Five Minutes With: Chris Stevers, country singer

Hilton Head Island has a little bit of country in it after all.

Chris Stevers, who regularly plays the Brick Oven Cafe and Electric Piano, took a break from his day job as a police officer and recently recorded a country album in Nashville, Tenn. His self-titled debut was released earlier this month.

Stevers describes how police work is like country music.

Question. How'd you wind up on Hilton Head?

Answer. I was a cop in Atlanta for years. After I got divorced, I was like, "You know, I always wanted to live at the beach." I got a job with the (Beaufort County Sheriff's Office). I was there for a couple years, then I was a bodyguard and then I came back and was a captain in Ridgeland.

Recently I was hired to work interstate interdiction on I-95. We target interstate drug traffickers. And that's where I was, playing on the weekends. This opportunity came up (to record in Nashville), and so I took a break from (policing).

Q. Did your buddies know you were singing on the weekends?

A. Absolutely. They'd come down and see me.

Q. Did they make you sing on the job?

A. Oh, no, no. Only the (Yemassee) shrimp festival.

Q. How do you think you fit in on Hilton Head?

A. Between playing at Wingo's place and Brick Oven and Electric Piano, we've opened the door a bit more for country music on the island. We throw in the "Brown Eyed Girl" songs, but it's getting to the point where I sing a Toby Keith song, and they're singing the words back to me.

Q. It's more than just Jimmy

Buffett here?

A. It is now.

Q. Do you think you'll stick with police work?

A. It's one of the best jobs in the world. In a way, performing and policing are similar. What I do as soon as I start (it's) 100 mph. It's the same when you're chasing somebody. You get that adrenaline rush.

Q. Did you grow up around country music?

A. When I was a kid I was a KISS fan. They rocked, man. But when my mom and my stepdad took me to see Waylon Jennings, I just looked up at this cat and was like, "Wow." And that was it.

Next it was Willie (Nelson) then Alabama and Hank Williams Jr.

The biggest influence on me was Alabama. When we would go to their shows, there'd be thousands of people. Afterward they'd sign autographs or take a picture with anyone who wanted.

The weirdest thing happened one time. We'd go up to Fort Payne (Ala.) -- where they're from. One day, we drove up there and rode by (singer) Randy Owen's house. He drove up (and said), "What's going on fellas?" He took 30 to 40 minutes with us. I had written a song at the time, and my buddy starts telling Randy about it. Randy says, "You got it with you?" Of course, I don't. But he writes down his secretary's number. That made an impression on me.

People will come from all over to see you play or spend their last $10 to buy your record. And without them, you're nothing.