In an exclusive interview for Roughstock.com, Young talked about all of the exciting things that are going on in his career as he gears up for the release of Neon. “This is my first new music in about three years,” he exclaims with a burst of energy. “It’s a cool opportunity to get some new stuff out there to people and get them excited about some new songs. Of course, with the lead off single, ‘Tomorrow,’ doing so well----it’s the fastest climbing single I’ve ever had. It’s selling well, and I’m really fired up.”
Selling well? That could be like saying Aaron Rodgers can throw a football or Carrie Underwood is a little bit on the cute side! Since its’ digital release, “Tomorrow” has sold over 300,000 downloads----quite possibly a good sign for the success of Neon.
“I can’t really complain that much at all right now,” he says of his career. “It seems like everything is picking up at the right time. Putting Neon out on July 12, and the way everything is trending, it just seems that everything is timing out really, really good right now. And, of course, coming off of an album where we had three number ones, and having this much success early on with ‘Tomorrow’ and getting ready for the launch of the album is something you can only hope for. I’m excited about the way things are working out right now.”
“Tomorrow” is one of the most passionate vocals that Young has released yet, and the story of a man who knows he needs to let go of a relationship that still has a hold on him has brought him some of his best reviews. “It’s really, really powerful, and I think that’s one of the reasons we picked it as the first single. It was one of those songs that on the day we wrote it, me and my two co-writers thought ‘ I think this could be the first single off the record.’ That’s kind of a little nerve-wracking, because we told everybody ‘ I think this is a hit. I think this is a hit,” and everybody else said they thought it was, but then you’ve got to put it out and see if it is. You can look pretty dumb if it’s not,” he says with a grin.
As he has been proven right, Young says “I was really glad to see it climb the chart, and be the fastest climbing thing I’ve ever had, and just have it really live up to all the hopes we had for the song.”
The title cut is another highlight, as Young references one of Country’s most-played acts of the 1980s-----and no, it’s not Cash, Jennings, or Willie---legends often name-checked in the lyrics of songs these days. “That’s one of my favorite things about that song, is that they managed to rhyme Johnny Lee on in that record,” he says of the man who notched hits with songs like “Lookin’ For Love” and “You Could’ve Heard A Heartbreak.” Young admits that difference attracted him to the song. “That’s one of the things that really drew me to it. I’ve always been a fan of giving a little nod to what has come before you. There’s a line about Conway Twitty in one of the earlier songs I was a co-writer on, and one about Johnny Lee in that one. It’s so cool that we were able to get all that stuff into it. They did put some stuff in there that’s a little different---that you don’t normally hear in songs. Even though you can only re-invent the wheel so many times. Everybody’s written a good love song, a good sad song, but it’s fun in a way to make one your own. It makes you feel really happy about a record. I think we’ve done that with Neon.”
Young also steals a page from Twitty on the new disc. While there are several songs that are tailor-made for the radio, Young branches out and does a few things that he’s never done before, like the tender “The Flashlight.” He says he was allowed a little more room to grow on Neon. “I think we’ve done some stuff on this record that’s a little bit different. We definitely have some stuff that bridges the gap between this album and last album, and some stuff that you could see being on the last record. But, there’s some stuff on there like “She’s Got This Thing About Her,” that has an eleven-piece string section. There’s a song called “You” that’s on there, and it almost has an R&B feel, except with Country instruments. We did have some leeway as far as what we put on the record, and how much stuff we really got to be artistic with, and the amount of stuff on there that really pushed my vocal range. I’ve never had an album that is as hard to sing as this one, and I think that’s a great thing. I think there’s a lot of stuff that I got to grow into as an artist, a songwriter, and as a musician. But there’s still that continuity in the records.
All in all, it has been a great ride so far for Young, who got to make a little bit of history, with the success of last year’s “Voices.” Originally a # 37 record for Chris back in 2008, it was re-released in 2010, and went all the way to the summit, putting the Murfreesboro, TN native in an exclusive club. “The last time it happened was with “On The Other Hand” by Randy Travis back in 1986, and the only other time it happened was with “Backside Of Thirty” by John Conlee in 1979. For me to have a record with those two guys is kind of insane, but I think it was a really special thing that we took a chance on that, and the label took a chance. I give them a lot of credit on that, because they pushed on that. They would tell radio ‘We think this is a hit song, and we want to put it back out and see what will happen. I think it was just an issue of timing. For whatever reason, people missed out on that song at radio, and they came back to us. It’s rare, and I know it doesn’t happen very often, so it was definitely celebrated.”
And, if the music on Neon is any indication, the celebrations will definitely continue! For more on Chris, log on to www.ChrisYoungCountry.com!
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