With the upcoming release of his newest EP Trailer Trash, Nashville-by-way-of-Kentucky crooner Adam Chaffins not only pulls listeners into the raw, unvarnished reality of everyday American life, he also offers a uniquely personal Appalachian perspective that is equal parts poetic and unflinching. It’s the kind of music that doesn’t only demand to be heard; it insists on being felt.
Growing up along the famed US23 County Music Highway, music was as much a part of Chaffins’ youth as the mountains, where country music, top 40 radio and singing in church was his early training. Spending his childhood in a double-wide trailer was the inspiration behind the project’s title track. “Would you wanna get taken out by trailer trash... What would your daddy say” is offset by “But underneath that double-wide siding lives a heart of gold that’s beating” – an invitation to look beyond the surface to see the truth and value of other human beings.
“Whether a person grew up in a double-wide, a shack or a project, they don’t deserve to be defined by some pre-conceived notion of who they are,” Chaffins said. “Every person has worth, and I hope this song is an encouragement – or even an anthem – to encourage them to be confident in who they are and what they want to accomplish in life.”
Chaffins is living proof of this, moving to Nashville immediately after he graduated armed with a flatbed trailer that contained all of his belongings. He quickly became a highly sought after session musician, lending his talents to an array of boundary-pushing projects. He was a member of the renegade bluegrass band Town Mountain, shared the stage with icons like Billy Strings and Lee Ann Womack and earned a coveted SESAC songwriting achievement award for his work with the GRAMMY-winning group The Infamous Stringdusters. He performed multiple times on the Grand Ole Opry, late night TV and at major music festivals around the world. But as much as he thrived supporting others, Chaffins knew he needed to tell his own story.
His February 2020 debut solo album, Some Things Won’t Last, was born from the constant advancement of his music and a lifetime of writing songs. Life, however, isn’t predictable and neither is a COVID pandemic.
“In February, I was excited to be planning my tour, but by March, the world had shut down,” Chaffins recalls. “By November, I was working in the mud with a stranger under another stranger’s deck, trying to shore up a sinking foundation. With only a couple pieces of wood and a few inches between my head and the sagging deck, my cohort said, ‘It’s days like today that make me rethink my life choices.’ I couldn’t have agreed more.”
The pandemic might have derailed his album, but it sharpened his personal resolve. Out of the uncertainty, Chaffins found a new road and new music. Collaborating with fellow artists, Chaffins penned the five songs of Trailer Trash, sharing his new-found perspectives and directions.
“Little Bit At A Time” became both his personal mantra and a testament to perseverance. “That mountain was never coming down to me. I had to get up and climb. Me, I’m fine getting all I need, A little bit at a time”, words carrying the weight of 15 years spent grinding it out in an
industry that rarely gives out handouts. When Chaffins had his first meeting with Spirit Music, he played a couple songs on an acoustic guitar while sitting on a piano bench and recalls how he expected Music Row’s typical “Thanks, we’ll call you,” which generally fizzles. But the legendary producer and CEO Frank Rogers offered Chaffins a deal on the spot, telling Chaffins, “I think I’ve only offered a deal to someone I just met three times.” He went on to add that the other two were Chris Stapleton and Josh Turner. With Rogers at the helm and sessions unfolding at the storied Sound Emporium, Trailer Trash took shape as something more than a record – it became a statement. “Living ’Til My Dying Day”, a candid reckoning with recklessness and the shifting priorities of maturity, confronts his past and embraces his future, offering a mix of introspection, grit, hope and realism. It is joined by “Dive Bar Moses”, which features a groove that rivals the timeless cool of classic Steve Miller band tracks. And then there’s ”Kentucky Girl,” a love letter to the tough, radiant women from the mountains back home and one in particular – Brit Taylor, his fellow Kentuckian, songwriting partner, collaborator and wife.
“I left home to chase my dreams of making music and seeing the world,” Chaffins said. “I figured if I ever found a partner, she’d be from somewhere besides the hills where I grew up. But a friend from Alaska introduced me to his friend from Kentucky, and I met my future wife in Nashville, although we grew up just miles apart.” With “Kentucky Girl”, Chaffins said, “I wanted to take the listener by the banks of the Big Sandy River – through hills and hollers – where the earth grows the best green beans, people and the kind of love that the rest of the world could never offer.”
Music is the language that the multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter Adam Chaffins uses to tell his story. He is an alchemist who takes personal experiences, heartbreaks and triumphs and turns them into something deeply personal. In Trailer Trash, he just doesn’t write about the American dream – he dissects it, reclaims it and redefines it on his own terms.