Chris Young may not be the most vocal proponent of traditionalist country music, but his warm, expressive baritone is as much a part of country tradition as the legendary recording voices he evokes. He doesn’t exactly sound like George Strait, Randy Travis, Tom T. Hall or Jim Reeves, but he’s part of that artistic bloodline, and his music makes the listener want to stay in that baritone zone.
He doesn’t ordinarily wear a hat, but if he did, he’d tip it to Garth Brooks, Brooks & Dunn, Conway Twitty, Travis Tritt and Keith Whitley, whose songs he’s been covering while on tour this year. His most pleasantly surprising tribute—in concert and on record—is the title cut to latest album Young Love & Saturday Nights. While not one of the 15 songs he wrote or collaborated on for that album, its opening hook and chorus are borrowed from David Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel.”
Bowie gets a songwriting credit on the track, making Young responsible for bringing his music into the country charts with the composition by Ashley Gorley, Jesse Frasure and Josh Thompson. He wasn’t sure about it at first, as he was unaware if the interpolated riff had copywrite clearance (it did), but the song resonated with him and appealed to his affinity for boundary stretching.
Young grew up in Murfreesboro, Tenn. His grandfather performed with Louisiana Hayride, the most popular radio program after The Grand Ole Opry, and he grew up surrounded by country music. He demonstrated singing talent at an early age and his parents encouraged him as he participated in school theater productions. By high school, he was singing in clubs and promoting an independent debut album.
He tried out for talent competition program Nashville Star while fronting a bar band in Arlington, Texas. He won season four. A contract with RCA records led to the release of his 2008 self-titled debut album and a series of singles that culminated in his first No. 1 with 2009’s “Gettin’ You Home (The Black Dress Song).” He followed that up with another No. 1 in May 2010, the title track of his second album The Man I Want to Be.
It’s been steady sailing for him ever since. Young had increasingly honed his skills in the studio, since 2015’s I’m Comin’ Over, and produced most of the songs on Young Love & Saturday Nights. In addition to Gorley, Frasure and Thompson, he collaborated with songwriters such as Chris DeStefano, Cale Dodds and Corey Crowder. Nashville-based singer Mitchell Tenpenny helped pen “Country Boy’s Prayer,” and HARDY lends a hand with “Fire.”
Young, Crowder and Dodds wrote one of Young’s favorite songs on the album, “All Dogs Go to Heaven.” “Gettin’ Older” might be the most meaningful song to him, though. Written by Dave Fenley, Johnny Clawson and Kyle Sturrock, it made Young think of his stepfather, Michael Harris, who has battled a number of health issues over the years, including a heart attack on June 29, and the deep affection shows in Young’s performance.
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