Adam Chaffins

SOUNDCLOUD LINK TO MUSIC:

https://soundcloud.com/user-399298772/sets/adam-chaffins/s-W5r2u

“I wanted to make sure it was ready, and it was me” Says Adam Chaffins, Nashville-based singer/songwriter and bass player who sites Willie Nelson and Elvis as some of his greatest musical influences. ‘With Willie, it’s all about the songwriting, phrasing, and interpretation, and with Elvis, I just love the way he can command a performance, deliver a song, and make it look effortless”. With his sights set on these heroes, it’s no wonder that it’s taken a few years for Chaffins to step up from his bass-man duties and into the spotlight. But his time developing a solo project has been well spent, as his latest batch of songs reveals an astonishing new talent. 

A native of Eastern Kentucky, the son of a coal miner and social worker, Chaffins grew up on Country Music Highway (Highway 23), surrounded by shrines to local heroes who’ve made their mark on American musical legacy. “I never had ‘Nashville Superstar’ aspirations, but music has been a way for people from that area to get out and experience a different kind of life”. 

Chaffins is no small town kid anymore, and has certainly had his share of experience on the road, touring for two years with Boston-based progressive acoustic group The Deadly Gentlemen, followed by two more years with Asheville-based bluegrass outfit Town Mountain. He’s played the Grand Old Opry and the Ryman Auditorium, and such festivals as Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Pickathon, Merlefest, The Old Settler’s Music Festival, and GreyFox Bluegrass Festival. 

Bluegrass wasn’t a straight path though. Chaffins played electric bass from the age of 12, but he was initially awarded a scholarship to study opera at Bellarmine University in Louisville. Though his vocal ability is powerful and shines through on his new project, ultimately Opera was not where his passion lay. At Bellarmine, he discovered jazz, and soon transferred to Morehead State to pursue a jazz studies degree on bass. Throughout his studies, he remained firmly rooted in the country and bluegrass music that had been such a part of his youth. “I remember searching for good cassette tapes at the flea market with my dad, that was always our big hobby together”, he says of his childhood. Upon graduating and moving to Nashville, he quickly found a home in the bluegrass scene, where his versatility as bassist, singer, and writer have made him one of the most sought after musicians in the city. 

After sharing band songwriting duties for years, and winning a SESAC award for a co-write with GRAMMY nominated The Infamous Stringdusters, a solo project from Chaffins is a welcome treat. “This is the first project where it’s me representing me”, he says, “ it’s simultaneously everything I’ve learned over these past years, and everything I’ve not had the chance to do yet musically”. If his previous work is an indication, we will all be lucky to hear what Chaffins hasn’t yet done.