Chris Young on Why He Sings Into His Phone, ‘It Must Be Christmas’ & More [Interview]

Chris Young speaks about his life, his career and what we have to look forward to at his concert in Lubbock Thursday night.

Having His Own Tour + International Success

Young said he continues to be surprised by his career, but that being able to have his own tour is a really important accomplishment.

"I'm playing spots where I've opened up, not just been the middle act on the tour, but I've been the opening act on the tour, being able to be in these rooms and have control of the show and have it be my own thing and kind of cycle through songs that you know there's a lot of people that have been around for a long time and never get the chance to do that," said Young.

Young has also seen success across the pond. He said he was surprised to receive the British Country Music Association's International Act of the Year Award 2014. "I never realized that country music would take me all the places that it has," he said.

Chris Young's Christmas Album

Chris Young's upcoming Christmas album, is due out October 14. The singer revealed that he was really happy about the project and the incredible collaborations on it.

"Pretty much everything that I wanted to happen on this Christmas record, lucky enough that all that stuff came together, but obviously being able to have Brad Paisley and Alan Jackson and Boyz II Men all on one project is really, really special," he said.

Chris Young's Causes

Young has also done a lot to help kids. He made a large contribution to Nashville School of Arts and explained that he really connected with the young arts program there.

"...Besides just that I've done a lot of things when it's related to music education, it's one of my favorite things to really give my time for," he said.

Young also told me that he's worked to help St. Jude's Children's Hospital through the years and is grateful to be in a position to be able to help important causes. He hopes his efforts contribute to making a real difference.

The Writing Process

We talked about how Young gets his ideas put together when he writes. He said that he writes a little bit of everything. "I will be walking through an airport singing random stuff into my phone at all times," he explained.

Interacting With Fans on Social Media

Young told me he utilizes different apps for different occasions. Something that's good for Twitter may not be good for Instagram or Snapchat, he said.

But is there a limit to how much tweeting, Facebooking, et al. he does on the road? I had heard that when he's out with friends he makes them all put their phones in the middle of the table. When I asked him if that's true, he laughed.

"I'm not the guy that makes everybody put their phone on the table. I've got some friends that are like that, and I've definitely played that game with people before and lost. I've had to pick up dinner before....I'm definitely on my phone a lot," he admitted.

Concert Surprises?

I asked the singer if there were any surprises fans could look forward to at his concerts, and the way he laughed made me think he's definitely got a few unexpected things in store.

"I'm not going to give any of that away, there's definitely some stuff that people are gonna dig, so their gonna have to come out and see us," he said.

Chris Young's "I'm Coming Over" tour hits Lubbock, Texas Thursday night at the United Supermarkets Arena.