MIAMI, TX — Ricky Chilton is more than a songwriter. He's a storyteller, and his stories, set to his own music, are outlandishly funny and relatable. He is guilty of introducing a vibrancy into a country music world that has grown stale.
"Everything in country music all of a sudden was too serious," Chilton explained. With that, he saw an opportunity. "I think we need to chill out a little."
Chilton's vibe is that of a modern Ray Wylie Hubbard. Hubbard introduced stories using grinding bass lines and rock guitar. Chilton also uses a common lyric tactic to make his songs relatable: public landmarks. Hubbard sang about the Snake Farm, a real place between San Marcos and New Braunfels on I-35 that everyone knew about because of the billboards for miles directing tourists to visit. Who in Texas hasn't driven down I-35 over the past few decades and not seen the Snake Farm? Chilton's landmarks are more numerous. He uses the Circle K, Bojangles Chicken Restaurants, and the Waffle House as locales in his songs. For example, in his latest, "Ronnie Rigor Mortis," the main character, Ronnie, who is the Waffle House cook, and his buddy named Randy are both cooking something else—meth—behind the Bojangles Fried Chicken Restaurant. Ronnie murders Randy's grandma when she asks too many questions then Randy murders Ronnie with a serving of poison fried chicken. The opening stanza of the song sets the scene:
Ronnie worked the Waffle House
Had the 3rd shift
Had a body in his truck
He had yet to deal with
So
Whoops.
You'll have to hear the song to enjoy this sordid tale that's eerily similar to something out of Breaking Bad.
The University of Georgia music student left Athens, Georgia, for his home in Miami, Texas, and plotted the revival of country music. He may even break through and fix Texas Country Music too, because what he is accomplishing on a national scale is how Texas artists have done it for decades in Texas and Oklahoma—lining up performances in bars and music venues day after day while cultivating a fan base on social media. He is performing four or five nights a week right now.
"Well, I started off booking myself and then I hired a booking agent and they booked too. Next thing you know, I am playing almost every night," he said.
A massive tour wasn't what Ricky Chilton, whose real name is Richard Waylon Chiltonson, had in mind when he was studying the music business at UGA under renowned rock musician David Barbe. Barbe taught Chilton the ropes of the music business. Chilton said he prefers producing music in a studio the most. He likely got that from his mentor, Barbe, who produced every record recorded by the Drive-By Truckers, a country rock band most have heard of.
Yet Chilton is learning the ropes of the road. The biggest one, he said, is that every stop he makes is like attending a party—except he has to remind himself, forcibly sometimes, that he is there to work as the party's entertainer and pass up on that schooner of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer most of the time.
"This is an intense run," Chilton said of his heavy tour through the SEC (Southeast US).
The crowds are growing, wanting to hear in person the guy who wrote some of the funniest and, in a way, true songs about life and sometimes true crime.
"I love songs with a good character. I love character creation with an unreliable narrator. I want the listener to wonder, is that him? Is he talking about himself?" Chilton explained.
"The last thing country music needs right now is another breakup song," Chilton said. So he wrote one with a twist. It's called "Honeybutter." In the voice of the unreliable narrator, he expresses his love to his "honeybutter." Then, he urgently breaks the mood of the love story with, "Oh, honeybutter. Can you lend me $40?" By the time the song is done, Chilton has asked his girl to loan him in total $1,220, and you know he's not paying it back.
Of local concern, the second verse of Chilton's "Left Lane Cowboy (Get Out of My Way)" announces that the cowboy started his getaway—in the left lane—after robbing The Bank & Trust. We have a few of those so-named banks around San Angelo and Del Rio. Was he talking about THE Bank & Trust? Chilton denies the connection. At least this time. He said Bank & Trust rhymes with two lines down where he admits the bank robbery only netted him 11 bucks.
Chilton first gained traction on TikTok. Then Instagram overtook the TikTok audience. Now he is bullish on Facebook. Currently, the older crowd there really digs "Ronnie Rigor Mortis," he said. While the Net Generation streams their music on Spotify, middle-aged women on Facebook still purchase music for download on Apple iTunes.
"I'll know Ronnie went viral on a group or page on Facebook because my Apple Music sales spike," Chilton said. "And I sincerely appreciate the support!"
Ricky Chilton is planning a tour through Texas during the summer of 2026. He's released two full albums this year. Who knows how many tales he will have published by the time he arrives in San Angelo.
The title of this article claims Chilton is not an innocent man. That's because his hilarious and disrupting music is written and presented that way on purpose. He also released a new single where the unreliable narrator announces that the main character, Bert, was sure he was an innocent man, "'Cept for the PVC pipe bomb in his hand." You'll have to watch or listen to the rest (YouTube).
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Listed By: Rita Repulsa
Time to celebrate! Happy October 7th, everyone! (Fox News Channel first aired Oct. 7, 1996!)
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