Brett Young is readying the release of his sophomore Ticket to L.A. album, and is currently on the road with Thomas Rhett on his Life Changes Tour, before headlining his own CMT on Tour: Here Tonight trek.
In other words, Young is busier than ever, which means he needs more and more people helping him succeed, including band and crew members, along with business professionals, an unexpected by-product of all of his hard work.
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“When you say, ‘I want to get a record deal and be a singer,’ nobody ever says, ‘Well, you’re going to be a CEO,’” Young told PopCulture.com. “That was a strange realization, and it doesn’t happen right away. It doesn’t happen until you start having success and having to hire people.
“I hate it,” he continued. “I don’t like it. I understand how important it is, and I feel like it’s been really good for me because I feel like it’s caused me to grow a lot as a person, but nobody ever tells you about the business side of things.”
Young knows fans often just see the glitz and the glamour of life as a celebrity, but the 36-year-old says the reality is far different.
“I think it would be interesting for people on the outside looking in to know the kind of glamorous misconception it really is,” shared Young. “It’s a misconception. There’s a lot of hard work and there’s a lot of hard decisions that are behind the scenes with stuff like this. It’s not my favorite part of this business, but I do believe at the same time it’s been really good for me.”
Young is enjoying his time out with Rhett, but he’s also ready to have his own shows, even if he will be performing in front of smaller crowds.
“They both have their pros and cons,” Young conceded. “Opening for Thomas is incredible because he’s incredible as a person and an artist, his fan base in incredible, we’re getting to play big arenas. That’s always so much fun, but you do get off stage every night wishing you had a little bit more time.
“I said that on the Lady Antebellum [You Look Good] tour, and now we do have more time because we’re not first of three,” he continued. “We’re direct support. 75 minutes as a headliner’s really fun, especially with a new album coming out. You get to test out songs that may or may not be singles. You get more time to kind of tweak and work through a set and figure out what works for people and what doesn’t. I have a blast being on stage. It’s just extra time getting to do what I love.”
Even though his CMT Tour won’t be the large venues that Rhett currently fills, Young is content with the smaller crowds, at least for now.
“The downside is is that we’re not selling out arenas yet,” said Young. “It’s smaller rooms, but sometimes that’s even more intimate and exciting. They have their pros and cons. I always love headlining, but that doesn’t take anything away from how much fun we’re having out on the road with Thomas right now.”
The title track of Ticket to L.A. was released on Friday, Oct. 26. The song, which Young wrote with Zach Crowell and Jon Nite, became a message to seize every opportunity, even the unexpected ones.
“It’s about meeting a girl in an airport,” Young told PopCulture.com. “Her flight’s delayed to Los Angeles, and you realize that even though you’re not on her flight, you decide not to tell her you’re not on her flight. You use the delay as an opportunity to kind of take her time ransom for a little while in the airport.”
Ticket to L.A. will be released on Dec. 7. Pre-order the album, and find a list of all of Young’s upcoming shows, by visiting his website.
Photo Credit: Getty images/Suzi Pratt
