Chad was born in The Appalachian Mountains in Western NC. Where one cannot mimic being a country boy, one is either country or your not in these Mtns. Theres no skinny jeans or auto tune songs here. Its real living. You live what you write & sing or you don't write it at all. Chad is a throwback to such outlaw country artists Steve Earle, Waylon Jennings, & Chris Knight. Recently Chad signed with 23 Muzik Group in July of 2013 on the heels of his widely successful debut album "Weathered" which has had commercial success across The USA with radio hits such as his huge smash "George Jones". Raised in a strict backwoods Baptist home, Chad asked for his first guitar at the age of 3 and quickly began imitating all the radio hero’s of the day. From Willie & Waylon to Glenn Campbell. Chad’s first song he sang on that ol plastic guitar was “Rhinestone Cowboy” then twenty sum old years rolled by before he picked up a real guitar. This time out of a longing or a calling you might say. Chad learned guitar after going thru a ugly divorce. Often he has said, “it was either buy a dog or a guitar, I figured a guitar was cheaper and easier…i may have been off the mark on that one.” Soon he learned how to put his thoughts and feelings in a song. He then formed “The Ramblin Gypsy Band” and began to play all over the east coast. They have opened for such greats as Jamey Johnson, Jason Michael Carroll, Confederate Railroad Whiskey Myers, The Lacs, Jessta James, Bill Gentry, Old Southern Moonshine Revival and Sunny Ledfurd. Honing there craft and paying there dues in such time honored haunts as The Bowery in Myrtle Beach SC & Coyote Joe’s in Charlotte NC! Working in FM radio over 8 years, has also helped fuel that singer/songwriter itch for Chad. In radio he is known as “Trip” and he has his finger prints in all aspects of the radio business. Everything from sales, production, and as a on air personality! Chad continues to play and perform all over the country and he loves fishing and hunting as well as going camping with friends and he is a huge Nascar fan! His true love is his soul mate Ally and his 3 boys, Treigh, Tyler, & Tanner! Sometimes when the weather is just right and the trout are biting, you may find Chad deep in the hills of Western Wilkes County. There’s a place there we he goes to get away to feel free…to bait a hook and wet a line like his kin folk before him. Its is where his Dad was raised and where his Grandfather once made moonshine while his Grand-maw taught her kid’s about The Lord. (There's a cabin on one end of the old homeplace that is owned by Eric Church's Family and this same place has inspired some of Eric's songs like "Carolina") This old home place is in an area called “Darby” and on this debut album you will find a song named after that magical place. To know Chad is to know Darby and one of the striking lines from his tribute song to Darby goes something like this…“Grand-maw talked of the forty flood and how it washed everything away…and if you give your soul to Jesus then he’ll do the same…she would say… down in Darby…in Darby” Also on the album his tune called Jasper’s Shine…which recounts how his grandfather provided for his family by making and running moonshine. It also tells of an adventure Chad took with his son Tanner, up one of the old hollars where they found his Grand-paws old still site complete with busted barrels. One might say this debut album is a collection of Chad’s life stories. Once you listen to “Weathered” you will realize each song is a story that had to be told, from songs about his Mother, who lost her battle with cancer in 2005, to songs about God’s Grace, broken hearts, and a woman’s love. This journey is one we all can relate to…these songs are the tread-work of Chad’s soul, some good, some bad, some spiritual, some haunting and some happy. All are simply pure country. This is his life story, worn & “Weathered” thru the sands of time and washed by Grace of God.
