Today (September 19) marks a big day for Kentucky-bred singer-songwriter Chase McDaniel, as his bravely autobiographical debut album Lost Ones has officially arrived. For the 30-year-old, this release isn’t just another career milestone. It’s the moment he’s been “waiting [his] whole life for.”
“Oh my gosh, I’ve been waiting my whole life for this moment,” McDaniel tells Celeb Secrets over the phone. “This album is taking pain and turning it into something that hopefully can help other people. It’s been a wonderful journey, and I’m so excited to get it out in the world and just see how people relate to the music.”
Produced by Lindsay Rimes and co-written entirely by McDaniel, Lost Ones pulls no punches. With raw honesty, it digs into suicidal depression, the pain of losing his father to addiction, and the lifelong work of transforming trauma into hope. The project’s September release is no accident — it’s intentionally aligned with National Suicide Prevention Month, giving McDaniel’s music an even deeper resonance.
When asked what story Lost Ones tells, McDaniel doesn’t hesitate: “I hope it tells a story of triumphs and overcoming,” he says. Raised by his grandparents in Greensburg, Kentucky, after losing his father to drugs, McDaniel grew up in a culture where men were taught to keep their pain buried. “I was taught to keep those inner demons to myself, and I did for a very long time,” he reflects. “I’m kind of maybe the first one to start talking about it, and hopefully that turns around some things for the future generations of my family.”
That willingness to “start the conversation” runs through every lyric. From the title track “Lost Ones” to the gratitude-soaked “What I Didn’t Have” (written for his grandparents), McDaniel turns his family’s generational grief into something healing. “Somehow they were able to give me everything I needed in the midst of extreme tragedy,” he shares. “Writing that song expressed my gratitude for them and helped me heal from the things that were just different… I turned out okay.”
For McDaniel, the album is also about reminding fans of their own resilience. “The biggest confidence builder we can have is overcoming something at least once,” he says. “Whatever hardship you endured, you’re still here and you made it through it. That means you have the strength to do it again.”
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If there’s one phrase McDaniel uses to sum up Lost Ones, it’s “pain into purpose.” The record walks a delicate line — unflinchingly honest about suicidal ideations, yet always leaving room for hope. “When you make the decision to take a stand for another day, you at least leave yourself open to the possibility that it can get better,” he tells us. “Hopefully I can be a little bit of proof that something good can happen.”
The focus track, “Die Trying,” captures this duality best. Opening with a gut-punch of confession (“Always kinda thought I’d be meeting God with a 27 Club kinda story”), the song crescendos into a love-soaked anthem about wanting forever. Fueled by McDaniel’s baritone and a fiery guitar solo, it’s cathartic country-rock at its most powerful — both heavy and healing.
While McDaniel is country to his core, he doesn’t shy away from darker textures. Drawing from both his Kentucky roots and his dad’s love of Creed and Nickelback, Lost Ones balances country storytelling with a rock-inspired edge. “I’m such a country kid — I grew up in the sticks in Kentucky. But I also had a heavy influence of rock music growing up,” he explains. “It was important to me to put my story and my particular stamp into the country genre.”
That hybrid sound is no accident. At one point in recording, Rimes introduced a baritone guitar — a heavy, grungy instrument more at home in alt-rock than Nashville. For McDaniel, it triggered memories of a rare summer spent with his dad when he was sober. “We’d flip between country radio and rock radio. In a way, this album was also paying tribute to him,” he says.
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McDaniel’s journey isn’t just about music — it’s about showing fans how to face fears head-on. He’s been candid about panic attacks keeping him out of the gym for years, yet he set a goal to bench 250 pounds by album release day. “I hate going to the gym right now because I know it’s not going to end well. But I’m doing it anyway, because the more you do hard things, the easier it is to do easy things,” he says. “I want to be an example that you can face your fears, you can overcome them, and even if you have to do it afraid, that can lead to a better life.”
Despite the weight of the album’s subject matter, McDaniel is also seeing dreams come full circle. This fall, he’ll join Alexandra Kay’s tour as support, with arena dates on the horizon alongside Jason Aldean — the very first country artist he ever saw live. “To be on that stage now, after being in the nosebleeds at one of his shows years ago, it’s really, really full circle,” he says.
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For McDaniel, Lost Ones isn’t the end of the story. If this record is “chapter one,” then chapter two will dive even deeper. “What happens after you sign up for life? I want to tell not only my story, but other people’s stories too,” he shares. “At the end of the day, I didn’t sign up for this to only tell my story. I wanted to tell everybody’s.”
And if there’s one lyric he’d tattoo on his skin from the album? It’s simple: “Can’t turn back, we’ve made it this far.”
With Lost Ones, Chase McDaniel proves that country music can be both brutally honest and beautifully life-affirming. His message is clear — no matter how dark the night, there’s always the possibility of dawn.
Listen to Lost Ones below and don’t forget to let us know what you think of Chase McDaniel’s debut album by either leaving a reaction at the bottom of the post or by sliding into our DMs on Instagram at @celebsecretscountry.
You can connect with Chase by giving him a follow on Instagram at @chasemcdanielmusic.
