Chris Young’s Raised on Country Tour Will be ‘Over the Top’
Chris Young is putting the military at the center of his 2019 Raised on Country Tour.
Young announced at an event during the 2019 NFL Draft in Nashville that military banking and financial service company USAA will be the official sponsor of the tour, and will incorporate the military and their families into each city on the 28-date trek by providing them with access to meet and greets with the country star; as well as other VIP experiences.
Young has been a longtime advocate for the military, whether honoring his sister Dorothy and her husband—who've both served in the Marines—or partnering with Military Warriors Support Foundation to honor Purple Heart heroes during a 2018 tour stop. The singer is taking his efforts one step further with the new tour, which provides ample opportunity for him to give these selfless men and women an escape from the intensity of their life in combat.
"It's something that's very near and dear to my heart,” Young tells Taste of Country about being a “huge supporter” of the military. “The No.1 thing that I can offer somebody in the military is a night out and a piece of normalcy in a life where they're giving up a lot of their time just to keep us safe.”
Additionally, Young toured in the Middle East, South Korea and Japan performing for active military, often learning of the impact of these interactions years later when veterans show him pictures of these memories. “It is crazy the relationships that you make and the connections that you make with people," he shares. “Those would probably be my biggest takeaways... just how much I've loved visiting with military, and actually sitting face-to-face and telling people thank you."
Since coming off the road from his 2018 Losing Sleep World Tour in December 2018, Young has been building the aesthetic for the new venture. Between incorporating new songs from his upcoming album and significantly altering the visual effects, Young has created an entirely new production and promises it’ll be his most impressive one yet.
"It's far and away the biggest tour that I've ever undertaken. There are definitely some things that I have never done before on stage that are in this show,” he raves. “We revamped everything from the top down, and being able to have military families get a chance to come out there and see that show, we just want to make sure they're taken care of. It's going to be over the top; it's huge.”
Young is also in the process of recording his new album, the follow-up to 2017’s Losing Sleep (which scored him two consecutive No. 1 singles). Young has been teasing the new material on Instagram, including one of his favorites titled "When You're Drinking" and ensuring that the arena-ready rocker “Hold My Beer Watch This” will be in the tour setlist.
"There are some songs that I think are incredibly special or a lot of fun, and a lot of stuff that I'm really enjoying getting to write—and there's some that I'm really proud of that maybe was a little bit harder to write," he explains of the dynamic project, nodding to a song called “Drowning” that he describes as “very emotional.”
"There's just a lot for people to dive in to. This record feels so incredibly deep. It’s been a lot of fun to make," he adds.
The Raised on Country Tour, named after Young's single of the same name, kicks off May 16 in Alpharetta, Ga. and sees Chris Janson, Jimmie Allen, LoCash and Dylan Scott rotating as opening acts.
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