Country singer-songwriter Chris Young first grabbed headlines in 2006, with a winning combination of boyish good lucks, a rich baritone voice and songwriting chops that brought home top honors on the USA Network’s “Nashville Star.”
Young didn’t squander the opportunity; he inked a deal with RCA and went to work, co-writing and recording song after song — “Voices” (which won Single of the Year at the 2011 American Country Awards), “Gettin’ You Home (The Black Dress Song),” “Tomorrow” and “You” — that topped the country charts, while putting in the necessary time on the road. His latest single, the ballad “Lonely Eyes,” is the emotional centerpiece of “A.M.,” an album that came out in 2014.
This winter, Young, 29, will co-headline a tour with Lee Brice, a sympatico musician with his own set of hits and road-dog stories; the two musicians will perform at Foxwoods Grand Theater on Jan. 23, with Brothers Osbourne opening. Young spoke with CTNow about what to expect at the show, what he looks for in songs and co-writers and how it feels to reach the end of his twenties.
CTNow: The upcoming tour with Lee Brice: what are some of the preparations for something like this?
Chris Young: Generally, every time we start a new year we try to get my band, my crew, all the trucks, all the staging and lighting out, knock the dust off of it, just make sure everything is working right, that the whole show is ready to go and whatever we’re changing, making different this year, we rehearse it for a couple days. We’re not going in blind, going “I think we’re just gonna fly by the seat of our pants.” But we’ll definitely have some rehearsals, me and Lee will probably get together at some point because I’m sure we’re going to want to do. We’re still headlining this thing so we’ll try to figure out something to do together. But yeah, that’s pretty much it. I mean there’s a couple other things that I have going on in the background that are related to the single that we’ve got out right now, and different radio things that I’ll have to do to warm back up the new year, but yeah, I think probably a couple days and we’ll be ready to go.
CTNow: What do you find that’s complimentary about your styles? Why do you think that it works well that you’re going to be performing together?
CY: We’re both known as singers and songwriters, which sounds kind of weird to say, but some people aren’t really known for writing their own stuff. At one point or another we’ve both been nominated for Male Vocalist in the award shows. But saying that, I think both of our sounds are different. So I think that really plays off of each other. I’ve known Lee for probably a decade, so there’s not a whole lot of people that I would be really comfortable with going up and headlining on a tour like this. But having known him as long as I have, and knowing all the guys that he has on the road and him, knowing all my guys I have on the road… We toured together opening up for Brad Paisley a year ago, so we’ve just been around each other, we get along really well, and I think that’s just a really cool opportunity to have different sounds and slightly different fan bases that complement each other. We said, “Let’s try it and see what happens.”
CTNow: What do you look for in a songwriting partner? Are there certain characteristics of different songwriters you’ve enjoyed working with in the past?
CY: You try to put together a group of people that are all different. Some guys: if I’m looking for a love song, I’m going to call them. You always try things that are a little bit different, but I think it’s more simple when you have a group of five or six co-writers. Every now and then I’ll try to branch out. Somebody new will be coming in to town or coming up as a writer, and I’ll get together with them and see if anything clicks. But I kind of have my people who I stick with.
CTNow: What attracts you to a song when you first hear it?
CY: When you look through thousands and thousands of songs for every record, I just think that the things that jump out at me or the things that I listen to and I have that instant reaction of, “Oh my God, yes, I want that.” And I do think it’s a go-with-your-gut feeling. That’s just always how I’ve kind of done it, when it comes to other people’s songs. It’s me going, “God, why didn’t I write that?”
CTNow: Is there a musical quality that you could put your finger on? Is it a melody, is it a lyrical thing?
CY: I think it’s a combination of both. But it’s hard to just say it’s the melody or the lyrics. I think the biggest part of songwriting is the concept that you think touches people. You have a melody that you think is going to grab people. And the lyric is written well. So I think it’s all of those things working together.
CTNow: Are you reaching a point now where you’re starting to work on the next album? Are you at that point in the cycle or will that wait till after the tour?
CY: Well, it definitely can’t wait until after the tour, because we’re already starting on some stuff in the background. But yeah, it’s a little early for me to start talking about it just because we always have this weird timing thing of, “Okay, when do I start saying that we’ve been working on new music without distracting from the music that I have out?”
CTNow: Is there ever a temptation to play something new on the road, to just sort of bust something out?
CY: Not anymore, not as much as people film stuff. It would be damn near impossible to play something and not have it all over the Internet.
CTNow: In your 20s, you won “Nashville Star,” you scored number one hits, and so on. That’s quite a decade. What do you want to accomplish in your 30s?
CY: I’ve been doing this for almost a decade and I’ve been on the same label. I’ve had six number ones, two top fives, and none of that really got started until I was probably 24. The first several years of my record deal, I didn’t have anything going on, just getting played on radio, get really as much exposure as possible, playing all over the place and being in different hotels, flying Southwest everyday. So it’s pretty cool to look back and see where it started and where it’s at right now. And it’s fun for me because I feel like I’m getting more and more comfortable with what I want to say, with the process is of making my show and making my record. Things are always evolving and my sound is always evolving, so I think it’s fun to look forward to what I have in the future and really feel like, I’ve got some great fans. I’ve got a great relationship, you know, with country radio, and they’ve done a lot for me as far as playing my stuff, and it’s just fun. I don’t feel like there’s any pressure really looking forward to what’s going to happen in the next 10 years.
CTNow: What can we expect from the show? Any particular outlook you have going into this tour?
CY: Me and Lee are just going to have a ball. That’s the whole thing. We just want people to come out and forget any problems they got for several hours, and listen to music. We both put on a show and I know he’s bringing a new set this year, and I know I’m bringing a couple new things to mine, and it’s gonna be something people don’t want to miss for sure.
CHRIS YOUNG and co-headliner Lee Brice perform on Friday, Jan. 23 at Foxwoods Grand Theater in Mashantucket, with Brothers Osbourne opening. Showtime is 8 p.m. Tickets are $45-$55. Information: foxwoods.com.
