“This is my shot at redemption,” says Chase Bryant. “This is the second chance I never thought I’d have.” In fact, by all objective measures, Chase Bryant shouldn’t be here right now, and yet he’s never sounded more alive, more vital, more himself than he does on his extraordinary new album, ‘Upbringing.’ Recorded in the aftermath of a season of darkness and despair that brought Bryant to the brink and back, the record is a searing, honest portrait of struggle and resilience from a songwriter finally learning to love and trust himself, flaws and all. The music here is raw and exhilarating, captured live for the most part with an all-star band under the guidance of writer/producer Jon Randall (Miranda Lambert, Dierks Bentley), and the performances convey a kind of comfort and ease that Bryant’s spent much of his life in search of. Some may call it a comeback, but truth be told, it’s really more like a homecoming. “In a way, I feel like I’ve been working on this record my whole life,” Bryant reflects. “I had to go back to Texas to make it, but it was inside me all along.” Born and raised in rural Orange Grove, Bryant’s dreams of a life in music came true faster than he could have anticipated, and by 21, he already had two Top 10 singles and tours with the likes of Brantley Gilbert and Tim McGraw under his belt. Fame and success arrived with a hefty price, though. Most days, Bryant felt like he was playing a character with expectations he could never live up to, and the harder he pushed back, the worse things got until he barely recognized the man he saw in the mirror. Though the journey to find himself nearly put him in the grave, Bryant’s stronger now for his struggles, with a clear head, an open heart, and the most gritty, compelling work of his career to show for it.