Chris Young Sings the Praises of Lauren Alaina, Calling Her 'Insanely Talented'

Chris Young's upcoming Raised on Country album includes a duet, "Town Ain't Big Enough," with Lauren Alaina. With his history of hits, Young could have had his pick of talented female artists, but had his sights set on Alaina.

"She's amazing and vocally, she is so insanely talented," Young told Taste of Country. "It's something for me that I always consider first and foremost."

Young, who had a big hit with "Think of You" with Cassadee Pope in 2016, never imagined how well he would pair with Alaina on "Town Ain't Big Enough," both musically and personally.

"You sometimes ask someone and they will say, 'Man I just did a duet with someone else' or, 'I'm kind of between cycles on my albums' and this one just happened to be perfect in terms of the timing," said Young. "[Alaina' loved the song, which really meant a lot to me."

"Her personality is just so infectious," he continued. "I mean, everyone in the room was just having such a good time. We were all laughing and cutting up. I don't know if that's what you are supposed to be doing when it's technically a breakup song, but we were really enjoying ourselves and having a great time."

Young has yet to announce a release date for Raised on Country, but promises it will be unlike anything he has ever released.

"I just really think that this album is something that's going to blow people away, and I'm really really proud of it," Young told PopCulture.com. "That's the kind of hallmark for me. We got done, and I listened to everything top to bottom, and I was like, 'This is what I wanted to make.'"

The title track of Raised on Country is already in the Top 10, giving fans just a glimpse of what they can expect next from the singer.

"I was just like, 'I want to play this right now!'" Young recalled after listening to the demo of the uptempo tune for the first time. "I felt like that about every song that's on this record, whether it's 'Raised on Country,' whether it's the song I was just talking about, 'Drowning,' which is about, for each one of us, someone that's passed away. A guy that was a best friend to me, who's no longer around; it's the only funeral I ever sung at, is the guy that I was thinking about while we wrote this song."

"Town Ain't Big Enough" is available for download on iTunes.

Photo Credit: Getty images / Gabe Ginsberg