Newcomer Chase Rice is currently savoring the success of his first major release, Ignite the Night, as it debuts at the top of Billboard‘s Top Country Albums chart, selling 44,000 copies in its first week. He finds it particularly satisfying, since along the way he’s been an NFL hopeful, a contestant on Survivor, and a member of a NASCAR pit crew.
“We’ve built things a little bit differently, starting with live shows and building up our fan base through touring,” Chase says. “Now people are showing up night after night to sing these songs right along with me, and to do it the way we’ve done it and have the No. 1 country album in the nation this week is unbelievable. It’s surreal.”
Chase wrote twelve of the fifteen songs on Ignite the Night, with his current single “Ready Set Roll” having already gone gold before the CD even came out. He kicks off the Ignite the Night Tour September 5 in Denver.
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