There was slim chance Chase Bryant wouldn’t wind up in the music business.

With a grandfather who played with Roy Orbison and Waylon Jennings and uncles who founded the legendary country band Ricochet, Bryant has country music in his blood. He opens for country superstar Brad Paisley at the Air Force Academy’s Stillman Field on Thursday. The concert is free and open to the public as part of the Country Nation College Tour.

“I was influenced by all that,” the 23-year-old Bryant said from his home in Nashville, Tenn. “At the end of the day, I had to learn to stake a path of my own and learn from what they did and hopefully make a career of my own. I’ve still got a long way to go.”

He’s got a good start, though. Rolling Stone called the guitar-playing vocalist one of the “10 New Country Artists You Need to Know” in 2015 after his debut singles “Little Bit of You” and “Take It On Back” cracked the top 10 on country charts.

He described his new single “Room to Breathe” to Rolling Stone as “Maroon Five and Michael Jackson meets early Bryan White sound.”

“The nostalgia-laden ‘Take It On Back’ from Bryant’s self-titled debut EP is a prime example of pop-country done right, all high harmonies and repetitive choruses,” writes Melinda Newman on the Rolling Stone website.

After a newspaper in Bryant’s hometown of Orange Grove, Texas, did a story on his high school country band – what he calls a country Backstreet Boys-type of thing – Bryant scored a Los Angeles record deal. He moved there at 16 after graduating early from high school but relocated to Nashville, where he now co-produces and co-writes all his songs.

“That’s a big thing to me – being engulfed in that,” he said of writing his own music. “People realize I’m a big part of what I do and it’s got my name all over it.”

The past 18 months have seen Bryant tour with superstars such as Paisley, Tim McGraw, Brantley Gilbert and Kip Moore. It has provided some serious education.

“Those guys have had so many No. 1 hits, and there’s a reason they have,” Bryant said. “They work hard, they put their heads down and learn to be humble and good to people. It’s hard to do when you’ve got a million people coming up to you and telling you you’re great. Your head starts getting filled of all these things.

“I’ve got to realize I’ve got to keep my head down and work. You want accolades and No. 1 hits, but you’ve got to keep a level head.”

Bryant isn’t quite sure how he has managed such success at a young age, but he attributes it partly to staying true to himself.

“I’m a guitar player who stumbled across some good songs and got lucky in the writing room. I think it’s luck – that’s where it comes from.”