Chris Stevers picked up a guitar at the age of 13 and started playing songs by the Eagles, Hank Williams Jr. and Lynyrd Skynyrd with his friends. By the time he was 18 and a graduate of Fayette County High School he had a band, Southern Bred, that found a lot of local fans, including Y106 Fm DJ Rhubarb Jones. The band played a lot of events and opened for some big country music acts. Eventually, Stevers got married and focused on his career and his marriage, but the desire to play music never left.

Stevers worked for the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department for 15 years. he started as a dispatcher and worked his way up. Currently he is a Drug Interdiction officer working I-95 in South Carolina, although he is presently on a leave of absence to pursue a career in music. Stevers found his way back to the stage in 2000 after a divorce and started playing at clubs in and around Hilton Head, S.C. He honed his craft, becoming more of an entertainer, and finding new fans all the time. After a show earlier this year, an independent label asked him to go to Nashville and start laying down some tracks for an album.

“This was the top of the line,” said Stevers of his recording sessions at Dark Horse Studios, the same studio where artists like Taylor Swift, Trace Adkins and Faith Hill have worked. The session musicians that Stevers worked with in his two weeks in Nashville had worked with stars like Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw and Reba McEntire among many others.

“We had some songs written when we went up there and the musicians helped rework them and put a bit of an edge on them,” said Stevers. “Working with them brought me, and the songs, to a higher level.”

The five completed songs are available as an EP at www.chrisstevers.com, but within the next six months he will return to Nashville and record more songs to complete a 10 song album. He is also preparing to go out on a tour of the southeast this fall, bringing his brand of music off the beach to reach some new fans. He is excited to play closer to home and hopes there is an Atlanta tour date announced soon.

Stevers frequently finds his way back to Fayette County, stopping in on friends and family. He also visits in his mind as he thinks back to growing up in the area. Stevers is trying to recapture some of those sensations to write more songs for his debut album.

“It was a real comfortable place to grow up and the hometown feel is still there for me,” said Stevers, a graduate of the Class of 1984. Stevers recalls the McDonalds being the place to hangout, pasture parties and pickup trucks. “Everybody knew everybody and I’m trying to transfer that feeling to the songs.”

Stevers expects the album to be out in early 2010 and the tour is supposed to start in October. Until then, he and his friends play nearly every weekend in Hilton Head, S.C. to sold out crowds.

“I’ve got to be doing something right,” Stevers said.

For more information on Chris Stevers and his music, visit www.chrisstevers.com

login to post comments