Brett Young’s ‘Ticket to L.A.’ Album Lands at the Top of the Charts

Brett Young’s Ticket to L.A. album has landed at the top of the charts! The California native’s sophomore project, which reflected much of his own life, including his relationship with his new bride, Taylor Mills, is currently sitting at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Albums chart.

“I think the first record was really personal as well, but personal and reflective of a different part of my life,” Young told PopCulture.com. “It was a very sad first record. The second record is extremely personal and vulnerable, but I’m happy. I’m at a different place in my life.”

Ticket to L.A. includes songs co-written by Charles Kelley, Ashley Gorley, Shane McAnally and more – writers he didn’t have the ability to use with his self-titled freshman album.

“One of the things that happened was I got access to a lot more songwriters,” Young explained. “Consciously what I wanted to make sure didn’t happen is that I didn’t go in and let them write for me. I wanted to make sure that I was still all over these songs. Of course they’re incredible songwriters, so they’re helping me mold and shape a song for my record into something better than I would’ve made it by myself, but I needed to make sure while they were doing their thing that I was affecting the song as much as I could do, and that you could hear me on it.”

Only three songs on Ticket to L.A. were not written by Young, including one of his favorite tracks, “Change Your Name,” which made him think of Mills.

“I think in trying to do that the only real way to do that is to connect every song and story to something that I’m either living or have lived,” Young said of making Ticket to L.A. authentic. “In doing that I think it becomes very personal and it causes me to connect to the song, and I think in turn makes listeners connect because they can see that I’m connected, or at least I hope that’s what’s happening.”

Young just wrapped up his run as a headliner with the CMT on Tour: Here Tonight trek, and will head out in 2019 with Kelsea Ballerini for her Miss Me More Tour. But before that, he and Mills will celebrate their first Christmas as husband and wife, although the “Here Tonight” singer wasn’t exactly sure where they would actually be.

“Her family for her whole life has gone to Sun Valley for Christmas,” Young shared. “She’s from Seattle. And I know they’re not doing that this year. I think we’re intent on splitting time as well as possible. It’s brand new. That’s still a learning curve we haven’t figured out yet.”

To cap off Young’s unforgettable year, the California native has partnered with Cracker Barrel for their Countdown to Christmas program, which included hiding 15 vinyl versions of Ticket to L.A., in 10 stores, with the finder also getting two tickets to one of his shows. Although the contest has ended, Young’s latest record is still available at Cracker Barrel.

“I teamed up with Cracker Barrel for its Countdown to Christmas program to celebrate the holiday season. I’m really excited to partner with them to continue to share Ticket to L.A. with fans.”

Ticket to L.A. is available at BrettYoungMusic.com. In addition, the album is available at Cracker Barrel, both in their stores and online.

Photo Credit: Getty images/Slaven Vlasic