“I was spreading myself a little thin, doing all three, and I don’t think I was riding as good as I should have been because I was trying to go play dates, and I was like, well, I think I’m just going to play music.”
He might have hung up his spurs for now, but saddle bronc rider turned successful country music artist Chancey Williams understands what it takes to be a cowboy behind the mic and in the arena.
Despite leaving his rodeo career behind, Williams continues to draw upon his experiences as a cowboy to create authentic and heartfelt music that resonates with fans across the country.
His journey from growing up on a ranch in Moorcroft, Wyoming, to performing at stages such as the Grand Ole Opry has been inspiring, and his success serves as a testament to his determination and understanding of the Western lifestyle.
While in Rapid City, South Dakota, we were fortunate enough to have an exclusive sit-down interview with the Wyoming native. We caught up with him on his tour bus right after his sound check to talk about rodeo, ranching, and music.
RN: When did you decide to be a musician? Rumor has it you were pretty big at the high school talent show?
Williams: Yeah, we started in high school just kind of for fun. And we actually started just for a talent show. I tell people [it was] kind of an excuse to have everybody in town come out to the shop. We’d say we were practicing, and we knew like eight songs and just kept playing them, and people would get together. So we did it just for fun, really. I didn’t really know where it would take us.
Then, some guy in Moorcroft hired us for a New Year’s Eve thing and gave us 200 bucks. We’re like, man, you get paid for this? So then we just kind of started playing all around the area in high school, dances, rodeos, fairs, and stuff. I went to college and we were busy in college playing. Then I had a lot of work, you know, go to the college rodeo and ride and then play at the dance that night. It was a good college job.
It kind of took off from there. The rest of the band was still in college, so I went to grad school, got my master’s, and stayed in Laramie then, for an internship, I moved to Nashville to work for Toby Keith. Down there, [I] just decided, well, maybe I want to do this as a career. I was riding broncs and playing music, and I was picking up for Cervi’s and Franzen’s a little bit. I kind of liked it all, but I figured I better make a choice to do one and try to do it right. I was spreading myself a little thin, doing all three, and I don’t think I was riding as good as I should have been because I was trying to go play dates, and I was like, well, I think I’m just going to play music.
RN: You talked about the high school talent show, are any of your band members you played with in high school still with you?
Williams: No, I’m the only one left. The original guys, you know, a couple of them went and got real jobs, married, and grew up, and I didn’t grow up. But you know Wyatt and Brooke have been with me for 15 years, so they’ve been the longest. Then the other guys, most of them are five or six years in. I have a really good band right now, and it’s a lot of fun, but yeah, none of the originals. They all went off and did something else, but I didn’t want to grow up.
RN: What’s something special that each band member brings to the stage?
Williams: I always say Wyatt’s like the heart of the band; he’s so mellow- mannered. He’s kind of, you know, everybody looks up to Wyatt as being chill, so he kind of keeps the whole camp chillin’. Obviously Brooke, you know, with her fashion and [playing] fiddle. There are a lot of fiddle players, but not that look like her. But Brooke always brings a lot to the table with her Instagram fashion stuff, and she has her own way of doing things. [She] pretty much makes all of her own clothes; she and her mom thrift shop and make clothes. So Brooke’s awesome. Dale’s a drummer we got out of Fargo. He played in a band that we knew, and when our last drummer left, he was our first call, and he’s just so talented. We have to fly him every weekend. And then Casey, our other guitar player, he’s awesome, he’s kind of a rock and roll guy. He brought a lot to the table, too, but he lives in South Padre, so we have to fly him every weekend, too. Jay, our bass player, lives in Loveland, and so he was also a great fit. I always tell people it’s almost 90% personality and 10% playing. Because you can teach people how to play pretty good if they know what they’re doing, but you can’t teach people how to get along on the road and not be a jerk. We live on these buses pretty much year- round, so there are some great musicians in Nashville, but there are a lot of musicians who are kind of weird, too.
RN: What are some skills you gained growing up on the ranch that have helped you today?
Williams: I always tell people we [apply] ranch work style to music. People think music, they just see you play live, and they’re like, oh, it must be really fun. It’s a lot of work. And to get to the level we’re trying to, it’s unbelievable. I look back to be like, man, I don’t know if I’d have started this because the music business is crazy, but growing up ranching is hard work.
So that taught us to work hard, and we like it. It’s not that bad on the road.
Music’s tough, but every time I think it’s hard work out here, I can just call my brother at home and ask him what he’s doing. He’s [usually] calving or something. They’re like, well, this music thing ain’t too bad. The hardest part of the day in music is still easier than ranching.
RN: March is our equine edition: how have horses influenced your life and music?
Williams: Well, you know, I tend to write a lot of songs about cowboys and ranching and the Western Way life, so I guess just, you know, growing up a horseman, growing up breaking colts, then riding broncs, you know, it gives me the credentials to write songs about it. You know, you hear a lot of songs on the radio that you can tell somebody from Nashville wrote about a cowboy. Well, they haven’t really lived that, so you know, growing up with my history, I can write songs that are lyrically correct.
RN: I know you used to ride saddle bronc, can you tell me a little about that?
Williams: Our dad was a saddle bronc rider, so I grew up wanting to be like Dad. We started when we were fairly young. Then a kid got hurt real bad at a school in Gillette, so mom put the halt to the bronc riding for a few years. Then finally, we were riding colts, breaking colts, and you know, they were just like rodeoing, so finally, mom’s like, well, it’s kind of the same thing, so I’ll let you. So, high school, rodeo went to high school finals in the bronc riding, then went to Casper College on a rodeo scholarship, rodeo’d there three years, made the college 2 finals there, then went to Laramie one year and made the college finals my senior year, and then rodeo’d for a couple years out after college.
I love bronc riding and I miss it a lot. I think about it all the time. I think everybody that’s stopped doing it, I dream about it. I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s one of those things you can’t do forever. You can team rope for a long time, you know. So it’s just one of those sporting events that you can’t just go get on one for fun. If you’re not in shape for it you, can get hurt.
I’m always worried about getting hurt, you know, And then we’d be out of work for a while. We played at Red Bluff a couple of years ago, and they’re like,
“Hey, want to get on the wild ride.” I was like, sure, what’s one more? Then COVID hit, so I didn’t get on in Red Bluff. That’s probably a sign. Yeah, but I do miss it a lot.
RN: What’s your favorite rodeo to play?
Williams: Oh, Cheyenne.
I mean, we love NFR. We got to do the opening ceremony there five times. It’s obviously cool because I never made it there in the bronc riding. But I feel like I made it my own way, getting to play in front of the yellow chutes.
We’ve always loved Cheyenne. I rode there, in a couple of rounds in the rookie bronc riding. It’s just a special place.
RN: What do you like most about playing for rodeo fans?
Williams: Well, they’re just my people. They get my songs, you know? Sometimes, my songs are a little precise as far as some of the lyrics are too insider.
So, like, there are probably certain songs that people don’t get if you’re not a cowboy. They’re like, what, I don’t know what that means. So, being too accurate can be bad, too, for a giant fan base.
RN: Where do you get your inspiration from?
Williams: You hear lines from people at the bar or at a rodeo; you hear somebody say something a certain way. I go through my notes on my phone, and I have all these ideas. Whether they ever make a song or not. Some days, you wake up the next day and [wonder], what does that mean? I wasn’t making any sense. Yeah. That’s kind of where, I just like to write things that are authentic.
So, I think in this day and age, people in general are searching for authenticity. The real world, you know, maybe some of that came from shows like Yellowstone and stuff. It just brought like the cowboy way of life, opened it up to a broader spectrum where people from the East Coast and West Coast, like, wow, they want to live vicariously through our lives through shows like Yellowstone.
I write songs that they can think they’re being a cowboy and listen to.
RN: What artists inspired you?
Williams: I grew up listening [to] ‘80s and ‘90s country. The ‘90s stuff was super influential, like Dan Seals and Toby Keith. Toby was really good to me when I worked for him. And obviously, George Strait and Chris LeDoux were two real cowboys. Obviously, Chris was a world-champion bareback rider. Just watching Chris’s career [thinking] if he can do it, maybe I can do it.
Chris helped us out early on and kind of got us started. It made me want to do it. He let us open for him in Billings, and we were horrible. We were young. We just started, and Chris didn’t care. Because Dad and Chris rode together [they were friends]. We knew them and the family all growing up. I just called their house one day, and Peggy [LeDoux], and I was like, how do we get into doing opening stuff? She’s like, well, let’s talk to Chris. And Chris was like, yeah, we’ll let you open up there [Billings] in August. [It was our] first time playing in front of a big crowd of about 8,000 people in the Metra. I was really nervous. And we were pretty darn bad. But I was like, man, this feels awesome; I wanna do this. We’re bad, but we can do this. And I remember Chris being like, looks like you were meant to be up there.
RN: What type of music do you listen to now?
Williams: Do you know what Yacht Rock is? It’s like easy listening ‘70s stuff. Wyatt is the music genius; he finds all this stuff, and he got me listening to some, you know, easy listening ‘70s, California- type stuff. So I listen to that a lot. We listen to about everything on here.
But I typically end up playing sad old country songs at the end of the night. And it puts everybody to bed. Stuff you can drink to. I was like, man, these old ‘90s and ‘80s sad country songs have more emotion than everything.
They’re like, who played this on the jukebox? That’s me. I’m the guy that spent 40 bucks on old Dan Seals songs. Who played “Everything That Glitters Is Not Gold” again?
RN: Who would you most like to collaborate with?
Williams: Probably Dierks Bentley. Just cause out of all the guys we’ve played with in the past, Dierks has become a really nice guy. I mean, I consider him friends, but, like, he texts me all the time. I text him back. Dierks is a genuinely nice guy; he’s what you see on TV, and sometimes, the artists aren’t.
It’d be fun to do a song with Dierks. You know, and just cause he’s fun, like all the songs are fun, they’re kind of like our songs.
RN: What are you looking forward to most in 2024?
Williams: Well, we’re excited about this new batch of songs. We just put out our new single, A Cowboy Who Would. And it’s the first batch of eight that I did with this new producer, Bryce. And it’s some really good stuff.
We have some of the stuff that fits what we always do: cowboy stuff. But just sonically, we changed engineers and some session players, and it just sounds really good. And this new single is doing really well. It got picked up by 150 stations nationwide this week. Last week, it was on the CMT Top 40 country countdown. They have a launch pad section in the countdown, and they got played nationwide.
So we’re really excited about the music, you know, at the end of the day, It’s kind of all about the song, you know, that’s what moves the needle for an artist. We’ve done really well, but to make you huge, you have to have a hit song that kind of changes the world. You know, Toby Keith built his career off ‘Should’ve
Been a Cowboy”. It was the number-one song played in the ‘90s.
Then we got some great dates coming up. Sounds like we’re going to get to play the Grand Ole Opry a couple more times. They said maybe three times this year.
Yeah, bucket list things, and we get to play Red Rocks in Denver in June, which is a bucket list one because everybody wants to play Red Rocks, so it’s fun to finally play there since we live so close by. A lot of great tour dates, and [I’m really] excited about all this new music.
RN: Anything else you would like to add?
Williams: We always encourage people to stream our stuff on Spotify. Our fan base is kind of old-school out west. They still listen on the radio and buy CDs. But, the music business gauges how successful you are sometimes off your streaming numbers. Our fans don’t stream; they drive six hours, buy a concert ticket and a t-shirt, and come to the show. They stream some, but some don’t even have Spotify. I always encourage people to stream the heck out of it. It makes us look good.
