It’s something of an understatement to say Chase Rice and Florida Georgia Line‘s Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley go way back. 

Before they were well-known, the three shared a house in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville, and Chase famously helped FGL write their breakthrough smash, “Cruise.” But even before that, Brian guided Chase toward finishing his very first song, as he dealt with the death of his father.

“He helped me finish it,” Chase tells ABC Audio. “I had it started and he helped me. We were in the basement, actually, where my dad passed away. And he came in and helped me tweak it and finalize it.”

“So our songwriting days have gone way back to number one for me,” Chase explains, “and we’ve continued to do it and we’ve continued to have success with it.”

Now with multiple chart-topping singles of his own under his belt — and another likely coming for his FGL duet, “Drinkin’ Beer Talkin’ God Amen” — Chase says there’s no doubt his old friends have left their fingerprint on his music.

“They’ve been a huge part of my career, Brian and Tyler,” Chase reflects, “in helping me figure out — whether they were trying to or not — who I was as an artist, and it’s a pretty special relationship.”  

“Drinkin’ Beer Talkin’ God Amen” is from Chase’s latest project, simply titled The Album.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.