At any given moment on a Saturday night, the crooning of “all I can think about is getting you home” can be heard through the speakers of a sound system at a honky-tonk, accompanied by the stomp and shuffle of cowboy boots. “Getting you Home [The Little Black Dress Song],” country music singer Chris Young’s first hit on the charts, has easily become a two-stepping playlist staple, but Young’s music has gone from cutting his first independent record right out of high school to dropping his fourth album, A.M., Tuesday, Sept. 17.
By Jane Claire Hervey

Currently on tour with Brad Paisley, Chris Young will be on the road when his album drops, promoting songs such as “Aw Naw,” “Text me Texas” and “Goodbye.” Although that may seem like a busy schedule, Young wouldn’t have it any other way. “I didn’t have the money in college to go see Brad before, and now I get to see him on stage,” he explains. Young took a moment to chat with ORANGE about his newest album and the success of his career.

ORANGE: What is your favorite song on A.M.?
YOUNG: I’ve got a couple favorites on the record that I wrote. “Goodbye” is one of my favorite songs on the album, for sure.

ORANGE: What makes this record different from any of your previous albums?
YOUNG: I’ve been able to make records that I’ve wanted to make, but, with this record, the process was so loose. We were like, “Yeah, we can try different stuff and try different tempos and write songs with titles like ‘Aw Naw’.” I had a lot of freedom to do songs that I thought were going to connect with people. There’s six on the album that I’ve co-wrote, and only five that I didn’t. There are so many great songwriters, and it would make any sense to only cut all of my own stuff. There’s stuff out there that’s absolutely beautiful, and I’m like, ‘oh crap.’

ORANGE: Do you usually write your own songs?
YOUNG: I write all the time, and I don’t think its ever anything that stops. There’s the term ‘singer-songwriter,’ but I think that sometimes those things are really separate. Even when my record’s done, I’m still writing stuff everyday, whether I cut it, or somebody else does.

ORANGE: Did you ever think you would have made it this far?
YOUNG: I can’t honestly say that I did. I’m on my fourth record, and if you’d gone back eight years ago, when I was 20-years-old, and asked me if I was going to be at RCA making records, I wouldn’t have believed you. I’ve had a label that’s really believed in me, and that’s rare. My first record – I think we sold a couple 100,000 copies – didn’t have any radio hits. It took me three and a half years for me to get off the ground as an artist. Did I see all of this stuff coming? I didn’t, but I sure have worked for it.

ORANGE: When did you feel like you had really “made it?”
YOUNG: I got to hang my first gold record on the wall, and I was really, really proud of that. I would always walk through other people’s houses and they had a gold plaque on the wall and being able to hang one on my own wall was pretty damn cool.

ORANGE: What’s the best thing about your career?
YOUNG: I’m just glad that people haven’t gotten tired of me after eight years. It’s pretty cool, and I’m still really enjoying every minute of it.

ORANGE’s A.M. jams: “Text Me Texas” and “Aw Naw“