Chris Stapleton has been receiving a lot of recognition ever since last week’s CMA Awards, where he picked up trophies for Male Vocalist, Album and New Artist of the Year. It sounds like he was born to be a vehicle for music, a conveyor of song…a singer…and that’s exactly what he’s always been, even as a small boy growing up in Kentucky.

“I don’t remember ever not singing. I always sang. I sang with my brother. We would sing at home and sing at church and different things. I don’t ever remember not singing. I don’t have any memory of where I didn’t sing,” says Chris. “I found it out because I didn’t like anything else, and I found out a bunch of things that I was not.”

He drove an ice truck, sold cars, went to college and had a handful of other jobs, but he always turned to music. “The thought of doing anything else just made me so miserable, I think that really [laughs] steered my path and for better or worse.”

Chris is currently on the West Coast with sold-out shows, including Thursday night in Portland, Oregon, Friday in Chico, California, Sunday in San Francisco and Monday in Los Angeles. He’s also set to perform during Music City’s New Year’s Bash on Broadway, along with Kings of Leon, The Whigs and Kelsea Ballerini, among others.