Chris Stapleton’s White Horse: A Country Rock Shot with a Chaser of Bon Jovi

Ever since I was a young Jukeboxer….I loved Bon Jovi’s Wanted Dead or Alive. I love this song. It has this Young Guns…Jersey rocker…1980s vibe that will always warm my soul. It’s not country, but it’s not straight rock…it’s more like the Jack and Coke of country and rock and roll. Much like that drink, that Bon Jovi track takes the best of both worlds to create something magical.

Much like that transcendent Bon Jovi cut, which I am listening to right now, there is a bit of that ’80s country rock DNA in Chris Stapleton’s new track White Horse. Stapleton himself is coming off his amazing record Starting Over, which saw him continue in the stripped back traditional style he mastered in his breakthrough From a Room series. Now, it seems that Chris wants to put the rock back into country rock with a blistering steel and electric guitar intro Richie Sambora would be proud of. The arrangement is straight out of 1980s country rock with crushing guitar riffs, percussion front of the mix and sharp guitar solos. This is a little further into electric country than Chris usually dives into, but I think he has the mix right.

Lyrically and vocally White Horse is what we expect from Chris, which is to say it’s emotional and flawless. He has an ability that is similar to Taylor Swift, in that he can dive fully into genre tropes, but it comes off as honest and genuine. Swift constantly sings about failed relationships, which is as old as time in pop music; however, she does it within a story that is both emotionally grounded and honest. Therefore, you don’t feel like it is yet another pop cliche…you feel like you are part of the story. Similarly, Stapleton sings about cowboys, white horses, whiskey and how he is too down on his luck to deserve love. All of these themes are told to death in the country genre; however, Chris sings them with such earnestness and passion that they feel fresh.

Chris’ vocal is a mix of whiskey, regret and beautiful fragility. It is like a rose growing not just in concrete…but in the middle of a nuclear crater. It’s like when scientists find life at the bottom of the ocean near some volcanic vent. Nothing that beautiful should exist within something so raw and uncompromising, yet it flourishes. I adore his vocal and I think this move towards a greater electronic and rock arrangement will bring his music to the next level. However, until the record comes out I will be listening to White Horse and Wanted Dead or Alive back to back for hours.

Listen to White Horse