissects it, reclaims it and redefines it on his own terms. From swampy first single “Little Bit At A Time”, which Glide Magazine praised for “fusing the homespun soulful country vibe of Chris Stapleton with the cosmic sounds championed by Daniel Donato” to the “steaming slice of creamy country soul” (Holler) title track, the songs pull from his personal life and relationships and feature co-writes with a slew of Nashville heavy-hitters including Adam Wright, Bryan Simpson and Bobby Hamrick.
Covid derailed his album launch and any potential tour five years hence, but the steady Chaffins was undeterred. Nearly everyone who had a hand in making this five-song banger has spent time in a studio control room, and it shows. There’s not a weak cut on it, and it’s doubtless a sign of things to come from the bluegrass troubadour. We caught up with Chaffins in advance of today’s release to talk about it all.
You’re a multi-instrumentalist who’s done a bunch of session work in Nashville. I’m struck by the high production quality on this EP, and am curious if all the studio time under your belt shaped your concept of an overall sound for the project. How hands-on were you with your producer and engineer?
Aw, man, I appreciate that very much. I’ll say that everything I’ve ever done – especially at this point in my career – I’ve considered a learning process. So, no doubt, all the time I’ve spent in studios has been a big part of it. From my debut album to this one, the amount I’ve learned about making records has drastically increased.
I went into this project and really lucked out to be working with such titans of the music industry as [producer and label president] Frank Rogers, Derek Wells, and Mike Fiorentino. Another relationship I was able to build from my time at Spirit Music was with Jason Lehning, who engineered and mixed this album. Jason and I have written songs together, and I love so much of the stuff he’s worked on. So, I did have a hand in the process, and I wanted him to be part of it. He sometimes wears a producer’s hat, too; it seems like everybody involved in these sessions has produced records at some point. Having all that experience was definitely something I wanted.
Multi-part question here: Do you consider the bass your “primary” instrument for lack of a better term; was it the first one you learned to play; and, from whom did you learn to play these instruments growing up?
Um, I would have to say that my voice is my primary instrument. It’s the thing that I’ve been developing the most for my entire life, long before I picked up an instrument. But as far as a physical instrument, yeah, I’ve had more professional situations where I’m playing the bass. I started playing music from an early age. Neither of my parents were musicians, but I just kind of fell in love with it, particularly listening to country music living in Eastern Kentucky as a kid.
I was fortunate in that there were a lot of musicians who played around there, so I was able to pick up a lot from whomever, wherever. If people were playing music, I went and learned. That led to playing in church, and there were two guys named Jim Pigg and Chuck Frazier who taught me structurally, and really just gave me confidence. And it was never, “You need to do it like this,” but just really great guidance while playing in church. We also had these little side gigs here and there. That was my first real formal training before going to college.
But whatever instrument is callin’ at a given moment is what I’ll end up on. These days when I’m writing, I’m on the guitar a lot, so it feels like a primary instrument sometimes.
You left Kentucky not long after college and headed for Nashville. What was your initial plan? Not making light of it, but I mean, did you busk with a big stand-up bass for a while? How did you make the jump to working professionally?
(Laughs.) Well, I had done a lot of bluegrass freelance work in Kentucky, but when I moved to Nashville, especially playing with Jesse Wells, who’s a big mentor of mine. Growing up and in high school, I knew Jesse from playing around. I got to Morehead State, and he was part of the Center For Traditional Music there, so I got to work with and play gigs with him. He was good friends with J.T. Cure, who had moved to Nashville – and was a big influence on me; he played around Morehead all the time and I’d sneak in the back and watch him play. J.T. had moved there to play bass for a guy named Chris Stapleton.
I’ve heard of him.
Yeah. So, it was my last couple years of college when he went there, and I picked up some of the gigs in Kentucky that J.T. would’ve done. And now Jesse’s with Tyler Childers.
I’ve heard of him, too.
Ha. Yeah. I was fortunate to be around a bunch of influential players, going a long time back.
We’re gonna get to Trailer Trash directly, but you released a full-length LP, Some Things Won’t Last, around February of 2020 and then Covid did its thing…
Yep. Very convenient timing!
Can you describe that disappointment with five years in the rearview mirror, and did that experience impact your expectations this time around?
Oh, that’s a really good question. I feel like the disappointment was global. But at some point, it’s a very personal thing; I felt like I was at the point where I was getting to do the things I wanted to do…part of a lifelong dream. And it came to a screeching halt. Honestly, after all the planning I’d done, and the marketing situation, everything that I’d planned had to be re-thought. I still wanted to work, and if anything had more time to do that.
A friend had built a studio, and we were able to get together and socially distance with masks on. I released an acoustic version of a cut from that album, “Further Away,” and it was the first song of mine that got picked up by Spotify and the streaming services. That was the first national recognition for me, since the album, well, Covid kinda slammed it shut. But that and another single I put out, “Now I Don’t Know,” really put things in open water for me. I just really honed in on writing, but it was a lot like starting over. By November of that year, even putting those singles out, there was really no monetary gain; you couldn’t tour and play shows. You could create and put music out, but it was hard to monetize; as a musician it was tough to figure out what to do next.
The EP’s title cut is an inspirational number about not letting one’s humble beginnings define you, but it’s also got a big, sweeping feel reminiscent of 1970s “country-politan” classics. What was your vision for getting this song on tape?
Honestly, what you hear is my complete vision. I don’t think any other thing I’ve written has come out so beautifully, and so…intended. That one just became studio magic for everybody who worked on it.
You pack a heck of a lot into three minutes on “Kentucky Girl.” I believe it’s an ode to your collaborator and bride, Brit Taylor. Did I hear that you grew up down the road from this gal, but had to be introduced by a mutual friend from…Alaska? And as funky as this tune is, do I hear an organ tag from “O Come All Ye Faithful” at the very beginning? Walk me through that.
(Laughs) You know, it’s interesting – and I’ll reverse the order of your question – the organ tag came when we were doing some overdubs with Robbie Crowell, a really talented keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist. He’s out touring with Sturgill Simpson right now, by the way. Well, he started playing this churchy-organ thing that reminded me of the Methodist church I learned to play music in. He was just rolling through some things as we were trying to get the tones on the keyboards, and I thought, “This thing needs a nice, beautiful ‘church’ overture on the organ.” The song before it, “Dive Bar Moses,” merges into it; the party ends, then you’re at the church worshipping your Kentucky girl.
Brit had been a co-writer/collaborator with a mutual friend who was from Alaska, and for a couple of years, he was telling me, “You know, I’ve been playing music with this girl, and y’all say a lot of the same shit. Geographically, I think you’re really close to each other.” We happened to meet at one point, but we were at different places in life and relationships. It wasn’t until a couple years after that we reconvened and wrote together…and fell in love, as it were. It was a different time -- before My Space and Facebook – but it was amazing to find someone I had so much in common with, from the way we were raised to our love affairs with Nashville and Music City.
“Dive Bar Moses” is an awesome character. Is he based – at least in part – on a real person? Maybe he’s a composite?
You know, one time I played that song in Key West, and a guy came up and his hat said “Ho Chi Min” on it, and I’m pretty sure that was the real Dive Bar Moses.
(Laughs)
Yeah, I’m pretty sure I met him in real life. And I probably met him 15 more times that night, just walking around Key West. I wrote that song with a great writer and collaborator named Bobby Hamrick, and Bobby and I have spent enough time in questionable places meeting questionable characters, so we were of like minds in bringing the real Dive Bar Moses to life.
So…we’re doing this interview on April 28. I see you’re in Pensacola Thursday – kinda random – then it’s back to Nashville in a couple weeks for the release party. Can fans expect a tour shortly thereafter?
Man, I sure hope so! Tell all your favorite venues to hit me up.
Well, tell your booker to hit up Eddie’s Attic in Atlanta.
Aw, man, I love Eddie’s! I’m booking independently at the moment, but I’ve played there over the years and am really hoping to get back there, sooner rather than later. I’ve had some great moments there, and they’re just the sweetest people. One of the best clubs you can play at in the country, for sure.
Sounds like a plan.
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Adam Chaffins’ Trailer Trash EP is out today, wherever you purchase fine music.
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