Country

22 Mar 2024

Kenny Chesney’s ‘Born’: All 15 Tracks Ranked

On Kenny Chesney‘s 20th studio album Born, out today (March 22) via Blue Chair Records/Warner Music Nashville, he continues his reputation for recording songs that both elevate the spirit and cut to the bone.

Landing nearly four years after his 2020 album Here and Now, Chesney’s latest revels in both taking risks and taking in every moment life gives you. Chesney included more songs than ever on his new project, clocking in at 15 tracks, each one mining universal truths and detailing yearnings for love, freedom and connection.

He works once again with his longtime producer Buddy Cannon, crafting an album that is a patchwork of songs, musical commemorations of a myriad of life moments, drawing on spontaneous road trips and dive-bars filled with the scent of ocean breezes, as well as high-octane instances of embracing wide-open independence, and tempered by more contemplative spaces accepting how time refines lives, both healing hurts and spilling heartbreaks, etching memories firmly into consciousness. Some songs, such as “Take Her Home,” touch on lasting love, while “Guilty Pleasure” centers on passion in the moment. A feeling of gratitude for the full spectrum of life courses through the album.

“There was no theme we’re singing about that holds it together,” the eight-time entertainer of the year winner said in a statement regarding the album. “But if you listen to all 15 songs, you’ll get the high energy fun, chasing adventures, don’t let people get you down piece and you’ll get the more reflective thinking about someone who’s died, the person you know you shouldn’t call emotions that have always been in the music, too.”

Perhaps a line in one of the album’s tracks, “Few Good Stories,” sums it up best: “When it’s all said and done, I’ll know I lived it well If I ain’t got nothing but a few good stories to tell.”

Here’s a look at Billboard‘s ranking of the album’s 15 tracks:

22 Mar 2024

Tim McGraw Rocks a Caitlin Clark Jersey at Concert in College Basketball Star’s Hometown: ‘When in Iowa’

When you think Tim McGraw, I hope you think of Caitlin Clark. The country superstar made the best wardrobe decision at his concert in Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday night, pulling up to the stage in a No. 22 jersey in honor of the University of Iowa basketball star.

Pairing the jersey with jeans and one of his signature cowboy hats, the “Please Remember Me” singer gestured to his outfit and told the crowd at Wells Fargo Arena, “Gotta represent!”

“Girl power!” he added as fans cheered.

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McGraw also shared a photo of his sporty look on X, formerly Twitter. “When in Iowa…. Had to represent!” he wrote. “Big year for @CaitlinClark22 and @IowaWBB.”

The three-time Grammy winner is currently on his Standing Room Only Tour — featuring special guest Carly Pearce — in support of his August 2023 album of the same name, which bowed at No. 75 on the Billboard 200. Following his show in Iowa, he’ll travel throughout the U.S. and Canada before closing out the trek June 29 in Sacramento.

McGraw’s Des Moines show came just one day ahead of the NCAA March Madness kickoff for women’s basketball, in which Iowa — largely thanks to Des Moines native Clark’s impressive skills on the court — is one of four No. 1 seeds. Last year, she led the Hawkeyes to the national championship game, although they lost to Louisiana State University 102-85. She also recently became college basketball’s all-time leading scorer, surpassing LSU’s Pete Maravich.

See photos and videos of McGraw repping Caitlin Clark’s jersey below.

22 Mar 2024

Hardy Scores His Third Country Airplay Leader as ‘Truck Bed’ Rolls to No. 1

Hardy nets his third leader as a recording artist, and his first unaccompanied by any other acts, on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart as “Truck Bed,” released on Big Loud, rides 2-1 on the survey dated March 30. The song increased by 13% to 31 million audience impressions March 15-21, according to Luminate.

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Hardy (full name Michael Wilson Hardy), 33, from Philadelphia, Miss., co-authored the song with Ashley Gorley, Ben Johnson and Hunter Phelps; Joey Moi produced it. It’s from Hardy’s LP The Mockingbird & the Crow, which launched as his first No. 1 on Top Country Albums in February 2023.

“Truck Bed” follows “Wait in the Truck” (featuring Lainey Wilson), which hit No. 2 on Country Airplay last April, becoming his third of four top 10s. He boasts two No. 1s: “Beers on Me,” with Dierks Bentley and Breland, dominated for one week in April 2022 after “One Beer” (featuring Lauren Alaina and Devin Dawson) ruled for one frame in December 2020.

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As a songwriter, “Truck Bed” marks Hardy’s 12th Country Airplay No. 1, a run that began with Morgan Wallen’s “Up Down” (featuring Florida Georgia Line) for a week in June 2018.

New Top 10s

Jordan Davis earns his eighth consecutive career-opening Country Airplay top 10 as “Tucson Too Late,” which he co-penned, rises 11-9 (18.9 million, up 8%). It follows “Next Thing You Know,” which hit No. 2 last July, and “What My World Spins Around,” which reigned for two weeks in January 2023, marking his fourth No. 1.

Plus, Tyler Hubbard (half of Florida Georgia Line, with Brian Kelley), notches his third solo top 10 as “Back Then Right Now” jumps 13-10 (18.8 million, up 10%). It follows “Dancin’ in the Country,” which reached No. 2 last May, and “5 Foot 9,” which became his first leader on his own for one week in November 2022.

22 Mar 2024

Shania Twain Responded With Love to Lukas Gage Apologizing For ‘Wasting’ Her Time at His Wedding

Shania Twain believes in love. But also, she also believes that if the love isn’t there, she’s going to bounce. The “That Don’t Impress Me Much” shared he thoughts on love and the lack of it in a tweet on Thursday night (March 21) in which she responded to Road House reboot star Lukas Gage saying that he regretted wasting the singer’s time when he roped her into singing at his 2023 Las Vegas wedding to celeb hairstylist Chris Appleton. The union, as you may have heard, ended up not even lasting until the end of the year.

“If you’re not in it for love, I’m outta here [crying laughing and kissy face emoji],” Twain tweeted along with a link to a recent headline about Gage’s mea culpa.

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The playful response from the country star came after Gage described his whirlwind courtship, marriage and divorce from Appleton on Andy Cohen’s Watch What Happens Live earlier this week. “Literally, I don’t know what went through my head. I don’t know what happened. The fur coats was a horrible idea,” Gage lamented in reference to the couple’s matching fuzzy outerwear at the nuptials that also found one of Appleton’s most famous clients, Kim Kardashian, officiating the service where Twain serenaded the couple with her 1998 hit “You’re Still the One.”

“I want to apologize to Shania Twain for wasting her time,” Gage told Cohen. “I mean, ‘We’re still holding on, you’re still the one’ after, like, three weeks? That was unhinged. That was like the biggest waste of her time. But, I love you, Shania. I’m really sorry about that,” Gage said, adding that it was still “really cool” to have Twain on hand for the ceremony.

Check out Twain’s tweet below.

22 Mar 2024

Needtobreathe & Jordan Davis to Team Up for ‘CMT Crossroads’ Performance


Rock and country will collide when Needtobreathe joins four-time Country Airplay chart-topper Jordan Davis for a special taping of CMT Crossroads ahead of the upcoming 2024 CMT Music Awards, where they will also collaborate live for a first-time performance on Sunday, April 7, at Moody Center in Austin, Texas. The CMT Music Awards will air on CBS and will stream live and on-demand on Paramount+.

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The taping for CMT Crossroads: Needtobreathe + Jordan Davis will take place before a live audience at the UT Tower on the campus of UT Austin on Friday, April 5.

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Davis is set to potentially take home his first CMT Music Awards trophies this year, as his video for “Next Thing You Know” has earned him two nominations leading into the awards show, including male video of the year and video of the year. To date, his Country Airplay chart-toppers include “Singles You Up,” “Slow Dance in a Parking Lot,” “What My World Spins Around” and the Luke Bryan collaboration “Buy Dirt.”

Jordan Davis

Jordan Davis

Harper Smith

This isn’t Needtobreathe’s first CMT Music Awards performance; the group previously appeared on the show in 2021 to collaborate with Carrie Underwood on the song “I Wanna Remember.” The group has earned three No. 1 hits on Billboard‘s Top Rock Albums chart, including 2011’s The Reckoning, 2014’s Rivers in the Wasteland and 2016’s Hard Love. The band will delve deeper into the country space when Needtobreathe performs at the Country Calling festival in October.

Notably, though the taping will take place outdoors; guests to the CMT Crossroads taping will need to pre-register to attend. 

CMT Crossroads, which premiered in 2002, pairs country artists to collaborate onstage with performers from an array of different genres, as they deliver each other’s songs and meld their artistry on duets. The show has featured collaborations including Hozier with Maren Morris, Jimmy Buffett with Zac Brown Band, and Robert Plant with Alison Krauss, among other pairings.

22 Mar 2024

Rhiannon Giddens Slams ‘Problematic’ Backlash to Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’: ‘That’s Just Racism’

Beyoncé‘s forthcoming Cowboy Carter LP is already much talked about — and it’s not even out yet. Slated to hit digital streaming platforms at midnight on March 29, the superstar’s new set marks the culmination of her foray into country music. Ahead of the album’s release, “Texas Hold ‘Em” banjo player Rhiannon Giddens joined IMPACT x Nightline to talk about racism in country music, pop crossovers in the genre and the backlash against Cowboy Carter in the episode airing March 28, and Billboard has an exclusive sneak peek.

Giddens — a singer and scholar who has dedicated her life to extolling the Black history of the banjo and country music — believes Cowboy Carter is a massive step toward genuine mainstream recognition of the genre’s roots.

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“It’s been really interesting,” Giddens tells IMPACT x Nightline‘s Janai Norman of the resounding success of catchy country-pop track “Texas Hold ‘Em,” which Beyonce dropped during the 2024 Super Bowl alongside the rousing, reflective ballad “16 Carriages.” “I have been on … a slight roller-coaster ride of … exposure of my music, TikToks being danced to my banjo sound– that’s been really, really, really amazing. It feels like a real pure moment of discovery.”

“Texas” has experienced notable commercial success: It not only topped the Billboard Hot 100, but has appeared on nine different Billboard airplay charts and earned Beyoncé the distinction of being the first Black woman to top Hot Country Songs and the first Black woman to summit the Hot 100 with a country song. Despite that, the superstar faced considerable backlash for her hard pivot into country music. One Oklahoma radio station initially refused to play “Texas” (it later reversed its decision), and, upon revealing the Cowboy Carter album cover, Beyoncé was immediately embroiled in discourse surrounding the intricacies of the dynamic between Black Southern identities and Americana imagery.

In Giddens’ conversation with IMPACT x Nightline, the musician — who is a time-time Grammy winner — stresses that Cowboy Carter is more about Beyoncé exploring her family’s roots than crossing over for the sake of crossing over. “People can do what they wanna do,” she points out. “They wanna make a country record? Make a country record. Nobody’s askin’ Lana Del Rey, ‘What right do you have to make a country record?’ You know what I’m sayin’? Everybody has the opportunity to explore their roots, to go back there, like, ‘This is my life too. I wanna … I wanna do this.’”

“The ‘Stay in your lane,’ the, ‘Well, that’s not real country,’ that’s just racism,” argues Giddens. “People don’t wanna say it’s because she Black. You know? But they use these … these coded terms, you know? And that’s problematic.”

The March 28 episode of Impact x Nightline will examine Beyoncé’s Hoston roots, and features interviews with Giddens and fellow Houstonian and previous collaborator Bun B. The show will also hear from rising Black country artists within the Nashville machine, such as Adell, for their thoughts and enthusiasm on Beyoncé’s impact on contemporary country music.

Watch Billboard’s exclusive clip of the Cowboy Carter-centric IMPACT x Nightline episode above. Stream the full episode when it arrives on Hulu March 28.

22 Mar 2024

Dolly, Lainey & Garth: Grand Old Opry Senior VP/Exec Producer Dan Rogers Picks His Top 10 Moments On the Job (So Far)

It’s been 26 years since Dan Rogers, the Grand Ole Opry’s newly promoted senior vp/executive producer, began working at the hallowed institution, and in that time, he’s seen thousands of shows. 

But the Opry has experienced a particularly fertile time since he became vp/executive producer in 2019, and his highlights range from the shivers he experiences every time a new member gets invited to join the Opry to some significant milestones for artists like Dolly Parton, a big anniversary for the Opry itself and seeing new artists like Lainey Wilson claim the stage as their own.

He’s also part of the team that kept the Opry up and running for its Saturday night broadcasts through the COVID pandemic, even when artists had to social distance and no audiences were allowed in the Nashville venue. “We just assumed the flood of 2010 would be the most devastating thing and the most challenging time in our careers,” Rogers says, referencing the historic flood that devastated Nashville as the Cumberland River rose over its bands and filled the Grand Ole Opry House with 10 feet of water. “But it was truly the uncertainty and just the sadness of COVID that made it so difficult for us.”

The highs have been far more than the lows, and the only issue Rogers had with picking his top 10 moments since he became executive producer five years ago was narrowing it down.

Below, he picks some of his favorite moments. (While they are unranked, as he notes in his comments, one night stands a little above the rest.)

22 Mar 2024

Dan Rogers Promoted to Senior VP/Executive Producer of the Grand Ole Opry

As the Grand Ole Opry approaches its 100th anniversary, vp/executive producer Dan Rogers will take on expanded duties in his new role as senior vp/executive producer of the esteemed institution. 

The 26-year Opry veteran will continue to oversee all aspects of the more than 225 shows at the Opry each year. “I really do take it as a pat on the back for what our entire team has been able to accomplish and what we’re in the middle of,” the self-effacing executive tells Billboard of his promotion, which is effective immediately “But there’s still so much I want to be a part of with the Opry before it’s my time to let somebody else take the reins.”

When Rogers took the reins as vp/executive producer in 2019, he couldn’t have imagined the challenges ahead. “The COVID pandemic hit seven or eight months into me being in this position. I was really thankful that I wasn’t new to the Opry when that hit,” says Rogers, who started at the Opry as an intern in 1998 and has held positions in artist relations, communication, marketing, production and tours. 

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“We just assumed the flood of 2010 would be the most devastating thing and the most challenging time in our careers,” Rogers says, referencing the historic flood that devastated Nashville as the Cumberland River rose over its banks and filled the Grand Ole Opry House with 10 feet of water. “But it was truly the uncertainty and just the sadness of COVID that made it so difficult for us.”

Nevertheless, the Grand Ole Opry continued, and artists performed 29 Saturday nights without a live audience during the COVID pandemic, never missing a performance. Fans all over the world continued to enjoy the nearly 100-year-old show as they tuned in to the Opry Live broadcast and livestream.  

Under Rogers’ leadership, the Opry welcomes a wide range of performers — both newcomers and established superstars, as well as acts who fall outside of country. For example, “American Pie” singer Don McLean made his Opry debut Mar. 9. 

“Mr. Rogers, or Opry Dan, as we still lovingly call him, is so effective simply because he absolutely loves the Opry and everyone connected with it. It is his passion, and it shows,” says Jeannie Seely, a 58-year member of the Opry, who was Rogers first assignment as an intern, when he was charged with taking her and her dog, Shadpoke, to the welcome center to greet fans. “Dan is the perfect choice for this important position. He understands the broad spectrum of the Opry. He has the pulse of what’s happening in the music industry today and how it pertains to the Opry. At the same time, because of his lifelong love for this institution, he knows the history and the legendary artists who have created it. His mix of the two provides a show that can only be found at the Grand Ole Opry. The future of this country music treasure is safe in his hands.” 

Trisha Yearwood, who celebrated her 25th anniversary as an Opry member on Mar. 13, agrees. “Dan has always understood the family that the Opry is, and he does everything with a smile. He even brings homemade apple pie backstage! I’m so happy to see him move up in our Opry family.”

Since Rogers took the helm as executive producer in 2019, 15 artists have been inducted as Grand Ole Opry members, and T. Graham Brown and Scotty McCreery will be inducted this spring. Last year set a record for Opry debuts, as 131 artists performed on the famed stage for the first time. During the past two years, there have been more than 200 debuts. “If you made me pick a favorite debut, it would probably be Leslie Jordan because that man brought so much love into this Opry House when he walked in,” Rogers recalls of the late actor/singer. “He had so much respect for this place and was determined to have the night of his life from the minute he walked in.”

During his tenure, the Xenia, Ill., native has executive produced Dolly Parton’s 50th Opry anniversary special, Grand Ole Opry: 95 Years of Great Country Music and Christmas at the Opry, which all aired on NBC; as well as the Opry’s 5,000th Saturday night broadcast on Oct. 30, 2022, and the 50th anniversary of the Grand Ole Opry House, which took place the weekend of Mar. 16. 

“We went into the night, and I said to our programming staff, ‘One thing we should try to accomplish tonight is all of us should take time to enjoy the show, have fun and tell these artists we love them because this feels like a monumental show,’” he says of the 50th anniversary of the Opry House moving to its current building in 1974. “I loved just standing on the side of the stage and watching people from Bill Anderson, who has been here and served the Opry longer than any member in history, to relatively new Opry members all just enjoying being here and feeling like they were at home.”

Rogers’ duties include serving as executive producer for the weekly Opry Live broadcast and live-stream. He will add new executive producer roles on upcoming international and domestic broadcasts, especially those related to the Grand Ole Opry’s 100th year on the air in 2025. 

There’s palpable excitement in Rogers’ voice when he talks about celebrating the Opry’s 100th anniversary. “Our goal would be to do up to 240 Opry performances next year, the network television specials and a couple of monumental shows, probably outside of Nashville,” he says. “We’re taking the Opry to some unexpected places in addition to really having a show almost any time a Nashvillian wants to come see us or anyone is coming from around the world. If you spend two nights in Nashville, [we’re] pretty sure at least one of those nights we’ll be staging the Grand Ole Opry for you.”

Though the Grand Ole Opry’s actual centennial is in November 2025, the festivities will begin long before. “We’ll begin celebrating about this time next year and will continue basically as long as people will let us,” Rogers says with a laugh. “There are so many artists we want to showcase and partners we want to partner with, it really will take several months for us to accomplish all that we want to accomplish, but we also want to give people plenty of opportunities to come see us if you are a spring traveler or summer traveler, fall, winter or what have you.”

Rogers says there are plans for special exhibits and specific tours celebrating the Opry’s 100th, which he expects will draw more than 250,000 visitors. “You will also know that it’s a really, really special year when you walk through either on a tour or as an artist walking through on a show night,” he says.

There are also plans for shows that will honor Grand Ole Opry legends who have died such as Roy Acuff and Minnie Pearl. 

Rogers quarterbacks a staff that includes the Opry’s programming and artist relations team’s associate producers Nicole Judd and Gina Keltner, as well as artist relations and programming strategy director Jordan Pettit. 

After all these years, Rogers says he still gets a thrill on show nights. “My favorite thing is walking to the side of the stage and watching the curtain go up and seeing 4,400 people out there and knowing for some of them it’s a bucket list moment,” he says. “There’s probably some little kid from southern Illinois who had never dreamed that they would be where I am and there are probably lots of Trisha Yearwoods, Lainey Wilsons and John Pardis out there, just taking it all in and thinking, ‘I’m going to be on that stage someday.’”

21 Mar 2024

Cody Jinks’ New Album Marks a ‘Change’: ‘I’m Trying to Set That Precedent’

Cody Jinks knows the songs and topics on his album, Change the Game, out tomorrow (March 22), could be perceived as a bit of a departure from the hard-charging brand of country-rock his fans have come to expect. But the alternations came out of life-changing necessity.

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“I was reading something somebody wrote online the other day, like, ‘This isn’t the old outlaw stuff we’ve come to know Cody for. What’s he doing?’” Jinks tells Billboard. “Well, that guy would’ve died. That guy looked in the mirror and said, ‘You need to slow down.’ I had to get into therapy to start dealing with some things.”

The rollicking “Outlaws and Mustangs,” the first release from the album, celebrates a freewheeling, creative spirit, while the title track is the Texas native’s triumphant manifesto to fulfilling his independent vision: “I’m the punk who says I did it my own way,” he sings. However, the song “Change the Game” also signifies major changes, personally and professionally, including his rigorous sobriety journey.

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Jinks launched his career as frontman for thrash metal band Unchecked Aggression before he began issuing country-leaning projects in 2008, proving equally adept at freewheeling hardcore rock and stone-cold, Haggard-esque country songs such as “I Don’t Trust My Memories Anymore,” from his 2021 album Mercy. On Change the Game, Jinks leans into a more subdued, yet deeply confessional, sound. Jinks’ longtime bass player Joshua Thompson produced the album with Ryan Hewitt, known for his work with American Aquarium and Turnpike Troubadours, as well as Jinks’ 2016 I’m Not the Devil.

The sparsely acoustic “Wasted” details waking up on a stranger’s couch in the same clothes from the night before, with bloodshot eyes and staring at the bottom of a bottle. He wrote “Sober Thing” about his slow battle to relinquish a two-decade dependence on whiskey.

“It was difficult to write some of those songs. It was difficult to sing some of them in the studio,” Jinks says. “I pushed myself hard. I pushed the band hard. They knew how personal the record was for me because of things I was going through in life, with my family, wife [Rebecca] and marriage. Every aspect of that emotion is on the record.” He says therapy has given him “a new appreciation for my wife and the beautiful kids I have. I’ve always held my wife in high regard, but God, dude, she’s supported me for almost three decades and she’s seen the ugliest sides of me.”

Elsewhere on the record, “The Working Man” praises a relentless and ingrained work ethic, regardless of how time and technology might shift specific duties. On the album closing piano-driven ballad “What You Love,” he maintains that “a life played safe is a life not lived.”

He wrote the moody “A Few More Ghosts” — in which he wishes that apparitions were responsible for his nightly awakenings rather than his own inner demons — with Brad Martin, Jake Worthington and Adam Hood, after Jinks discovered he had accidentally triple-booked a writing appointment.

“We all showed up and it was evident that I didn’t know I had booked myself for all of those guys on the same freaking day,” Jinks says with a chuckle. “I thought to myself, ‘This is either going to be a train wreck or a cool, happy accident.’ I’ve known Adam for years, but I had not met Jake and barely knew Brad. I just said, ‘If y’all are as crazy as I am, you want to write some crazy shit,’ and Adam just starts rattling off some dark stuff. I couldn’t quit singing it for two days after we wrote it.” Jinks commemorated the song by having the title, along with an image of a Zippo lighter, tattooed on his leg.

He teamed with singer-songwriter and frequent tour mate Pearl Aday (daughter of the late vocalist Meat Loaf) on a new rendition of Faith No More’s “Take This Bottle.” Initially, they planned the song for a side project but Thompson and Hewitt felt it belonged on the new album. “They were like, ‘This needs to be on the record. It’s too good.’ When we’ve performed it live, I get chills every time she sings that second verse.”

Throughout his career, Jinks has proudly found success outside of the major label system: I’m Not the Devil debuted at No. 4 on Billboard’s Country Albums chart. His song “Loud and Heavy” has been certified multi-platinum by the RIAA, while “Hippies & Cowboys” and “Must Be the Whiskey” have gone platinum.

After releasing his first six studio albums independently, Jinks linked with Rounder for 2018’s Lifers before launching his own label, Late August Records, in 2019. Change the Game marks his fourth studio album released via The Orchard-distributed Late August.

Jinks has remained committed to his DIY ethic. He parted ways with longtime management company True Grit Management, and now manages his career with a team that includes a number of Late August employees and former staffers from True Grit. 

“I just told everyone, ‘I promise you that I’ll work as hard as I can to make sure that we keep moving forward,’ and I didn’t lose anybody, fortunately,” Jinks says. In taking on management duties, “I got a crash course, because there’s things artists know and then there are things that managers and label people know. I was on the road 200-plus days per year for many years, but now some of that time is spent on the phone or traveling for meetings. I needed to stop being on the road so much, but I still wanted to work.”

Jinks hopes his DIY business model can help change the game for other artists and serve as a reminder that success doesn’t necessarily require major-label backing.

“If you’re any good at this, people are going to start shoving paper in front of your face and then you’re locked in. My former manager and I had a great relationship for a long time and never signed anything,” he says. He advises artists to keep their own publishing and master recordings: “Those are the two most important things. You don’t need record labels anymore, and it’s getting to the point where you may not need managers … there’s too many people in this business that take the artists’ money.”

The WME-repped Jinks continues his steady touring schedule, mixing his own headlining shows this year with support slots on Luke Combs’ stadium tour.

“We got a brand-new setup, more lights,” Jinks says, “It’s going to be a great year and we can’t wait to get out there.”

21 Mar 2024

Chris Young Kicks into High Gear, Personally and Professionally, on New Album: ‘I’ve Been Changing Things Up’

Key to any artist’s career progression is a keen sense of knowing what elements of their sound and style require evolution and exploration, but also which should remain constant.

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Leading into Chris Young’s ninth studio album, Young Love & Saturday Nights, out Friday (March 22) via his longtime label home RCA Records Nashville, the 38-year-old singer-songwriter surveyed his life, personally and professionally, and set about making a series of changes. He switched management companies, joining Red Light Management. He also committed to bettering his health, focusing on healthier meals and a workout regimen with NFL trainer Jeremy Holt, resulting in a 60-pound weight loss. 

“I’ve focused on myself over the past year,” Young tells Billboard. “I spent more time in the gym, changed some things around in my career and spent a lot of time creatively on this album.”

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His commitment to growth extends to his new album, which emanates an energized sound, while Young stretches the scope of topics fans have come to expect from his songs. Young also delves even deeper into music production; solo producing three songs on the new project (he had previously solo produced “Tonight We’re Dancing,” a song on 2021’s Famous Friends), while also continuing to work with his longtime co-producers Chris DeStefano and Corey Crowder.

“I’ve just been changing things up, trying new things out, and I feel like this album is all the more special for that, just having the ability to stretch and grow as an artist and a writer, but also as a producer,” Young says.

Since his eponymous debut project in 2006, Young has accumulated nominations for two Grammys, more than a dozen Academy of Country Music Awards nominations and eight Country Music Association Awards nominations for his work as an artist and producer. He’s earned 11 Billboard Country Airplay chart-toppers and along the way, forged a reputation as one of country music’s most reliable hitmakers.

While his new album features its share of raucous party anthems and polished country grooves that Young’s fans have come to expect, the title track, which currently sits at No. 27 on Country Airplay, comes with a twist. “Young Love & Saturday Nights” interpolates the signature guitar riff from David Bowie’s 1974 song “Rebel Rebel” — something Young says he initially balked at when he first heard the demo of the song. The late Bowie is credited as a writer alongside Ashley Gorley, Josh Thompson and Jesse Frasure.

“We did a full day of just listening to songs from multiple publishers. This one started and I’m like, ‘This is “Rebel, Rebel.” I would never recut that song,’” Young recalls. “They were like, ‘Hold on, we got something coming.’ When I heard the whole song, I loved it. It’s been so much fun to play this at shows and I think it’s something so many people can relate to. Now I got a David Bowie cut on my record, so that’s pretty cool.”

While the album’s title conjures images of teenage years, freedom and passionate romances (not to mention the singer’s surname), at least one song on the album, “Getting Older,” nods to the challenge of aging gracefully, and is a tip of the hat to Young’s father, particularly on the line, “If I get half the chance to be like my old man/ I ain’t afraid of getting’ older.” Johnny Clawson, Dave Fenley and Kyle Sturrock are writers on “Getting Older.”

“I hadn’t done something like that before; it was something I was trying to say — trying to write — and I just couldn’t,” Young says of the song. “Then one of my buddies played me this song and I was like, ‘I have to record this before someone else gets ahold of it.’ That hook is so strong. It’s a really special song.”

Elsewhere, on “Everybody Grew Up,” he muses how even though he and all his buddies have matured and traded cutting class for mowing the grass and other adult responsibilities, those youthful memories of small-town childhood are never far away. “All Dogs Go to Heaven,” which Young wrote with Crowder and Cale Dodds, centers around what he imagines heaven will be like for man’s best friend.

Of course, some things remained constant, such as Young’s unmistakable vocal power and his unyielding devotion to songwriting. As with many of his albums, he’s a co-writer on much of the project, penning 15 of the album’s 18 songs, including already released “Looking For You” and “What She Sees in Me.”

Meanwhile, songs that detail the nuances of relationships proliferate the album, including “Right Now,” which chronicles the “are we/aren’t we” push-and-pull of a couple deciding whether to make their relationship official, and the tenderly romantic ballad “What She Sees in Me.” Elsewhere, “Call It a Day” continues in the vein of the R&B-laced love songs that have become a staple in Young’s repertoire.

“That one was sort of what people expect to be my wheelhouse and you gotta do those, right?” he says of “Call It a Day.” “I got to play around a bit vocally on that one so it was fun.”

While country has certainly become cool again, with a plethora of pop artists making country forays and a batch of newcomers chasing the stripped-back, rock-fused sound of Zach Bryan, Young simply focuses on bettering what he does best.

“I think I’ve been lucky enough to be around long enough that I’ve seen everything from LimeWire and Napster to TVs going away, to LPs coming back to streaming being a thing,” he says. “That’s indicative of how life is. If you are around long enough, things are going to change. Especially as an artist, you have to be able to adapt to that. It’s a real cool thing that people still love country music, and they love all types of it. I think there’s always going to be a place for it. I think that country music is predicated on country music telling stories — and sad songs and waltzes,” he says, citing the Willie Nelson-penned tune that both he and then Keith Whitley recorded. “You can kind of do whatever you want to do, as long as you are saying things that are authentic.”

In April, Young will launch his headlining Young Love & Saturday Nights tour. Rejuvenated physically, emotionally, and musically, he says he’s ready to hit the road.

“There’s been a lot of stuff I’ve changed out, a lot of stuff I’ve worked on. I’m excited to be able to go out there and tour and play this new music,” Young says.