Adam Chaffins Explains How Pairing With Brit Taylor For “Further Away” Came to Be

When disaster strikes, it can be hard to know how to deal with it and sometimes, like in Adam Chaffins’ new acoustic track, we just want to keep getting “Further Away” from reality. He premieres acoustic version of the track with a new music video.

This song was the first track to be recorded on Chaffins’ debut album, “Some Things Won’t Last,” which was released in February of this year. Chaffins shared with American Songwriter that even though the lyrics are the same, the two versions of the song have their own meanings.

“It was the last song on the record, and it was kind of just there … but then this year happened and I thought about that song and those lyrics so differently. I wanted to do a version of it that just had way more feeling in it and we went in super raw and in a day, we had everything down.”

“I remember writing that song and wanting it to be kind of universal in the message of it to let it pertain to everyone and everything. I feel like now the words and the lyrics seem pretty specific to everything. It has definitely taken a new shape and it felt great in the process to do that.”

Both versions were recorded in two different places, but each studio is special to Chaffins. The original song was recorded at Southern Ground Studio and the acoustic version came together at a brand-new studio called The Cabin.

Being able to use this space was meaningful to him not only because it was built by his friend Matty Alger, who played drums on the track, but also because “Further Away” was the first song to ever be recorded in the recently built studio.

“There was so much talk of that studio and having that recording space. To get it up and to be the first one to record there, there were just so many emotions and feelings. It was a really special process.”

For both of these songs, Chaffins decided to feature his friend Brit Taylor who is also an Americana artist that is on the rise. The two have already performed the song together numerous times and they have continued to sing together through quarantine.

“We both love east Kentucky soul music and I wanted that sound in there, so having Brit a part of the track really brought that home.”

In addition to giving his listers this beautiful new version of the song, he has also released a video to go along with it.

This music video highlights the cozy studio and various clips of how the pandemic has changed the way society looks, the protests of inequality, and other important aspects of 2020. Due to the lack of technology on hand and because It did not require fancy cameras or a huge crew, the footage was shot on smart phones.

“The video is a compilation of powerful images from this year and other things that tied together the message of ‘Further Away’ and how we all wish we were further away from what we are dealing with currently. That’s the message of the video.”

Watch this video to hear the new acoustic version of “Further Away”:

Photo credit to Melissa Stilwell