Hunter Phelps Archives - Nashville Music Line

Four singer-songwriters talk about their journey to Nashville

Years of hard work builds on talent

By Preshias Harris

Nashville attracts songwriters like bees to a sunflower. For many, it takes a giant leap of faith to leave home, family and friends – and often a good job – to move to Nashville with the hope of becoming a songwriter.

“I was here about eleven or twelve years before I had a song that was doing well at radio.” – Ashley Gorley

Recently, Chris Lane took a day off from touring to celebrate his second No. 1 song, “I Don’t Know About You” (on Big Loud Records) and talk about his new single, “Big, Big Plans,” that he wrote with Jacob Durrett and Ernest K. Smith.

During the roundtable media meeting before the presentation of the awards for “I Don’t Know About You,” Chris and that song’s writers – Ashley Gorley, Michael Hardy, Hunter Phelps and Jameson Rodgers – opened up about coming to Nashville and how their songwriting careers developed.

“I wrote 12 terrible songs!”

“For me, I never knew that I wanted to do anything with music,” Chris admitted. “I was always involved with sports growing up. I felt that was what I was great at.” An outstanding athlete, he played baseball at the University of North Carolina and had plans to pursue a career as a professional baseball player. However, sports-related injuries made that dream impossible and he turned to music.

“When I graduated college, I was learning how to play the guitar and trying to figure out how to sing and play at the same time,” he continued. “I started a cover band and I guess I became extremely passionate over the touring side of things and being an artist. I don’t think at that time I was thinking, ‘Oh man, I’m gonna be a country artist one day that will have a song on the radio,’ or any of that kind of stuff. Songwriting was kind of an afterthought. I would go out and play all my favorite artists’ [songs], Kenny Chesney Keith Urban, Aldean, Eric Church. I mean I would just cover their songs every night and play for four hours.”

“To be able to sing a song… that connects with the crowd, that’s super special.” – Chris Lane

Chris Lane’s “I Don’t Know About You” feted at No. 1 party

By Preshias Harris

“What’s your name, what’s your sign, what’s your birthday? / What’s your wrist tattoo bible verse say? / Tell me this, do you kiss on the first date? / Don’t hold anything back.” – lyrics from “I Don’t Know About You”

It took 45 weeks to climb to the top of Billboard’s Country Airplay charts, but Chris Lane’s “I Don’t Know About You” (Big Loud Records) finally made it to No. 1 on October 01, 2019. On Tuesday, January 28, Chris celebrated that achievement with the song’s writers at a Number One party in Nashville, hosted by the performing rights organizations, BMI and ASCAP.

Receiving plaques to mark the occasion were songwriters Ashley Gorley, Michael Hardy, Hunter Phelps and Jameson Rodgers. The event was extra special for Phelps and Rodgers as “I Don’t Know About You” marked the first No. 1 for both songwriters. For Ashley, it was his forty-fourth No. 1. (To make things more complicated, last week Ashley celebrated his forty-fifth No. 1 for co-writing “Good Vibes” for Chris Janson, and since then has already scored his forty-sixth and forty-seventh chart-topper!)

Pictured (L-R): ASCAP Songwriter Jameson Rodgers, BMI Songwriter Michael Hardy, Chris Lane, ASCAP Songwriter Hunter Phelps, ASCAP Songwriter Ashley Gorley. Photo: Ed Rode

Song struck a chord with listeners

“I Don’t Know About You” really struck a chord with listeners as it is built around typical questions that a guy will ask a girl when they first meet, hoping for a date.

During the media roundtable before the presentation Lane and the songwriters talked about the song. “Lyrically, it had really cool lines in it,” said Lane. “For whatever reason, people just gravitated towards that. And even fans. I mean, a line as simple as, ‘Girl I know your favorite beer because you told me and I bought it.’ I’ve watched people scream that line! Obviously with the ‘wrist tattoo’ line. I’ve had people come up to me in the grocery store and say, ‘I love your bible verse tattoo song.’ That’s what they refer to it as, they don’t call it by its name! People took to it because of really great lines and a great melody as well.”