Sitting in a deer stand, a hunter’s phone starts buzzing with texts, and finally, a phone call broke through the cold silence.
With this call, Chase McGill, a Mississippi State University alumnus from Columbus, found out he was nominated for two Grammy Awards. The phone call came from Jessie Jo Dillon, who was a co-songwriter with McGill for one of the nominated songs.
“She said, ‘You just got two grammy nominations.’ So I yelled, ‘What!’” McGill said. “I started hooting and hollering from there, my hunting was ruined for the day. That was my nomination moment. That is fairly redneck of me.”
The two nominated songs are “Break Up in the End” sung by Cole Swindell, and “When Someone Stops Loving You” sung by Little Big Town. The two songs are in the Best Country Song category.
It was an interesting road for McGill to go from graduating from MSU with a business administration degree to songwriting. His original plan was to have a business administration degree with a focus in German and marketing, however his plans changed somewhere down the line.
“They put the steel mill between Columbus and Starkville, and I kind of figured go to work there,” McGill said. “I would have been happy doing that, too, but somewhere along the way, I realized I just could not put music down. I could not help but do it, so I figured, “Why not make a dollar off of it?’”
McGill has been involved in music for a long time according to Universal Music Publishing Group, the label for which he works. He started piano lessons at age five, and the guitar at age nine.
It was evident to his German professor Sally Gray, who was one of McGill’s favorite teachers, he had a musical inclination. She described him as quiet and a good listener, and she said it was exciting to hear the news he was nominated for two Grammys.
“You could tell he was a musician because musicians always learned the pronunciation really fast and really well,” Gray said. “He would learn by hearing, which gave him an up in German class. I claim no credit whatsoever, but I’m so happy for him.”
The roots of country music run deep in McGill, who said he first started enjoying country in the 1990s before picking up a guitar in the ninth grade, when he started doing more rock ‘n roll. He went to Los Angeles and performed at small theaters before realizing he needed to be somewhere else, doing something different.
“I got to the point where I realized I enjoyed creating music more than I enjoy playing it live,” McGill said. “It was just the stress that I didn’t really feel like doing it. I started thinking about it, and shortly after that, I made the move to Nashville.”
It was in Nashville where McGill met a songwriter he highly respected, Tony Lane. McGill said he realized he was not immediately ready to write and compete with the experienced songwriters in Nashville.
“I started working at a booking agency for about two years until I could sharpen my chops,” McGill said. “I got a couple of cuts, and then I went to a publishing deal after that. My parents and my wife have always been huge supporters.”
The inspiration for McGill’s songs come from his real life. He said he draws inspiration from things he did with his ‘buddies’ in Columbus, as well as experiences with his wife, daughter and parents. The words he lives by as far as songwriting goes are simple: “I try not to write it if I have not lived it.”
“Life experiences are just the whole inspiration. You can just be the working man poet and tell what the story actually is, that is what I love about country (music),” McGill said. ”I love writing lyrics and telling stories.”
McGill said he keeps a running list of song ideas on his phone. From there, he will bounce ideas off of his co-writers before finishing the lyrics, putting together the melodies and demo-ing the song. After the demo, the song is sent to the “song pluggers,” as McGill called them.
Similar to songwriting, college is a refining process, according to Gray. She said it is great to see students grow up and be successful after attending MSU. 
“It is very rewarding to work with people and see them grow,” Gray said. “See them blossom and go out in the world and make their way in the world. Mississippi State students are a joy to work with.”
Gray said she knew McGill was successful, but he is one type of success she has never had before as a former student.
“I’ve never had a Grammy nominee before,” Gray said.