Chris Young Talks About His Latest Album ‘I Didn’t Come Here to Leave’
Chris Young is taking over Backstage Country this week with Elaina Smith, and he’s got plenty to say (and sing) about his latest album, I Didn’t Come Here to Leave….
Chris Young is taking over Backstage Country this week with Elaina Smith, and he’s got plenty to say (and sing) about his latest album, I Didn’t Come Here to Leave. Co-hosting the show, Young opened up about the heart, humor, and a little bit of chaos in making a country music album.
Why Chris Young Chose “I Didn’t Come Here to Leave” As the Title Track
Young shared that the title track was the fun song of the album. He explained, “It sort of an encapsulation of a night out with your friends.” He chuckled, “It's weird because I wrote this at 9 AM!”
Smith noted the song doesn’t have a 9 AM vibe at all, something Young agreed with. “It just happened to be a day where I had two rights and I was like ‘I can write with you guys at 9, and you guys are 11’ and got in the room, wrote this song, left, listened to it the next day, which is normally my M.O.”
He listened to it again after 24 hours, and then it became the title track of the record. “It’s funny because as much as this is just a flat-out party song, when you've been lucky enough to be around for as long as I have in the music industry, is a wonderful way to title a record.”
The First Album on His New Label
Since I Didn’t Come Here to Leave is his first album under a new label, Smith asked if the creative process had changed. He replied, “I don't think so. The creative process was pretty much the same. If anything changed, I would say it was my fault.”
Young elaborated, “I produced this record with Andy Sheridan, a buddy of mine. I don't think people realize how much of my stuff I've actually produced. I started producing my records when I'm coming over and came out. After I did my records with James Stroud, who is a legend, I got to work with a couple of other legends and Corey Crowder and Krista Stefano. And now Andy, who I think is phenomenally talented, is just an incredible guy, an incredible person, but also an incredible producer. And when we were making this record... We used the same band the entire time. We went old school with it.”
He added, “We recorded all the vocals at his house studio. So, I actually usually just do three or four passes. And on this record, I took the time. If I get to sing it 20 times, I'll sing it 20 times. We're going to get everything we want. We ended up using about 75-90% of the first pass every time.”
If you’ve ever wondered how an artist turns their life into lyrics, Chris Young is basically giving a masterclass this week on Backstage Country. Don’t miss it!
