When Brett Young showed up to our Zoom call, he didn’t want to turn on his camera. I can’t blame him. It was the Monday after CMA Fest. It’s a fair assumption that most people who participated in the four-day music festival didn’t want to work that Monday morning, much less worry about how they looked, especially when looks are part of their job.
I didn’t care that much. I’ve known Young for almost a decade, and let’s be honest. He’s never looked bad a day in his life – nor does he care that I didn’t swipe on lipstick for the Zoom.
“Where’s your face?” I asked when the Zoom box remained black.
It was mid-morning, and Young was relaxing while he made a few calls. He switched the camera on anyway, looking deeply tanned and like a pin-up model for Hawaiian Tropic.
“You didn’t get make-up from me or anything,” I laughed as his picture came into focus.
Videos by American Songwriter
“Listen, I like that we’re this close. You look wonderful,” he said.
His comment was Young being a gentlemanly, happily married father of two little girls. I, in fact, did not look wonderful. But I appreciate the compliment.
Young called to talk about his new album 2.0, which will be available on June 20 (Friday). He co-wrote every track on the 11-song album, which reflects both his early work in country music and the man and artist he has become.
Brett Young Will Release 2.0 June 20
“The goal is to keep giving the stuff that you gave your fans when you made them with your first record,” he said, “while always giving a little bit of something new every time.”
Young wants to gain new listeners while keeping his longtime fans happy. It gets harder with each new album because “the beginning of the curtain stays open, but you keep pulling a little further open at the same time.”
A couple of the songs on 2.0 are 10 years old. Young knew they felt like singles to him, so he saved them to use on an album where he was convinced they would shine. Reaching into his back catalog allowed Young to authentically revisit the carefree time in his life that early fans related to.
He uses “Drink with You” as an example – a mid-tempo about reconnecting with an ex who calls when she’s drinking.
Lyrics including: Girl I know the way that this goes down/You slide on closer after every round/It won’t be long before the truth comes out/We get to buzzin’/Our lips get to touching
“I don’t even drink anymore,” Young said. “Having (freshly written) songs about ex-girlfriends and drinking on a record when I’m married with children and don’t drink anymore wouldn’t be real. This was a creative way of going back and giving Brett 10 years ago to the fans that met Brett 10 years ago.”
I met Young 10 years ago. He was new to contemporary country music in Nashville, and his publicist arranged a lunch at a restaurant in the trendy Gulch neighborhood. I don’t remember which one. Young told me about his strong faith and his recent reunion with an ex-girlfriend after a long period apart. That particular day, Taylor Mills was vacationing with a college friend on a boat somewhere in Europe. His eyes sparkled every time he talked about her. A couple of years later, he married her. Now, they have two little girls – Presley and Rowan.
Brett Young Strives to Appease Original and New Fans
Although “Drink with You” may not reflect his current life, “Who I Do It For (featuring Lady A)” is a window into his heart.
“That was why I wanted to write it,” Young said. “I’m always most interested in writing what I’m going through at the moment because I think that’s the easiest way to be the most authentic for your fans. ‘Who I Do It For’ is exactly what I’m feeling at this stage of my life.”
The California-born country singer joked that he can’t write about his life for every song, or he’d have an album of lullabies. He knows everyone knows that mom guilt is a real thing, but no one talks about dad guilt. Young tours three days a week every week, and he feels guilty about being on the road.
“I have to constantly remind myself, ‘You’re not being selfish,’” Young said. “You’re out here to provide for your family. I don’t think they’re old enough to understand that yet.”
Young prays that when they do get old enough to understand what’s happening, they recognize he isn’t gone all the time because he wants to be. He’s working to provide for them.
Then he gave himself a pep talk.
“I went, ‘Brett, enough of your pity party, that’s every artist that has children,” he says. “You’re not the only one. Instead of feeling bad about this situation or bad for yourself, go commiserate with an artist and pull somebody in that can lend their perspective to this song.”
The first person he shared it with was Lady A’s Charles Kelley. By the end of the year, the three singers in Lady A will have nine children between them. Young played the song for Kelly, and before he could ask him to sing on it, Kelley pulled his headphones off and asked if he could send it to bandmates Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood.
“Dave and Hillary were in immediately, and it’s just this perfect kind of happenstance and blending of moments that brought them in on the song,” Young said.
“I’m Not Starting a Marriage with a ‘If This Doesn’t Work Out’”
His ongoing devotion to his wife is apparent in “That Ain’t Yours,” a song inspired by his refusal to ask her to sign a prenuptial agreement. As an artist, he said, that’s one of the first conversations a business manager wants to have.
“I said, ‘I’m not starting a marriage with a ‘If this doesn’t work out,’” he said. “I’m so not doing that. A song idea was born: when you get married, you’re not just sharing your heart; you’re sharing everything. Nothing against people that go in with all the contingency plans, but I’m the type that has to go all in. That’s one of my favorite, most romantic expressions of love.”
Young’s other standout tracks include “Full House,” which he wrote for his daughter, Rowan. Before her birth, the Youngs thought they wanted four kids. They brought her home and realized their family felt complete. He wrote “You Still Got It” years ago and always thought it was a single. He loves the idea of not being angry about a break-up and demanding meaningless things back.
“I don’t want any of that stuff, but if I’m really going to move on, could you let go of the heartstrings a little bit?” he said. “I’m going to need this thing if I’m going to give it to somebody else.”
“In Case You Didn’t Know” Reimagined
To close the album, Young reimagined one of his biggest hits – “In Case You Didn’t Know” – into a duet with Hannah McFarland. Lounging back against some white pillows, he said the premise of the original song started to bother him. “In Case You Didn’t Know” has been a popular wedding song for a decade, and it’s about how men struggle to express their feelings.
“I just kind of had this invasive thought one day that, ‘Well, that can’t be the whole story because women still marry us, and they still stay with us,’” he said. “So, what about that isn’t as bad as we think it is?”
Young wrote an answer back in the second verse and asked McFarland to help him do it. Then, he asked her to sing on it.
“Give us the female perspective,” he said. “She came in, and she crushed it, and her voice is beautiful.”
He’s excited about the throwback elements of tradition that he’s hearing on the radio. Being from California, Young came in during the pop country era and didn’t get to experience these sounds early in his career.
“It’s more about the songwriting again, and I dig this,” Young said. “I didn’t get my chance at this before. The creative side of me gets excited about this. For people that are going, ‘There’s some songs that sound a little different, that’s not me trying to recreate me. That’s me being excited to stretch myself creatively.”
(photo by Seth Kupersmith)
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.