Ben Chapman Marches to the ‘Downbeat’ of his Own Drum on New Record

It’s often said that Nashville is a “ten year town.” If that’s the case, then Ben Chapman’s big break could be just around the corner.

The singer, 26, began making trips north to the city from his hometown of LaFayette, Ga. while still in high school, honing in on his funky country soul sound through songwriting sessions and gigs at every VFW, dive bar, and Mexican restaurant along the way that would have him.

Since fully moving to Nashville in 2019, that momentum has led to a publishing deal with Hang Your Hat Music, through whom he penned songs for the likes of Flatland Cavalry, Shelby Lynne, Muscadine Bloodline, and the Steel Woods, in addition to opening slots on the road with the Marshall Tucker Band, Red Clay Strays, Ian Munsick, and others. But it’s his new album Downbeat that might just elevate the Peach State native more than ever before.

Out Dec. 13, the 10-song effort produced by Anderson East runs through everything from odes to traveling musicians and the longing for his partner (and fellow singer-songwriter) Meg McRee to fictional tales with political undertones littered by charming references to his southern upbringing, as on “America’s Sweetheart” when he proclaims “Earth ain’t the center of the universe / It’s just water and dirt on the lower back 40 of the galaxy.”

“This record is just the most ‘me’ record I’ve ever made,” Chapman tells No Depression. “Not that I don’t like my first two records, but I’m finally at an age where I’m not afraid to sing about what’s on my mind.”

Helping Chapman to hone in on the record’s sound and songwriting style were two fellow Georgians in Brent Cobb and Channing Wilson. In the case of Cobb, Chapman has been enamored with the “Southern Star” singer since stumbling upon 2016’s Shine On Rainy Day, of which the influence of songs like “Diggin’ Holes,” “Country Bound,” and “Let The Rain Come Down” were heavily influential on Downbeat’s compositions.

“When I first heard Brent, I thought ‘man, that’s exactly what I want to do,” recalls Chapman. “The songwriting on that record was so real, he wasn’t afraid to say how it was. I joke with him all the time that I promise I’m not trying to rip him off. He’s such a hero to me.”

For Wilson, his influence lies just as much on Chapman’s new record as it does his journey of making it to Nashville. Since Chapman was a teenager, Wilson was encouraging and hyping him up for a move to Music City, so much so that when Chapman did finally arrive it wasn’t long before the two were rooming together, an arrangement that continues today.

Also living with the two inside what Chapman calls a “commune quadplex” are other songwriters including Lukas Nelson, Ashley Monroe, and Jon Decious. Their proximity gives him no shortage of inspiration or potential collaborators to turn to, which is exactly what he did for Downbeat.

“You always hear music coming through the walls. It’s so inspiring,” says Chapman. “When you’re having a shit day and hear some badass singing upstairs it’s a big motivation for writing and practicing more yourself.”

Another of the quad’s tenants is Chapman’s partner Meg McRee, a regular fixture throughout the project who co-wrote or sings on all but one track (“If I Was You”). Stand out performances include the swampy, southern ballad “Don’t You Care” — a self-fulfilling prophecy about a couple sitting on a back porch thinking of how good they have it, which the pair wrote while sitting on their own back porch — and the album closer: a slowed down, twangier country cover of Bob Dylan’s “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Home With You.”

According to Chapman, the latter is a perfect description of the current time in life that he and McRee are living. “There’s so many times where I’m like ‘forget that, I don’t want to drive to Texas today. I want to stay right here with you,” he says. “Oftentimes we’re like passing trains in the night, only seeing each other a few times a week, so that song really hit home.”

In addition to being a regular fixture on Downbeat, McRee is also a recurring member of Chapman’s own band — so long as she’s not on the road herself. This includes during “Peach Jam,” an open-ended residency Chapman launched at Nashville venue The Basement in 2021 that has featured a rotating cast of guests like Lainey Wilson, Aaron Raitiere, Chris Canterbury, Tyler Halverson, Brit Taylor, Adam Chaffins, and the couple’s other roommates who’s influence loomed large on the album.

“One word that comes to mind when I think of ‘Peach Jam’ is community,” says Chapman. “There’s not really a community of like-minded folks in Nashville anymore, everyone breaks off into their own teams and keeps to themselves, but that’s not what music is about. All of my favorite bands from the Allman Brothers to Little Feat jammed together, which is exactly what I wanted to do with Peach Jam. There are no boundaries there.”

That lack of boundaries is reflected not just in “Peach Jam” but the songs of Downbeat as well. A shining example of this can be heard on “If I Was You,” a very distorted and reverbed out number that combines influences like Jimi Hendrix, The Grateful Dead, and Sly & The Family Stone. Full of bold guitar licks for a 70’s jam and rock feel, the song is unlike anything else on the record and a byproduct of the freedom instilled within it by Anderson East, whom Chapman first connected with for songwriting sessions through a mutual friend before pivoting from plans to record in Texas to instead bring him aboard to produce one in Nashville.

“We wanted to do something that nobody’s done in ten years,” Chapman said of “If I Was You.” “It’s always scary heading in a new direction, but Anderson and the other players we had on this album were so good at making it all cohesive. I owe it all to them for how well they made everything turn out.”

Whether it’s on “If I Was You,” Dylan’s “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You,” or “Don’t You Dare” there’s no denying that Downbeat sees Chapman more confident and at home with his Georgia meets Nashville sound than ever before. That mindset paired with Chapman’s easygoing approach to both music and life will prove useful in 2025 as he embarks on the “Downbeat” tour — his first headlining run of gigs outside of Peach Jam — from January to early March with stops throughout the Midwest and southeastern U.S. as he continues to level up, one concert at a time.

“Even though I’m a big worry wort and anxious guy, music has taught me to not care as much because nothing in life is that serious,” theorizes Chapman. “I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow so I just try to take life as it comes, one day and song at a time.”