Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Perrine.
Hi Chris, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up listening to a variety of different styles of music around the house, but predominantly country. My mom would play Phil Collins, and Jim Croce, but mainly Brooks & Dunn, Reba, Alan Jackson, etc.
I never sang growing up, and the only musical aspect of my life was joining the school orchestra in Middle school as a Cellist. I stuck with that through college, and then at the age of 25, my friend and I were hanging out one night and decided it would be fun to learn to play guitar. The next day, I bought a guitar and he for some odd reason decided to buy a banjo. I fumbled my way through chords I’d learned on YouTube for a year till 2017 when I approached two friends to help me attempt to write a song. The song turned out better than I had expected, and I was hooked.
Later that year in 2017, I was watching Luke Combs on the “Next from Nashville” stage in Las Vegas and told my friend, “Give me a few years and I’m gonna be up there… maybe not on the main stage right away, but I’ll be on that up-and-coming stage someday!”
Later that night, we had the worst imaginable thing you could think of happen as Jason Aldean went on stage and that night ended with the tragic shooting. I stayed home from work for a few days before something clicked in me and I decided that life was too short to not pursue risks and things you’re passionate about. I have the opportunity to go after dreams and didn’t want to throw that away.
A year later, I moved from Las Vegas to Nashville in an attempt to pursue music, find a better job, and get a fresh start. Within a week a friend had signed me up for an open mic at Douglas Corner Cafe, and till this point, I had never attempted to sing seriously so I didn’t know what to expect. I decided I wouldn’t know anyone there so if I embarrassed myself then oh well, I’ll never see these people again.
But, that night went surprisingly well and that sort of opened Pandora’s box and things have snowballed to where I’m now. Collaborating to write music regularly, learning music production and building a home studio, releasing my music, and pursuing a career full time in music eventually. Every risk I took, went better than I could have imagined, and in turn, that would encourage me to try the next thing I thought I “wasn’t ready for” and the cycle would continue.
I haven’t had any of my music go viral, or anything too sensational… but I love what I get to do every day and I’ve had my share of pretty exciting moments that I never would have dreamed of happening had I not taken the initial risk.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It’s been a steep learning curve, working in your craft as an independent artist. I feel like most of my peers started years before me so at times it feels like I’m playing catch up. Learning to produce, learning how to perform, marketing, PR, and booking shows, are all things I’ve had to battle but it’s a part of the process that I’ve tried to remind myself to enjoy each step.
Even with the disappointments, I’m reminded of a quote I believe from Dave Chapel talking about the comedic peers he started with. He said, “The only guys who aren’t successful in some way today that were around when I started, are the ones who gave up. Everyone else who stuck with it has seen some form of success” (paraphrasing here but it was something along the lines of that). The only way you truly fail is if you give up.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My full-time career currently is as an Athletic Trainer.
I work at a private Christian school in Nashville and I am on-site to respond to any injuries/emergencies that occur with any of the middle school/high school athletics events on campus. I love what I do, and more importantly, I love that the schedule gives me the flexibility to pursue a music career simultaneously without having to choose one or the other.
Networking and finding a mentor can have a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
I would highly recommend finding your community. Pursuing music is a challenge but when you surround yourself with the right people it makes the journey much more enjoyable, while at the same time, you can achieve goals quicker by collaborating with other industry professionals.
My roommate and another friend of mine host a Writers Night in town called “TunaBop!” on the first Tuesday of every month at The Vinyl Lounge. We started that night about 3ish years ago at Belcourt Taps and it’s grown into an incredible community. Hosting TunaBop has allowed us to expedite the process of meeting new artists/songwriters every week while also giving us a chance to get on stage share some of our newer material and get some practice reps in.
I would highly encourage putting yourself out there and not trying to buckle down and do music solo. Every part of the process is more fun when you’re able to share the process with friends.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/chrisperrinemusic
- Instagram: Instagram.com/chrisperrinemusic
- Facebook: Facebook.com/chrisperrinemusic
- Twitter: X.com/chrisperrine
- Youtube: https://www.YouTube.com/@chrisperrine
Image Credits
Tunabop & Roomate, TJ Crockram, and Shannon McArthur
