Exclusive: Chris Young talks new song 'Raised on Country,' reveals new tour
Cindy WattsMulti-platinum-selling country singer Chris Young clearly remembers the days that he traveled between concerts with his gear packed into a van towing a trailer.
When the “Raised on Country” singer mounts his new 25-plus city "Raised on Country 2019" tour in May, Young and his team will roll out with six tractor-trailers stacked with lights, staging, sound equipment and more.
“It’s going to be massive,” Young told The Tennessean, which is part of the USA TODAY Network, of his stage show. “It’s not a rehash of anything anyone has seen before.”
Young, who completed his first sold-out arena tour at the end of 2018, revealed his 2019 tour plans exclusively to the The Tennessean, which is part of the USA TODAY Network, last week. The "Raised on Country 2019" tour includes more than 25 coast-to-coast stops at arenas and amphitheaters in Charlotte, North Carolina; Boston; Philadelphia; Dallas; Las Vegas; Indianapolis; St. Louis; Phoenix; San Diego; and more.
“I haven’t done a complete overhaul in two years, and this is a complete overhaul,” he explained. “We started working in September of last year on all the staging and all the production elements. We went from the ground up and revamped everything. It’s a completely new tour.”
Last week, Young released his new single, “Raised on Country,” which was quickly embraced at country radio. Penned by Young, Cary Barlowe and co-producer Corey Crowder, lyrics include: "I was raised on Merle, raised on Willie/ Got my Honky Tonk attitude from Joe Diffie/ Daddy did too, it's family tradition/ If someone cranks it up, you can't help but listen."
“It’s one of those songs I thought was really special,” Young said of “Raised on Country.” “It’s a country anthem that’s very much representative of who I am and what I grew up listening to. It’s a tip of the hat to people that influenced me and a statement on me and my music and where I plan on taking it.”
While “Raised on Country” will be a cornerstone of Young’s 2019 tour, he said he still plans to play the songs people love to hear. Young, who just nabbed his 11th No. 1 song with “Hangin’ On,” is known for hits including “Gettin’ You Home (the Black Dress Song),” “I’m Comin’ Over,” “Losing Sleep,” “Think of You” and “Sober Saturday Night.”
“I’m playing the songs people have heard, but from that point on it’s about making sure that you’re doing it in an interesting way,” he said. “People know I’m going to play ‘Gettin’ You Home.’ How do we get into it? What do we do with the show? People saw this big production last year, and I had one of the most successful years I’ve ever had on tour. How do we top that? How do I leave people walking out of the arena going, ‘Man, that was cooler than I thought it would be’?”
For the moment, Young is excited just thinking about the latest music and spending the summer on the road with direct tour support Chris Janson and his other sopening acts LOCASH, Dylan Scott and Jimmie Allen.
“It pumps me up anytime you start talking about new gear or new music and being able to revamp a tour completely around,” he said. “There’s so many things as an artist that are locked in when you start the show, and being able to take all of that and start from zero again is a whole lot of fun.”
“Raised on Country” is the debut single from Young’s forthcoming eighth studio album, which will be in stores later this year. He’s still in the process of writing songs for the project but said that it’s shaping up to be a much different album than his past releases. Largely known for his proclivity for love songs, Young said the new album will still have those but also topically explore areas he’s never covered with his music.
He said he and a friend recently wrote what he thinks is a terrific wedding song. The loss of a friend a few years ago inspired him to write “Drowning,” one of his most favorite songs he’s written in a long time.
“I had never written a song about loss before and was super, super proud of what came out with that song,” he said. “There’s a lot of stuff that I haven’t done on a project, which is fun to be able to say. To be this far into my career and have a project that I’m this pumped up about going into a new tour is really special.”
Tickets for Young's "Raised on Country" tour go on sale at 10 a.m. Feb. 15 at www.chrisyoungcountry.com. Fans can purchase tickets now for select cities as part of Live Nation’s Country Megaticket at www.Megaticket.com.
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Chris Young’s 'Raised On Country 2019' tour dates
Date City Venue
May 16^^ Alpharetta, GA Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
May 17^ Charlotte, NC PNC Music Pavilion
May 18^ Bristow, VA Jiffy Lube Live
May 24^ Darien Center, NY Darien Lake Amphitheater
May 25^ Saratoga Springs, NY Saratoga Performing Arts Center
May 26^ Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
June 13^ Syracuse, NY St. Joseph’s Health Amphitheater at Lakeview
June 14^ Boston, MA Xfinity Center
June 15^ Hartford, CT XFINITY Theatre
June 21^ Scranton, PA The Pavilion at Montage Mountain
June 22^ Philadelphia, PA BB&T Pavilion
July 11+ St. Louis, MO Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
July 13+ Indianapolis, IN Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center
July 18# Southaven, MS BankPlus Amphitheater at Snowden Grove
July 19~ Rogers, AR Walmart AMP
July 20~ Dallas, TX Dos Equis Pavilion
August 8~ Mountain View, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre
August 9~ San Diego, CA North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
August 10~ Irvine, CA FivePoint Amphitheatre
August 15+ Albuquerque, NM Isleta Amphitheater
August 16+ Phoenix, AZ Ak-Chin Pavilion
August 17++ Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena
August 22~ Virginia Beach, VA Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach
August 23~ Raleigh, NC Coastal Credit Union Music Park
August 24~ Burgettstown, PA KeyBank Pavilion
September 12+ Jacksonville, FL Daily’s Place
September 13+ Tampa, FL MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
September 14+ West Palm Beach, FL Coral Sky Amphitheatre
*Dates subject to change, please check chrisyoungcountry.com for the latest information.
^^with special guest Dylan Scott
^with special guests Chris Janson and Dylan Scott
+with special guests Chris Janson and LOCASH
++with special guest LOCASH
#with special guest Chris Janson
~with special guests Chris Janson and Jimmie Allen