Chris Stapleton took his talents to Saturday Night Live. The father of five performed both “White Horse” and “Mountains Of My Mind” on the popular TV show. Ryan Gosling served as the host of the show.
“White Horse,” which became his fourth No. 1 hit, is from Stapleton’s Higher album, out last year. The song was originally written to be part of a movie, before the Kentucky native had the idea to release it on his own.
“The song, ‘White Horse,’ really came about when I was in Los Angeles, writing with my friend, Dan Wilson,” Stapleton told Audacy. “I showed up at his house, and we were gonna write songs. He’s like, ‘Hey, they’re looking for songs for this new Lone Ranger movie.’ I was like, ‘Cool. What do you know about it? What do they need?’ [He said], ‘Well I don’t really know, but we know that the Lone Ranger has a white horse.
“That was the working title from that point,” he continued. “We started just kind of riffing around and bouncing things off of each other musically until we came up with what felt like something that would fit in a Western movie in kind of a rock and roll way. It never got used for that movie, but it turned out to be a really cool song in my opinion.”
“Mountains Of My Mind,” written solely by Stapleton is the final track on Higher, a fitting end to a record he poured so much of himself into.
“Whenever we’re releasing new music, we don’t have a specific ritual really, but I think there’s a little bit of apprehension, a little bit of excitement mixed together wondering how fans will react, really,” Stapleton previously told his record label. “I think that’s the main thing going on in our heads when we put something out is we hope whatever we’ve done will be something that people will gravitate to and enjoy.”
The singer-songwriter followed “White Horse” with his current single, “Think I’m In Love With You.” The song is also from Higher, and one that Stapleton also wrote by himself. The romantic tune was likely inspired by his wife, Morgane, whom he wed in 2007.
“From a work standpoint, we’re a married couple. And like anybody else, we might be getting on each other’s nerves or something,” Stapleton told Cowboys & Indians,. “But if we’re away from each other for more than two days — because we do work, live, and raise children together — on the rare occasion we’re apart, we’re sort of like teenagers. We’re like, ‘I miss you,’ and, ‘I miss you too.’ And that’s a really sweet and wonderful thing.”
Stapleton was also part of a humorous SNL skit, “Get That Boy Back.” Watch it on YouTube. Find all of his music and upcoming shows at ChrisStapleton.com.