Chris Stapleton Made Studio ‘Magic’ With 10-Year-Old Song ‘Death Row’

Chris Stapleton has a variety of compelling tracks on his new album, From A Room: Volume 1, but one that stands out in particular for the star is a song whose title is just as interesting as its subject matter, "Death Row."

At a roundtable to launch the album in Nashville, Stapleton revealed that he wrote the song with his former SteelDrivers bandmate Mike Henderson, finding the country star diverting from his country roots as it was written as a "straight blues song." Though penned nearly a decade ago, he feels the song stood the test of time and felt compelled to include it on his 2017 project.

"I always liked that song and I always thought it was a cool song," he says of "Death Row."

The song took on a life of its own when producer Dave Cobb started playing a riff in the studio, with the other musicians following suit. "I said 'Guys, just keep playing that, I'm gonna figure out something to sing on top of this,' Stapleton explains. "And that's how that song came to pass. Those are the moments that you get when you're in the studio that you don't get anywhere else."  

The superstar doesn't shy away from darker subject matter, and that's certainly true of "Death Row." The song opens with what sounds like a steel door scraping against the pavement and finds Stapleton singing "Well it's time for my last request / Tell my mama that I did my best / Tell my baby that I love her so / Death row" over the bluesy beat. The experience of putting it together flowed so perfectly that it became his favorite song on the new album.

"That's where you get kind of cool magic stuff in the studio and that's why that's my favorite track," he says.

From A Room: Volume 1 is out now. The album's first single "Either Way" features Stapleton's wife and frequent duet partner, Morgane.

Stapleton recently canceled three weeks of upcoming dates on his All-American Road Show Tour after breaking his hand, which will require physical therapy to recover from.

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