Chris Shiflett played an intimate, in-studio version of “Overboard” from his forthcoming record ‘Lost at Sea’ when he was passing through Nashville in early 2023 and thinking again about the significance of the city-from the session musicians he’s connected with over the years to the studios he’s recorded in across three solo albums-speaking to the role that Nashville has played in his own music and life.
“It is the beauty of being in Nashville-you get to record with the current crop of amazing musicians,” Chris said about tracking the new album at Sound Emporium, working with producer Jaren Johnston of The Cadillac Three and with musicians like Jerry Roe, Charlie Worsham, and Nathan Keeterle. Considering the weight of recording in a place where a lot of his musical influences have also recorded, he added, “You can’t think about the sky that you’re under and all the heavyweight names-you just gotta do your thing. The crazy s★★t that’s gone on in the room, the people that tracked their vocal right where you’re standing, you just gotta let that go.”
Chris also reflected on the role of country music in Southern California-from Gene Autry and televised Westerns to the place of Merle Haggard at the Capitol Records Building he’d always drive by in Los Angeles-realizing that it wasn’t until later in life that he put it all together, how the sound of West Coast country was always all around him, even when he was seeing Fat Wreck Chords and Epitaph bands like NOFX play the Palomino or when he was playing smaller Los Angeles punk venues with No Use for a Name.
After finishing up his session with us at 3Sirens Studio in East Nashville, which also included a cover of Merle Haggard’s “Ramblin’ Fever” and a stripped-down version of “West Coast Town,” Chris would open up for Blackberry Smoke at Ryman Auditorium-but what he would leave us with, apart from the vocals he tracked and a cover by a heavyweight name, was the crazy s★★t that went on in the room, which we’d be hard-pressed to let go.
★ Go Western on Instagram: / contrarywestern
★ Stay Contrary on our Site: www.contrarywestern.com/
★ Get after the Gold by Subscribing
CREDITS
Director of Photography: Kip Kubin
Photography by Emma Delevante
Color by Alex Hochstetler
Songs Recorded by Dex Green at 3Sirens Studio
Songs Mixed by Oliver Roman at Studio 606
Session Mixed by Luke Wiget
Edited by Sam Farahmand
Directed & Produced by Contrary Western in Nashville, Tennessee