A brand new duo has hit country music airwaves with Nashville artists Matt Chase and Chris Rogers. The group called ‘Southerland’ has been years in the making, whether the pair of singer-songwriters had plans to officially join forces or not. Instead, they had been pushing for their own solo careers while booking gigs and playing covers together to, in the meantime, pay the bills.

“We were just playing cover songs, and making enough money to get by so you can pay gas to get to the next show,” explains Chase, a native from a small suburban neighborhood in Charleston. While Rogers, who comes from a musical-oriented family from Washington, Georgia, talks about how the concept of becoming a duo was so farfetched for them. “I can’t tell you how many times we’ve had the conversation with people after we’ve played when they’d talk to us after the shows. They’d be like ‘you guys are great, how do we find you’. And, we’d have to explain to them that we’re not a duo. We’re not playing together, we’re just doing our own solo thing.”

Despite years of positive feedback and tons shows, it wasn’t until winter of 2019 that Southerland was truly set in stone after signing a record deal with River House Artists. Though, even this deal took years to finalize when Chase and Rogers were a part of the 2017 Key West Songwriters Festival and a representative from the label approached them with an offer. “…and fast forward to winter of 2019, we finally took her up on that offer. And, here we are. So, we’d been writing a lot over the past 18 months and gearing up now for the release of our first single,” said Rogers.

“Thing Is” acts as Southerland’s debut single which was heavily influenced by the ‘90s country feel, something both artists described as being what drove them to Nashville in the first place. Written by the duo along with frequent collaborator Greg Bates, the song is the perfect introduction to a group that tries to make everything fun and enjoyable. “…if you’re not making music and trying to have fun with it…if you’re not enjoying it, then I think you’re probably doing it for the wrong reasons. So, that’s the common theme that we try to find through everything,” Rogers continued.

After becoming involved with many associations such as WME and Reservoir, Southerland has continued to write and line up plans for the future, though their sole focus has been on the release of “Thing Is”. And despite not having an exact time, they look forward to the moment when they’re able to get back out on the road and introduce themselves to an audience as the duo who decided to partner up during one of the craziest years yet. Though Chase emphasizes how the terrible year has been, it’s also quite a blessing in disguise since it put everything on pause. “We’ve produced some great songs that I’m super proud of. Even though it’s a terrible situation, there’s a silver lining, because maybe if we had been on the road this year, we wouldn’t have gotten the songs that we have.”

To keep up with Southerland follow them on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

“Thing Is” is now available everywhere you buy or stream music. Take a listen below and check out more recently released music here on our ‘New Country Music’ playlist. Be sure to give the playlist a follow for your weekly new country music fix.

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