During any other year, Chase Matthew would jump in the car and head to Walmart to grab a little something for everyone on his holiday list. But 2021 was no ordinary year for the viral star. So, this year, he upped his game a bit.He went to Boot Barn.
“I just went in there and got me a jacket and a t-shirt,” Matthew, 23, tells PEOPLE with a laugh. “The rest of it was for my mom and my dad and my stepdad.”
“There are so many blessings that have really come to the table for me lately,” says the artist, who recently released his self-penned single “Love Like That.” “And really, I have no one to thank but God for that. It’s definitely overwhelming, but it’s awesome to be able to give back to the people that have really given me the inspiration that gave me the courage to believe in myself.”
Justin Mayotte
One of those people reaping some of that gratitude is Matthew’s father Rocky Gene, who recently received the surprise of a lifetime from his son.
“My whole life, I have heard about this ‘65 Plymouth Satellite that my dad had since he was 19 years old,” remembers Matthew, whose YouTube views have hit over 34 million. “Sadly, in 2017, my dad got rid of the car. He had to sell it. He got a divorce, and it was a really messy situation. When he sold that car, I could tell it was very emotional for him. But finally, I tracked the car down.”
And last month, Matthew flew his dad to Nashville to present him with the treasured vehicle from their collective past.
“He was blown away,” says Matthew, who actually found the car in “a thousand pieces” in his home state of Tennessee. “I think it was a real eye-opener for him as to how much work I’ve put in since he’s been out of Tennessee.”
He adds, “I don’t think I’d ever been able to live with myself if we would’ve let that car go.”
Seeing the beauty in a car that still sits in pieces is something that Matthew feels especially close to somewhat symbolically, as he too has experienced being passed up due to a few rough edges.
“I think everybody has battles that they fight in their life,” he says. “When you’re lost and you’re kind of hurt and you’re searching for something in your life, I feel like that’s when they need to be told that they were born for this. There was a time where someone told me that, and it was my father.”
Chris Rippy/ShotByRip
Indeed, it was Matthew’s father who, as his son was finishing up the eighth grade and trying to figure out what to do next, encouraged him to try out for an audition at the Nashville School of the Arts.
“I auditioned and the teacher said I wasn’t good enough,” Matthew says. “That’s not something you want to tell a kid. That could scar them for the rest of their life. But my dad told me, ‘son, don’t listen to them.’ You were born for this.”
Hence, this sentiment even became the title of Matthew’s forthcoming full-length albumBorn for This.
“I had to go through some things,” admits Matthew, whose career has taken off via the support of the outspoken “country outlaw’” Ryan Upchurch, Upchurch’s indie label Holler Boy Records and the success of Matthew’s gritty song “County Line” that was released this past July. “It could have been worse, but I was born for this. I was born to go throughthatinthatway.”
And its these ideals that Matthew hopes to continue to share with his growing legion of fans, including more than 200K on TikTok and the many more that will be catching him out on the road on hisBorn for ThisTour kicking off Jan. 7 in Kentucky.
“I don’t do any of this for the money or the girls or the fame,” he says with a laugh. “I genuinely do it because I think people need something to relate to. A lot of people are searching for something. At the end of the day, my message has always been to trust in the Lord’s plan, no matter what.”
source: people.com
