How People's Choice Country Awards nominee Chase Matthew stays grounded amid rising fame

Chase Matthew doesn't know where he is, but that's OK.

A Google search on the platinum-selling and Top 5 radio-charting country artist shows he's calling from outside an Outback Steakhouse in Morgantown, West Virginia. Following a concert there, he'll fly to Reno, Nevada, to open a pair of shows for Jason Aldean.

Last year, on roughly the same two dates, he was between Little Rock, Arkansas, and a town with a listed population of under 300 people in southeastern Oklahoma.

The latter trip was 250 miles on a bus. The former is a plane flight of 2,500 miles.

On Thursday, being a 10-times bigger star than last year will land him on the red carpet at the People's Choice Country Music Awards as a nominee for 2024's Best New Artist. Next Feb. 21, it'll land him a headlining spot at the Ryman Auditorium.

The trappings of success

He recalls walking onto the carpet at last year's People's Choice Country Awards as a gold-selling artist (2021's "County Line") preparing to announce the very tour he's currently on with Aldean. Notably, he was also receiving hugs and handshakes from other artists, like country's now reigning Entertainer of the Year, Lainey Wilson, who were aware of his burgeoning acclaim.

Juxtapose this moment with being an artist like Jelly Roll and Struggle Jennings whose path to Nashville industry acclaim initially arrived via hustling through a series of metaphorical crabs in barrels overwhelming hip-hop and rock-leaning bars and clubs within a 50-mile radius of each other northwest of Music City.

Gratitude for his situation doesn't begin to define how excited he is about his change of fortunes.

"It's crazy, but life is good," the performer tells The Tennessean. "I've bought a house and built a garage where I'm (refurbishing) second generation Dodge Ram pickup trucks."

Following in superstar footsteps

The former auto mechanic's work ethic has led him not just to be officially sponsored by Lucas Oil for the past six months. It has also led him to open for Aldean and Luke Bryan for most of 2024, with Australian dates supporting Keith Urban already announced for 2025.

Present Matthew with the notion that Bryan is an artist who, at the same point in his career, played 300 dates a year while boasting a catalog of somewhere near 1,000 songs written and waiting to be cut, and Matthew laughs.

He has 300 songs saved on his phone and will knock out roughly 200 dates in 2024.

He's in great company.

"Some days are harder than others, but it beats still selling all-terrain vehicle parts," Matthew says. "I'm learning to run my team like the smoothest, tightest ship possible."

Picking up the pen for solo writing is also hard for him of late.

Consistent charting success, however, has led to songs like crossover duets “Floats Your Boat” ( with Flo Rida) and “Cold Blooded” (with Latin pop artists Fernando and Sorocaba), plus country cuts like the Parker Welling, Casey Brown and Restless Road co-written "Backroads of My Mind" and the Daniel Ross, Jessie Jo Dillon and HARDY co-written "Crazy Girls," being added to his catalog.

Consider that HARDY has 15 No. 1s in five years, Restless Road have frequently paired with Kane Brown and Dillon is a Grammy-nominated and award-winning songwriter.

If Matthew's success continues, he'll go from not selling all-terrain vehicle parts anymore to buying them.

'Following the plan that God laid out for my career and life'

Similar to many rising country stars who have broken out since the COVID-19 quarantine, Matthew is already something of a streaming-ready catalog artist, having released nearly four-dozen songs in under three years.

"People, on multiple platforms in various ways, are connecting their lives to my music," Matthew says.

He has found that the uptick in people going from thinking they are unaware of him to realizing that they are ultra-aware of him is rising quickly.

"My song 'Born for This' is 2 years old, and people are getting tattooed on them the lyrics about not losing their faith and being good enough," he says. "Having that type of influence on people's lives makes me feel like I'm following the plan that God laid out for my career and life."

'We're going to make it happen'

"People are expecting more hits — and more songs, in general — out of me, and God-willing, we're going to make it happen," says Matthew, regarding bringing collaborators and producers on the road to accompany him, including going so far as to secure a second tour bus in which they are staying as he crisscrosses the world on tour dates.

"I wake up every day and, though I may not know where I am, I do know where I can write a song, perform live, or meet my fans," Matthew says. "Staying focused on that keeps me motivated."

He has also remained close to his family. His acclaim has afforded him the ability to fly out to visit his father and engage in car restoration projects in northwestern New Mexico.

"Maintaining the ability to make time for the people and things that matter is keeping my time in order," he says.

Ask Matthew about the impact of winning a People's Choice Country Award or hitting No. 1 on country radio and his response reveals the divine intuition that guides a performer who is also related to the Rev. Henry Robertson , a Kentucky-based preacher who, though lacking formal education, established 80 churches during his lifetime.

"I'm like a preacher who wants people to feel better about (their lives or circumstances) after they met me," Matthew says. "So the more I can share my story and, hopefully, inspire people, the greater the chance that I will be able to inspire people. Even if I don't (achieve that level of success), I feel confident that me and my message will be a part of country music for the rest of my life."

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: How People's Choice Country Awards nominee Chase Matthew stays grounded amid rising fame