We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chase Perryman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Chase, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your career and how did you resolve those issues?

I think every creative has their Lieutenant Dan moment. That screaming into the storm confrontation where you are asking Why me and What for? You are given this gift but no instruction manual.

I finally realized that my job is not to wonder if I am the right person for the gift. My job is just to use it. Now I view creating like holding in a sneeze. If you try to stop it, it hurts. If you are alone, you just let it rip. I have stopped questioning the source or the market. I make the art, let the world decide what to do with it, and finally for the first time I am just having fun.

Chase, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

About Chase Perryman
I never consciously chose music; it chose me. I started playing drums at a very young age and I was fortunate to have parents who allowed me to pursue it, even when having a drum set in the basement meant the walls would rattle from time to time. I actually started writing poetry before I ever wrote lyrics, but once I married those two worlds and learned to play guitar, I was hooked.

My Work and Sound
I am a soulful singer-songwriter and producer now based in Huntsville, Alabama. My work is heavily influenced by the outlaw country, southern soul, and southern rock I grew up with just south of Nashville. To date, I have released 14 albums that span everything from blues-rock and retro soul to what I call whiskey country. While I work across multiple genres, especially when producing for TV and film, the one constant is that everything I create has a lot of soul.

Solving Problems for Screens
A big part of my career involves writing and producing music for the sync world. You may have heard my songs on shows like Outer Banks and BoJack Horseman, in movies like Father of the Bride and Bottom of the Ninth, or even in commercials for Burlington. In that space, the problem I solve for music supervisors and directors is translated emotion. I provide the sonic landscape that helps a story land exactly where it needs to.

Education and Community
What sets me apart is my commitment to the craft itself. I am a firm believer in supporting the songwriting community, which is why I have published two books on songwriting and created a comprehensive course on Udemy. Even as I have moved into the Huntsville scene, I continue to host songwriting events and mentor others to help them find their own voice.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Resilience in this industry is really just a refusal to quit when the math does not make sense. When I first started pitching for film and television, I wrote and produced 32 different songs before a single one was ever used for a project.

There was one specific music library that I respected, and they rejected my work 17 times in a row. Most people would see that seventeenth ‘no’ as a sign to pack it up, but I just kept going. On that eighteenth attempt, they finally accepted a song into their library. That experience taught me that the gap between a hobby and a career is often just a few dozen rejections. It was not about convincing them I was good; it was about proving to myself that I was going to keep making art regardless of the answer.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I decided over a decade ago that I wanted to create a mission statement for my life the same way a successful company does. I was taking a train down the coast of California, traveling from San Jose to Los Angeles between an art conference and a music conference. The atmosphere was perfect for reflection, and I spent that ride thinking about my purpose.

I eventually scribbled a single sentence in my journal: To inspire others by living an inspired life.

That moment changed the trajectory of my life because it gave me a true North Star. To this day, when I am debating a major career move or a creative choice, I look to that mantra. I ask myself if the decision fits my mission. If it does not help me live an inspired life that might spark something in someone else, then I do not do it. It simplifies everything and keeps me focused on the art rather than the noise.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.chaseperryman.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/perryman_chase/
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/chaseperrymanmusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@chaseperrymanmusic
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5OSeubQCEvvJFhLA5DRwGZ?si=VNZ-L869RYGkt_gPyj6_tQ

Image Credits

Brenden Barraza – photographer