Country
Carrying the Line Forward: Inside In A Heart Beat and the Legacy of Chad Sellers
Some songwriters are remembered for hits. Others are remembered for how they worked, the way they pushed a line, chased honesty, and refused to let a song settle for “good enough.” Chad Sellers belonged firmly in the second camp.
That ethos lives on in In A Heart Beat, the posthumous folk-Americana EP completed by Sellers’ family and closest collaborators following his passing in August 2023. What began as Chad’s debut EP, an intimate collection centered on love, struggle, faith, and time, became something larger, a communal act of remembrance, stewardship, and care. Each song feels less like a product and more like a continuation of conversation.
At the heart of Chad’s writing was an almost singular devotion to lyrics. “Chad almost always led with a lyric hook first,” one collaborator shares. “He had a way of landing on a line that carried the weight of the whole song, and everything built outward from there.” From that starting point, his rooms often became meticulous and line-by-line, shaped by collaborators who helped refine melody and structure while Chad guarded the emotional truth of every word.
That approach shines especially on “If I Were The Wind,” co-written with rising Texas country artist William Beckmann. Beckmann’s presence in the room brought out Chad’s drive to craft lines that felt both simple and profound, plainspoken on the surface and quietly devastating underneath. Chad loved the song, returning to it often as something that felt complete in spirit, even before it was finished.
The song ultimately became one of the most emotionally resonant moments on the EP. Featuring Chad’s final recorded vocal, “If I Were The Wind” was completed with the help of his eldest son, Gavin Sellers. For Gavin, stepping into the song wasn’t about performance, it was about continuation. “Being able to continue someone’s legacy through one of their passions is very rare,” Gavin has shared. “I’m very grateful to honor my dad through his music.”
Producing a song that personal required restraint. With the vocalist being the songwriter’s son, and the song itself serving as a farewell, there was no need to embellish. “You keep it simple,” the team explains. “You press play and let the power of the story, and the father-son connection, do what it’s meant to do.” The emotion was already there. The job was simply not to interfere with it.
Making creative decisions without Chad in the room was not easy. He was known for being incredibly specific about what he wanted, from lyrical phrasing to sonic texture. But that clarity became a guiding light rather than a limitation. Producer Adam Sickler, who understood Chad’s instincts deeply, helped ensure the choices made still felt aligned with Chad’s taste and intent. Trust, built over years of collaboration, became the bridge.
That trust extended across genres. Chad’s catalog spans Country, Americana, Pop, and Christian music, but the connective tissue never changed. Sharp, intentional lyrics were always the through-line. Nothing vague. Nothing wasted. Every song knew exactly what it wanted to say.
That precision was sharpened after Chad moved to Nashville in 2018. Already a published poet with a gift for language, he found something new in the city’s writing rooms. Being surrounded by top-level collaborators pushed him to make every line hit harder. Clever became cutting. Thoughtful became unforgettable.
The EP’s focus track, “Kids Of Your Own,” captures that instinct perfectly. Written like a letter from the future, the song traces everyday moments until they suddenly reveal how fast time moves and how deeply love roots itself. It’s tender without being sentimental, a message Chad left behind for his children, now carried forward by those closest to him.
Ultimately, In A Heart Beat is about more than grief. It’s about preservation. “The goal is to ensure Chad’s voice lives on,” the team behind The Chad Sellers Project explains. “It’s a way for his friends and family to process the loss in a positive way, by leaving something good in the world.” More than anything, it honors Chad’s place in the Nashville creative community and the countless writers, artists, and friends he lifted up along the way.
Chad Sellers didn’t settle in life, and this project doesn’t settle either. It listens closely, chooses care over spectacle, and lets the lines do what Chad always believed they could, tell hard things beautifully, and last longer than we do.
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