Chris Daughtry and the rest of the band members of Daughtry are set to release their first studio album without a major record label, and the success of their two singles from their Dearly Beloved album, “World On Fire” and “Heavy Is The Crown” are already proving its success. Currently sitting in third place for the highest streaming rock band in the country, Daughtry is having their most successful year since 2010, and it’s hard not to credit it to the singer’s self-owned record label, DOGTREE Records. During an exclusive interview with PopCulture.com, the lead frontman described the freedom he feels with this album, and what will separate this one from the rest when it drops on Friday, Sept. 17.
“Oh my God, I think everything,” Daughtry gushed when he was asked what separates Dearly Beloved from the other five studio albums the band has pushed out. “One, it’s the first record that I’ve done independently without a major record label, and with that comes a lot of freedom. It also comes with a lot of responsibility.” Noting how hands-on he was in every aspect of making this album, he admitted that when he finally shut out all of the other voices who used to tell him what they thought would make a successful album, he could finally go back to the basics of simply making music with lyrics he truly believed in.
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“This was different. I didn’t have all these different voices telling me, ‘Well, in order to get on the radio,’ ‘You need to be sounding like this,’ or ‘You need to be seeing what this band is doing,’” he said. “I kind of shut all that out and listened to the most important voice, which was my own. And, I think not being on tour certainly helped me to hear that more and not being able to escape and get into all the craziness of road life. I was able to kind of sit with myself and really cultivate a vision.”
Daughtry even noted that while he loves all of the band’s previous albums, there were songs on them that he didn’t personally resonate with; instead, it was more of the label’s idea to add and take away music from each, turning what could have been a perfect album, in his eyes, into one he didn’t truly feel included songs he was personally attached to. In celebration of Daughtry’s new album release, the band is gearing up to head back on the road, starting November 2nd in Cincinnati, Ohio for their Dearly Beloved Tour.
