An Akron native is giving it his all as he makes a name for himself in the country music scene. It’s no secret that Chad Baker sings with his soul. The 24-year-old rising country star says, he is just a kid from Akron. And when he picked up a guitar and started singing at a young age - country is what came out.
Chad Baker was born and raised in Akron, but the songs of the south have spoken to him since he was a kid. “I’ve been playing this stuff since I was little. My parents got me a guitar when I was about 13 years old,” Baker said. “I started listening to Hank Williams Jr., Johnny Cash-the old outlaw country-I started singing and playing my guitar and writing my own music and country music just came out.”
Early Life and Musical Beginnings
The son of a pastor and church choir director, 24-year old Baker was born to sing. “My mom was the choir director at the church when I was little so I had already been around singing and music, but once I showed an interest and wanted to sing it was a lot easier for me to get into because my parents just supported that,” Baker said. “My dad was a pastor at our church so there was opportunity to sing there.” By the time Baker turned 14, he knew that music was what he wanted to do in life.
Journey to Nashville
Knowing his calling, Baker went all-in on becoming a musician, even moving to Nashville with little to nothing in order to follow his dreams.
“I moved to Nashville for two years and when I lived down there I was flat broke. I was playing music on the streets just so I could eat,” Baker said. He packed his life into a van and headed to Nashville right out of high school. “I had $400 in my pockets, didn’t know anybody,” he said.
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He played on street corners, he booked whatever gigs he could. He went to writer’s workshops to soak up every piece of advice. “I remember one guy telling me that your first 100 songs, throw them away because that’s practice. It broke my heart, you know? I was like 70 songs in, I was counting every one because I thought I was getting somewhere. But he was right,” Baker said.
So he stopped counting - and just kept writing. More than a hundred original songs, more than two hundred. “How many of those do you think are great,” asked reporter Homa Bash during a sit-down interview. “Psh, maybe on one hand,” Baker said.
“Now that all this stuff is coming together, with this album, and people are starting to recognize it. It just feels good, like all that work is starting to pay off.”
"This Feeling Grows" - Baker's First Album
"This Feeling Grows" is Baker’s first album, which he released in July.
Остеопатия при кисте Бейкера. Случай из практики.
On the Road
While he just released his first album, he’s had plenty of shows and tours in his blossoming career. Baker just wrapped up his third national tour, which consisted of 14 shows over 17 nights and sent him 7,000 miles around the country. Before that tour, Baker was on an acoustic tour that spanned 52 days where Baker slept in his van over the 13,000 miles of touring.
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Being on the road, traveling and playing shows to new faces every night is a dream come true for Baker. “I have a heart for the road. I love going out to people who have never heard me and have no idea who I am,” he said. “I just want to be nonstop, all over the country, playing this new album to as many new faces as I possibly can.”
Home Grown
As much as he loves the road, Baker also loves playing back here at home too. From the Dusty Armadillo in Rootstown to the Thirsty Cowboy in Medina, Baker has performed at all the top country music spots in Northeast Ohio.
His next show is back in his hometown of Akron. He’ll take the stage at Mac’s Cabana #9 on Manchester Road for a free show Friday night. Baker isn’t the only Northeast Ohio country artist on the rise. His friend Mark Leach made headlines over the summer with his hit song about the popular hard seltzers “Drinkin’ Claws” with Canton artists Hey Monea.
“I couldn’t believe it when that song came out,” Baker said. “I played shows with Mark on Portage Lakes, we’ve done a couple shows together, even when I was living in Nashville we met up. So for that song to just explode-the way they wrote that song, it was so clever and so simple. It’s really cool.”
Still, Baker just released his first album and wrapped up a national tour playing dive bars out west. He said he was ripped off by a manager at age 16 and learned the nature of the business the hard way. So he’s working under a self-made label currently and hoping the national record labels notice - and approach him.
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“His whole life, everything he put his mind to or his heart to, he did it,” said Baker’s dad, Randy. “I’m his biggest fan, no doubt.” And with each show, each song, Chad Baker’s fanbase is growing.
Neither does the fact that this Akron boy can’t get played on Akron’s country music station just yet. WQMX morning show host Sarah Kay said she’s seen Baker live and was impressed. “Here’s the thing - my opinion is, we would love to play all the local artists, we would love to play every singer that comes to us,” Kay said. “But the thing is, our stance, our policy is, you have to be on a national Nashville recording label for us to play you on WQMX.”
Chet Baker: A Jazz Legend
For context, it's worth mentioning another musician named Chet Baker, a jazz legend. Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 - May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. Baker earned much attention and critical praise through the 1950s, particularly for albums featuring his vocals: Chet Baker Sings (1954) and It Could Happen to You (1958). Jazz historian Dave Gelly described the promise of Baker's early career as "James Dean, Sinatra, and Bix, rolled into one". His well-publicized drug habit also drove his notoriety and fame.
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