What's The Rush?

When he was standing on the edge of stardom, Cody Chesnutt decided to step away from it all. Outside looking in, Chesnutt had it all: a voice from the heavens, virtuoso guitar chops, unflappable style and friends in all the right places. The Roots spin on his original, The Seed, catapulted him onto TV screens and allowed him to be heard by a new generation. Then just as mainstream crossover success beckoned he disappeared from the scene for the better part of a decade.

“It was interesting,” he ponders. “I remember trying to be as present as possible in the process so I could take it all in because it was happening fast. Thank god I had enough time before it all hit to really get an understanding of how grounded you should be and what to look out for, because before The Seed came out with The Roots I'd already been playing The Headphone Masterpiece underground for [almost a] year, and then MTV and all the coverage began to happen so I just tried to really focus on what is real and just take my time with it and take it all in so it was never completely overwhelming. I think I kept myself pretty focused on what really mattered.”

What mattered was family, not fame - because success wasn't striven for and recognition seemed a chore. What the now 45-year-old simply wanted was to write the next song. In his mind there was no need to pander to the scene and repeat; he just wanted to create the best art he could, whenever it felt right. That meant clearing his head and letting life become another thing for him. Chesnutt became a father. He says it was the perfect time to welcome a new heart into the world as it allowed him to “focus on something else rather than my own desires.” And for many years that's what it was all about – the quiet life – one which has now taken him from California to Florida with his family. Once his head was clear, he started to sense the themes that would line the music of his second release, 2012's Landing On A Hundred.

“I had lots of time to think and listen and to really concentrate on the tone of my lyric and the effectiveness of the lyric – I didn't want to waste any words. I really wanted to say everything that I felt; to find a way to get to the point and be accessible at the same time y'know. I really wanted to grow and learn and understand how to make complex issues accessible to everybody – that was one of the greatest things I learnt in that process. I remember seeing an interview with Hendrix, and he was lying on the bed talking to somebody, and he was saying that he was trying to trim it all down, cut the words down and get to the point. That really impacted me as a writer. Just say what you need to say, and not go around the world trying to make it too difficult, too heady – just put it there.”

Although this continuation on his rhythm and blues journey picked up again almost a year ago, the guitar-driven soul of Landing On A Hundred is still allowing Chesnutt to discover new feelings and emotions on stage: “That's all I'm ever trying to discover – the deepest emotion, the most genuine emotion – that's the only thing that really makes it worthwhile for me, and that's what makes it worth sharing. If I find something that's really moving me then I'm inspired at that point in time to go out and communicate and share that with other people. Other than that there's no reason to do it, for me.

“If I'm not connecting with the songs, then why go on tour? That's where my head is [right now]. There's so much superficial music and content in the air and the media; I want something that really moves the soul of the person. That's my aim, to have something like that to share. And if I'm not moved, then I'm not interested in sharing it with anybody.”

According to the main man, the players he's bringing out for his first Australian dates since 2006 – a collection of multi-instrumentalists ready and willing to bend with the unique feelings of his music – lock in tight with that energy. “They do, they do,” Chesnutt confirms in a leisurely drawl. “They understand my position, which is play for the song – the song tells us all what needs to happen. The song is the boss, the song is the leader, so let's all really support and find out what the song means, and they're very open and understanding with that and try their very best to connect with it and share the song.”

And sure,  you may have forgotten about Cody Chesnutt once, but don't make the same mistake over. An incredible musician, a special human being; his style of life is one worth breathing in, even after all this time. “I had to live in a way that informed me enough that I could mature as a writer and a listener to communicate. I felt I needed to basically clear my head and my spirit, and grow as a man. And it just happened to take ten years. It wasn't planned; I didn't know if it was going to be six years or eight or four. But it felt timely; it felt like the right time when [this] music came.”