Chris Carmack Stays True To Himself On New EP

Nashville star Chris Carmack admits that the attention that the city and the Country Music format has shown the ABC series has been very much overwhelming. He was especially floored by the special award the show received during the CMT Artists of The Year special on December 2.

“It was very flattering. We’ve been very much welcomed into the country music world. So many of the songs from ‘Nashville’ are selling well on iTunes, but we’re not on the radio. We’re not climbing the charts, so it’s a different thing altogether. I think that they came up with a very interesting way to honor us – as the ambassadors of Country Music, because the show is so internationally well received, and hopefully bringing some attention to it.”

Carmack, known for his portrayal of Will Lexington on the show, released his EP, Pieces Of You, today. The District of Columbia native tells Sounds Like Nashville that he thinks fans will be surprised by the diversity of the sounds represented on the EP. “I come from a lot of different influences, such as Jazz, Blues, Country, and Folk. There’s elements of each of those in all these songs.” Carmack says the songs have been with him for a while. “Actually, I wrote most of these songs when I was living in Los Angeles, and playing solo acoustic shows. When you’re doing that, you really want a variety of songs to keep the set interesting. Then, when you get the band into it, that was a problem – or so I always thought. I felt like ‘What am I trying to be or who do I want to be as an artist?’ There was a lack of continuity, and I thought that was a problem for a long time.”

As the actor grew into his character a little more, he decided he would write and record more into that vein – for a while. “When I came to Nashville, I started writing country songs that I thought were in the style of Nashville songwriting. I was playing them for my buddy, Ben Fowler, who produced the EP. One of my buddies told me to play some of my old stuff. I did, and Ben said ‘This is what we’ve got to record.’ With their encouragement, I went back to some of my old material, and had some great studio musicians came in, who got excited about the difference in the material in a completely different way from the musicians I was playing with in Los Angeles. I think the musicians that played on the album brought a versatility, as well as continuity. What I originally loved – then felt was a weakness – became a strength again.”

Separating his character from his real-life musical identity was definitely a challenge, he admitted. “I’ve always loved to perform music, and I thought to myself when I became a part of the show that I was just going to ride this wave. I love performing ‘Will Lexington’ songs. I love writing, playing music, and being on stage. I could just as easily inhabit that character. When I moved to town, I thought that was what I was going to do.  I thought ‘Let’s do it. Let’s talk to Big Machine, and get this thing rolling.’ I quickly found out through being here in Nashville, as good as I could play the role of Will Lexington, I was never going to be as good at country music as so many people who are pounding the pavement here in Nashville. There are so many talented people who were raised country. You get off the plane, and you walk past Tootsie’s or the Gibson Café, and someone is in there playing with as much heart that you can’t even imagine. Those people are true to who they are. I realized that if I was going to do anything with music, the only reason to do it is to be true to who I was, which led me to revisit those old songs.”

One of the highlights from the disc is the melodious sounds of “What Has Changed,” which he is excited for people to hear – partially for its’ riveting guitar grooves. “That was one that came together in the studio. It was originally mean to be a few quicks slower, but the drummer said ‘No, man! This is the tempo,’ so I trusted him because he had such a good groove on it. I still wasn’t sure what was going to come of it. That’s actually my homemade guitar on the track in the intro and the guitar solo. I really wanted to feature it on there.”

The series is taking a few weeks’ break after the midseason finale, which aired December 9. What lies ahead for Will Lexington? Carmack said that even though the character has come to terms with his sexuality, there are now other challenges to face.

“That’s a good question,” he said, telling Sounds Like Nashville that the show’s pace keeps them roughly four weeks ahead of air dates. “I think I would tell him exactly what Gunnar is telling him – he needs to find out who he is, and be as true to that person, artist, and performer as he can be. Stop trying to be somebody else, and be the best Will Lexington he can be. He is in a much better place, though. He’s having another identity crisis – this one is different. He’s on firmer ground as to who he is as a person, but now he doesn’t know who he is as a performer. He knows it’s a calling of his, but the whole ladies’ man shtick that he’s always done isn’t working for him anymore. It’s not him. He can be better than that. He just needs to find something he’s confident in. I think that’s the journey that you’re going to see him take this season.”