Chris Young opens up on Grammy-nominated song
Even before Sunday’s Grammy Awards, country star Chris Young is happy just to be a nominee.
“When you are nominated for a Grammy, that is how you get introduced for the rest of your career,” Young recently told CBS News. “It’s so cool.”
The 31-year-old Tennessee native is up for Best Country Duo/Performer for his duet “Think of You” with fellow singer Cassadee Pope. Young said he had Pope in mind while writing the song.
“Cassadee was my first choice. I knew for this song I needed someone to be vocally powerful because it’s so ‘range-y.’ It’s so emotive. I had played some shows with Cassadee and loved her voice and who she was as a person.”
The song imagines a life where a longtime couple must figure out how to share the same friends after a breakup.
“We just sort of started digging into that idea. Because we thought, ‘That would be kind of weird. How would you deal with that?’ since it’s kind of like splitting up something that has always been one thing into two parts again.”
In addition to singing, writing and producing his own songs, Young is also using his talents to help up and coming artists as part of a new partnership with Folgers Coffee.
As part of the program, Young will mentor the musicians, something he says he was more than happy to sign up for.
“I remember when I couldn’t even book eight dates to play anywhere in a month,” he said of his humble beginnings. “It’s so fun especially now to do this and think about how far things have come.”