Chris Young “Hangin’ On” for eleventh
No. 1
Celebrates with co-writers at Number
One party
By Preshias Harris for Country Music News International Magazine & Radio Show
It was party time for Chris Young and
co-writers Corey Crowder and Josh Hoge on Monday, April 29, as they were feted
at a Number One party for “Hangin’ On.” This was a party with a slight difference:
it was a lunchtime event, instead of the usual afternoon or early evening
get-togethers. The party was co-hosted by ASCAP, BMI and SESAC.
In answer to a question at the press
briefing before the party, Young spoke about the unusual timing of the party.
“It’s the only time when all of us can get together,” he said. “It’s not like
it’s not a huge, huge deal and people don’t dream of getting up one day and writing
a song that goes to number one. That’s
why these [No. 1 parties] are so important, no matter what form they take. It’s
something so special for all that stuff to come together at once and you’d have
a number one. I had a [number] 37, a 52
and a 37 at the start of my career, so a number one feels really, really good
and we should celebrate it.”
“Hangin’ On” is Young’s eleventh No. 1 as
an artist and his ninth as a songwriter.
The celebration took place at BMI’s
Nashville office, and Young noted that it seemed to be the perfect location as
it marks a special place on his career trajectory. “This building we’re in right now [BMI
Nashville]; this was the first place I wrote a song,” he revealed. He went on to explain how that first writing
session came about.
“I met [songwriter] Jeff Pearson at the
Bluebird Café, and I was, like, ‘I want to write songs,’ and he very graciously
brought me over here. And we sat down and wrote. There is something that is so
incredibly special about the fact that we get to sit down every day and
create. There’s a lot of conversation
going on in a lot of different places and a lot of different forms about how
important it is for us to have songwriters. And for songwriters to have a voice
and be seen and be respected because we don’t have Music Row without
songwriters. We just don’t.”
Turning to co-writers Corey Crowder and
Josh Hoge, Young noted, “I’m just really incredibly grateful that I get to sit
with these two guys and make music.”
Crowder and Hoge talked about the
connection that they share with Young in writing sessions.
“I’ve always said, for me it’s always been
cool,” said Hoge. “I kinda come from an
R&B background. Corey, I think, is a little more rock and roll and Chris is
obviously raised on country – no pun intended – but I’ve always thought that
was a really cool mesh of things. It worked from the very first day. I don’t
that we’ve ever written a song that I don’t like.”
“I think we’ve written enough songs at this
point that we know what our strengths and weaknesses are,” added Crowder. “We
can tell when some’s having an off day or an on day.”
“I didn’t know Corey until Josh introduced
us,” said Young. “I’ve always said
[Josh] could very easily be an A&R guy and not ever write another song
because he always goes out of his way to find people that are in the creative
space or just in the space of making great music. He kept saying, ‘You have got
to meet Corey, you have got to meet Corey,’ and the first time we sat down and
wrote a song all together, it felt like we’d been friends for about ten years.”
“Raised On Country” is Young’s current
single and is on course to be his twelfth No. 1 hit. It is also the title track from his next
album which was produced by Crowder. Another
track on the album is titled “Drowning,” also co-written with Hoge and Crowder.
“It’s a song that I wrote with these two guys that is probably one of the most
special songs I’ve ever written,” he said. They wrote the song after Young lost
one of his close friends.
“I’ve been incredibly lucky as an artist,
not only to be around for as long as I have been, but also to be connected with
people like Josh Hoge and Corey Crowder,” said Young. “To be able to sit down
in a room and just make magic. And that’s what I feel like we do.”
Chris Young’s ‘Raised on Country’ tour
kicks off May 16 in Alpharetta, Georgia, and continues through the summer and
fall. For tour dates, videos, music and
more, visit Young’s website,
https://www.chrisyoungcountry.com/
PHOTO 2: Left to right: Corey Crowder, Chris Young and Josh Hoge
answer questions before the Number One party for “Hangin’ On.” Photo
credit: Preshias Harris.
PHOTO 1: (Left
to right) Front row: Liz Rose (Liz Rose Music), Corey Crowder, Chris Young and
Josh Hoge.
Back
Row: Michael Martin (Vice President ASCAP Nashville), Beth Brinker (Associate
Creative Director ASCAP), Scott Ponce (Liz Rose Music) and Mike Sistad (Senior
Creative Director ASCAP). Photo credit: Preshias Harris.
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