On the Verge: Chase Bryant gets 'Back' to the country

Get 'Back.' Country singer Chase Bryant needed just about 90 minutes to write his first top-10 single, Take it on Back. "I feel like we opened up a piece of paper and traced over what was already there," says the 22-year-old Texan, who penned the tune with Tommy Lee James and Dylan Altman. The track, which appears on the five-song self-titled EP Bryant released in September, has sold more than 85,000 downloads, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It also will be included on Bryant's debut album, expected early this year.

Southpaw guitar-slinger. A left-handed guitar player who learned to play a right-handed guitar strung for right-handers, Bryant essentially plays his instrument backwards and upside-down. "It was kind of fun tripping other people's minds when they would look at it and not know what I was doing," he says. "That was sort of attractive, so I just kept playing it that way." He made his first electric from parts. "I wanted a cherry-red Stratocaster and couldn't find one I could afford. So I built one."

The family business. Grandfather Jimmy Bryant played keyboards for Roy Orbison. Uncles Junior and Jeff Bryant founded a band called Ricochet that had a No. 1 country hit, Daddy's Money, in 1996. Born Chase Spencer Yaklin, the young singer adopted Bryant as a stage name. "It's still my last name and always will be, but nobody could pronounce it (YOK-lin), nobody could get it right," he says.

Taking it to the bank. Bryant made his public performance debut on the steps of the ValueBank in Orange Grove, Texas, playing drums and singing behind his brother and a friend. "People pulled up on trucks and parked, watched from across the streets on their tailgates," he says. "They wouldn't even come up to where we were playing." Even worse, his parents were there. "I never wanted to sing in front of them."

Dressing for success. Bryant is quickly gaining a reputation as one of country's best-dressed young acts. He says he favors outfits inspired by '50s icons like James Dean, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. "I wanted that sleek, maybe a little beat-up, look," he says. His advice for looking good: "Be comfortable in what you're wearing. If not, you're going to be the worst-dressed."

Learning curve. A fall tour with Brantley Gilbert helped Bryan learn how to grab a crowd's attention quickly. "The first couple weeks were hard on me; I wasn't quite getting it," he says. "Then I would watch Brantley, and I would understand how he goes on stage and gets a crowd. He would have them in the palm of his hand. I would watch him every night and learn and learn and learn." Bryant will headline clubs and small theaters through March. He'll also open for Tim McGraw's Shotgun Rider Tour 2015.