Since winning Season 19 of American Idol, California native Chayce Beckham has moved to Nashville, Tennessee and settled into the country music community, building friendships with fellow artists and honing his songwriting craft. Those relationships and hard work are paying off. His duet with Lindsay Ell, “Can’t Do Without Me,” is currently climbing the country radio charts and he’s just released a new track, “Tell Me Twice,” which he wrote with Isley Juber and producer Ross Copperman.
“This title was my mom’s idea for me to write because it was something we had said to each other,” said Beckham in a press release. “It made me think about all the things in life that you should just do and not have to think twice about it. Growing up I really did learn the value of a dollar because I watched my family work hard for everything we had. This song is a reminder to not take the good things in life for granted and remember to appreciate them.”
The reigning Idol winner chatted with Music Mayhem about the friendship he’s formed with Luke Bryan since winning American Idol, the story behind his duet “Can’t Do Without Me” with Lindsay Ell, and his plans for new music throughout this year.
After Idol ended, Luke Bryan immediately reached out to Beckham about visiting him in Tennessee to go fishing together. Unfortunately, Beckham had scheduling conflicts at the time, but was able to take a rain check and fly out to Nashville a few weeks later to meet up with the Idol co-host.
Before their fishing adventure, Bryan invited Beckham to perform with him at the Gulf Coast Jam festival in Panama City Beach, Florida.
“He flew me and my mama down there for two days and we got backstage passes.” Beckham shared. “My mom had never been to like a big country concert like that. I’d never been to one and I was singing there.”
A couple of days after that milestone event, Beckham received another call from Bryan.
“He’s like, ‘Hey, what are you doing today? You want to go fishing? We’re going out to my property and we’re gonna go fishing.”
Beckham wasn’t prepared for what came next. Bryan sent a driver to bring Beckham out to his property.
“He goes, ‘Well, we’re just gonna stay here for a few days.’ And I was like, oh, okay, cool. Like, I didn’t bring anything.” Beckham laughed. “I ended up spending a lot of time with him, fishing with him and getting to know his family and his boys, having dinner with them. It was just really, really weird for somebody like me who was operating forklifts and working a year ago and now, I’m hanging out with Luke and his family and fishing and stuff.”
The reigning Idol winner is grateful for his unexpected friendship with Bryan.
“I’m very appreciative of him and all the support he’s given me and direction,” said Beckham. “It’s not somebody that you would anticipate becoming your friend, you know, he’s just such a big celebrity. You don’t anticipate ever getting there. He was so kind to me, him and his family; his wife, Caroline, his boys and his nephews and everybody. They’re all the nicest people and treated me like family, anytime I see ’em and welcome me into their home. ….I’m lucky to be able to say that he’s my friend.”
The “23” singer has also found a camaraderie with fellow country artist Lindsay Ell on his current single, “Can’t Do Without Me.” When he received several songs to consider recording and heard “Can’t Do Without Me,” he thought about whom he could sing it with and he called Ell.
“She came over and we worked on the song for a couple of hours, playing it acoustic,” said Beckham. “And we got to a point where we really loved the song and we were able to get a demo done with it, send it in to the label and they just went crazy over it.”
The song evolved quickly and two weeks later, they recorded it in the studio, then started promoting it to radio stations across the country. Beckham was thrilled to work on the project in person with Ell, including making the music video. The duet partners actually re-imagined the production to make it more relatable.
“I believe we were supposed to be in these big, nice luxurious cars driving to like a nice house,” Beckham revealed. After reviewing the options, he asked, “What if we made it more relative to just everyday people? Let’s get more cars and put ’em in the middle of nowhere, like in a small town and try to bring that to life.”
Beckham has plans to release more music throughout this year, including an EP in the spring, another EP towards the end of this year, and a full album next year. He’s been writing non-stop since arriving in Nashville and is usually in a session whenever he’s off the road.
“We’ve cut a good amount of songs that we’re working on getting out this year,” said Beckham. “My goal for my music is just to release as much as possible. Right now, I’m in the period where it’s just been like creating since Idol and then now we’re getting ready to start letting this stuff out and people feel what I’m trying to say. So I’m excited about it and I have big plans, but you know, one step at a time.”
Currently, on tour with Jimmie Allen, Beckham is also headlining shows across the country and will join Luke Combs on the road this fall. For more information and a full list of tour dates, visit www.chaycebeckham.com.
