[Editor’s Note: Chris Bullinger is a Nashville-based, Midwest born singer-songwriter, who draws heavily on influences such as Townes Van Zandt and Steve Earle. On August 23, he released Waitin’ To Be Seen Part 1, the first half of a double album. The release continues Bullinger’s prolific pace of writing of late, following last year’s How To Bleed and 2022’s True Rendition. That’s all after taking a break from music and spending over a decade working in the solar energy field. The break gave him a chance to refocus and reflect on his life, and many of his songs reflect his career change and change of perspective. He recorded the new music with a group of Nashville musicians at Bomb Shelter Studios, and the album completes his Bomb Shelter Trilogy.
“I always felt it was a disservice not to share these songs,” he says via the album’s press release. “I’m thankful that they’re now out there, ready to connect with anyone, be it just one person or a million.”
Today, we’re excited to share an exclusive essay from Bullinger about how the album taught him about connection.]
Waitin’ to Be Seen is a double album that tells a gritty story as old as time, about a guy and a gal. It’s not really about just that guy and that gal but also about and you and me and everyone and how we’re glowing on the inside. At times just getting through life’s highs and lows. Though it’s always there on the inside—that glow—just waitin’ to be seen.
That’s when human connection occurs, and that’s why Part 1 of the double album starts with a song called “One Complete Connection.” The songs that follow are vignettes, each of which stands alone, but marches along the same arc to tell a complete story together. Part 1 of the album illuminates the connection, the falling into and then out of, and then the wandering that follows. In the final song on Part 1, the guy is looking back on what’s occurred up to that point, realizing that since the connection fell apart, throughout his wandering he’s really just been “Payin’ Dues.”
I wrote the album as a culmination of many observations of the human condition, but I realize it also applies somewhat to my musical career. I released a couple albums a while back and then sort of set the music aside to lead a renewable energy business. My work team has accomplished some great successes, but at the same time my music endeavors were left to wander. A few years ago, the music started tugging at me again searching I suppose for connection.
So I got back into the music or maybe it got back into me. And I got back into the studio, which is essential. I never really stopped writing and playing but it’s mighty hard for the music to reach anyone when it’s just me and my guitar in the garage at 2 AM. Anyways, I got back into studio with a little nudge from a buddy of mine, and we got a great band together and starting bringing these songs to life anew.
And I mean that because when my guitar and I write the songs that’s a great creative process and really a sort of high, but that process is just a version of the song. Getting into studio is a whole ‘nother process. There, I’ve got a talented crew, and the creative process becomes highly collaborative. The songs can really expand into a new version of themselves, whether it’s a different tempo, energy or vibe. The instrumentation, background vocals, how the tracks are mixed: all these creative directions make the song sound how the listener hears it. And it’s a pretty incredible experience for me to become a listener in those moments: the first time I hear the song like you hear the song is right there in the studio. Even though I wrote the song, it was—until that collaborative process in the studio—wandering along just waitin’ to be seen. Like a lot of us.
Chris Bullinger
Contributor
Chris is a poet and singer-songwriter based in Nashville. His 2024 release, the conceptual double album, Waitin’ To Be Seen, signals a renaissance for the artist. After dedicating over a decade of his life to a career in the solar energy industry, Chris is making the most of his hard-earned freedom through an outpouring of creativity. Waitin’ To Be Seen is a 23-song record carefully curated to be experienced like a collection of short stories. It will be released in “Part 1” and“ Part 2” installments. As a songwriter, Chris writes about truth more than fact. His songs are earned-wisdom storyteller songs told with a literate flair in the spirit of Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt, and Steve Earle. He believes the process of songwriting—and art in general—comprises three key components: observation, empathy, and rhythm. Accordingly, he is an astute observer of the human condition, often focusing on one key instant, empathizing with it, and then expanding that moment through rhythm. Waitin’ To Be Seen is a collection of sonic vignettes stylistically split between classic country and classic rock, and loosely threaded through with thematic connections and recurring characters. The album winds through a tumultuous love story between a touring musician and a woman he meets along the way. To date, Chris has recorded five critically acclaimed albums. His 2022 album, True Rendition, and 2023’s How to Bleed charted “#1 Added” on NACC Folk. He’s garnered 100k monthly listeners on Spotify, and over 2 million cumulative views across Vevo and YouTube.
