Casey Chesnutt

Casey Chesnutt’s last name is familiar to country music fans, but the Texas-based country singer-songwriter isn’t leaning on his name and father’s fame for a leg up in the music business. He's forging his own way —first through the Texas country scene and now a classic path into modern country music.

Casey, the son of "Too Cold At Home" singer Mark Chesnutt, grew up surrounded by '90s country. He’s leaning heavily into his traditional influences with new single, “Uninvited Guest.” Written by songwriting heavyweights Jeff Stevens and Marv Green, “Uninvited Guest” is gut-wrenching heartbreak ballad about coping with loneliness at after a relationship ends.  

“It's reminiscent of the more somber honkytonk music that you expect to be playing in a bar,” Casey said. “You go to a bar, put a quarter in the jukebox, and this song sounds like what would play. When I found it, I fell in love with it. You really can’t get any more country than that.”

Casey’s personal creative journey has been circuitous. By the time he was a teenager, he started to develop his own diverse taste apart from his dad’s and dug into the Texas Red Dirt scene. Cross Canadian Ragweed is among his most significant influences, closely followed by Reckless Kelly, Randy Rogers, Stoney LaRue, and Wade Bowen. But Cody Canada's Cross Canadian Ragweed made the most significant impact.

"It was a little more rock and roll, and they had long hair, and they just were like rock stars," Casey said. "But it was really dirty, kind of like raw gritty sound, kind of like Lynyrd Skynyrd, but cooler. That's what I started listening to and really fell in love with."

As Casey got older, he started trying to write similar songs. But his artistic point of view confused those in his inner circle. His dad is a nationally known country artist, and Texas Red Dirt is niche with limited reach.

"Everybody was like, 'What's this?'" Casey said.  "But that's what I loved and wanted my sound to be like."

He finished a tour of duty in the Marine Corps, then intensely focused on his music. Casey knew his songs wouldn't work in mainstream country because people heard his last name and expected a '90s country sound. He unsuccessfully tried to write '90s country music, but one of his friends penned a song called "Even Texas Couldn't Hold Her" that he thought would resonate with '90s country fans. Casey recorded it, and the result toed the line of the music he wanted to make and what people expected to hear from him. After that song was well-received, the young singer felt more comfortable recording and promoting his own music.

He recorded an entire album in his hotel room and self-released it, still trying to steer clear of the Nashville sound. Casey released a couple of more songs, assembled a band, and started touring.  

His manager, Tony Conway, connected Casey with Clearwater Records, for which he couldn't be more thankful. Casey called his manager and new record label home, a turning point in his life. Now he’s recording music that touches a lifetime of experiences and influences. Given his time as a soldier, a father, son, and country music fan, Casey is leaning into a wealth of sounds and stories to which any country music fan can relate.

"I hope people will listen and hear a good song, and then hopefully, they'll look for more music from me," he said. "If they do, it will make this whole journey worthwhile. It's been a long one, and it's been a fun one. But it's been a lot of work, and I think it's about time more people hear what I'm trying to do."

Look for more new music from Casey Chesnutt on Clearwater Records in 2025.