Brett Young loves to talk to his fans. The 37-year-old reveals he enjoys hearing how his songs like “Mercy” and “Like I Loved You” stir up memories in his fans, which is exactly why he he writes them.
“[It’s] overwhelming in a good way. I think the whole reason that you write and put a song like [‘Mercy’] out, at least for me, is hoping that people will have their own story that causes them to be able to connect to the song,” says Young. “And so I enjoy when people come up and they want to share what it was that they went through that makes that song special or important for them. I think as a music fan that’s what draws me to songs and so I think I kind of always hoped that that would be a song that would put people in that position.”
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Young, who just won his first-ever ACM Award, for New Male Vocalist of the Year, is working on a new record, which he hints might deviate slightly from his country beginnings.
“I grew up listening to soul music and R&B music,” the 36-year-old says. “So, it won’t be melodic and it won’t be lyric, but there’ll be some production stuff where you can hear a little bit of a throwback thing. That’s what my parents played at my house growing up. That was very impressionable for me growing up as a music fan. The songs are similar.”
One thing that will be the same as his self-titled freshman record is his honesty and transparency in the songs he writes.
“I’m going to write about my life every single time,” he says. “I think that’s the kind of music I want to listen to is when I feel like people are being genuine as artists. So, I always want to be that and be transparent.
“That whole sophomore album thing can be scary, but I’m in a good place with it right now,” he added. “I’m really, really excited to share new music.”
Young’s ACM Award win earned him a coveted performance slot at the 2018 ACM Awards. The ceremony will air live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday night, April 15, at 8:00 PM ET.
Young will spend much of the next few months serving as the opening act on Thomas Rhett’s Life Changes Tour. A list of all of Young’s upcoming shows can be found on his website.
