Grand Ole Opry member and country star Chris Janson chatted about his new music, and the digital age.
Throughout his respected career in music, Janson earned an astounding four RIAA Platinum certifications: the quadruple-platinum “Buy Me A Boat,” platinum for “Good Vibes,” platinum for “Drunk Girl,” and platinum for “Fix A Drink.”
’21 Forever’ collaboration
Janson spoke about “21 Forever,” his collaboration with Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Dolly Parton and Slash. “I was over Tom Douglas’ house, one of my co-writers, and I had the idea on my phone,” he said.
He continued, “We were searching for a title and I said ‘You can’t be 21 forever,’ where I was talking about growing up in a good way and embracing life, and he loved that. Tom started playing piano and I literally started riffing lyrics in a freestyle fashion… in 30 minutes later, the song was written, and it was pretty amazing.”
“From the very beginning, I always heard two things: Dolly Parton’s voice on it, in my gut feeling, and I always heard a big grandiose solo on the end. The song always reminded me of ‘November Rain’ by Guns N’ Roses, especially Shash’s iconic guitar solo,” he said.
“I envisioned both of them on this song, so I reached out to both Slash and Dolly, and they both agreed to do it… and man, they did it extremely well,” Janson exclaimed.
Song selection process for the new CD
His new album, “The Outlaw Side of Me” will be released on June 16. “I approached the song seelction process on the kitchen table with my wife Kelly,” he revealed.
“We literally sat down with a speaker, and started playing all the songs we had for it, and we picked the ones that everybody liked the best collectively. At the end of the day, I had the final say but I liked the group effort because it started at home for me,” he said.
‘All I Need is You’ single
On his single “All I Need is You,” he said, “That song is wonderful. It’s just about to crack the Top 30 on radio already, which is a huge blessing, and it was one of my fastest rising singles to date, so that was awesome.”
“It’s a love song about my wife Kelly, and every single lyric of it is very true to life. It’s a pretty easy song to write when you are in love. You just write the truth, and the truth always wins. I love the song, it’s one of my favorite singles that I’ve ever released,” he added.
Favorite songs in his catalog
When asked about his favorite songs from his own personal music catalog, he listed “Days In The Field,” which is on his forthcoming studio album titled “Outlaw Side of Me,” as well as the tunes “Done” and “How I’ll Always Be,”which he co-wrote and became a smash hit for country megastar Tim McGraw.
“It really humbles me when people say nice thigns about my music. That is very humbling,” he acknowledged.
The digital age
On being an artist in the digital age, Janson said, “It is pretty gnarly, I like it. Our new single is getting one million streams a week, and I am very grateful for that. It is just an extra way to get people to listen to your music. It is nice, it is working out, so I am just grateful to be in the game.”
Janson expressed how thrilled he is with the recent resurgence of vinyl. “Vinyl is my favorite part,” he admitted. “We will also be releasing the new album on vinyl, so I am pretty stoked about that.”
Advice for hopefuls in music
For young and aspiring artists, he said, “You have to dream big to win big. You have to believe in yourself first otherwise how can you get anybody else to believe in you. That is the advice that I would always give myself.”
On the title of the current chapter of his life, Janson said, “Happy and Blessed.”
Career-defining moments
Regarding his career-defining moments, Janson shared, “Becoming a Grand Ole Opry member. That was unbelievable and it felt very validating. It cements your foot in the country music platform in a bigger way, so I am grateful for that because it was a great moment. That was a dream come true for me, and it still is.”
“Another major moment was the first time I headlined and sold out the Ryman Auditorium,” he added.
Dream duet choices in music
In the dream duets department, he noted that he is fulfilled, especially because he just did a duet with country queen Dolly Parton.
“Dolly is quintessentially the biggest artist ever. She is certainly the most famous one visually and musically. She is internationally recognized, and you don’t have to even see her… you can see her silhouette and you can know who it is,” he said.
Janson added that he would love to someday so something with George Strait or Chris Stapleton because he feels that they would make “good magic together.”
Success
On his definition of the word success, Janson said, “Success means reaching every goal that I set for myself so far professionally and personally.”
“Success is waking up every morning being a good husband, a good father, being healthy and ensuring that my family is healthy. Also, making a good living and treating people as you want to be treated,” he said.
Chris Janson thanks the fans
For his fans and listeners, Janson said, “I am so grateful that people have supported me in such a big way… musically and just in every way. As far as the new music is concerned, this is by far my favorite album that I’ve ever done and the one that I am most excited about, and I say that wholeheartedly.”
“I hope people rock their socks off and I hope that they enjoy this album front to back, and that they also enjoy it on vinyl the most,” Janson concluded.
To learn more about country star Chris Janson, follow him on Instagram, and check out his official website.
