Chris Young Teases New Song, ‘Raised on Country’ [Listen]
Chris Young turned to social media on Wednesday (Nov. 14) to give fans a preview of a new song called "Raised on Country."
The singer shared a clip from in the studio, where it looks like he might have been working on preliminary mixes for the track. Young has been hinting at new music for some time, and in the video above, he tells fans, "I never, ever play anything early at all, but I'm gonna break tradition a little bit 'cause I'm so pumped about this one."
His producer, Corey Crowder, then cues up the song, which juxtaposes a heavy, modern country-rock track with hard-hitting percussion and overdriven guitars and a lyric that pays tribute to the kind of classic country music that Young grew up listening to.
The "Raised on Country" lyrics name-check several old-school country stars and at least one classic song.
"I was raised on Merle, raised on Willie / Got my honky-tonk attitude from Joe Diffie / Daddy did too, it's family tradition / When someone cranks it up you can't help but listen / My upbringing sounds like George Strait singing / 'Cause if you know me, I was raised on country," Young sings, delivering his lead vocal with unusual aggression in the higher part of his range.
Young's most recent album is Losin' Sleep, which he released in October of 2017. He's scored two No. 1 hits from that album with its title song and his most recent single, "Hangin' On." He and Crowder co-produced that album, extending a run of hits they've written and recorded together that began with Young's I'm Comin' Over album in 2015.
Young has been hinting that new music could be coming sooner than fans expected. When Taste of Country guessed that a new single from a yet-to-be-announced project might be coming as soon as "Hangin' On" — which reached No. 1 on the Mediabase charts this week — hit its chart peak, he laughingly replied, "I’m not gonna say you’re wrong."
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