Chris Janson Calls His Wife Kelly Lynn the ‘Best Judge’ of His Music (Exclusive)

Chris Janson writes on nearly every song he records, but there’s one person he makes sure to run them by when it comes time to choose the winners — his wife, Kelly Lynn.

“She is my best judge of music,” Janson told PopCulture.com at the NASCAR Awards in Nashville. “I have to say that because without her honesty a lot of times people would surround you with just ‘Yes yes yes yes yes,’ and nobody gives you the real answer. She gives me the real answers on the songs.”

Along with serving as Janson’s musical barometer, Kelly Lynn has provided inspiration for several of her husband’s songs over the years, including his current single, “Done,” a romantic ode to his significant other.

“The first time I heard it, it sounded like a hit to me,” Kelly Lynn said. “The label listened to it and they loved it. I love all his music, obviously, and this one is so real and so sweet. I do love most all of it!”

“This one we pretty much saw eye to eye on right off the bat,” Janson shared.

“Personally of course, I cried and it was sweet, but then on a work level I thought it sounded like a hit and I love the raspiness and the tone in his voice, the maturity,” Kelly Lynn added. “I feel like it’s just a great track.”

Janson originally recorded a demo of the song in his basement, and the raw recording ended up being the final version of the track that appears on the 33-year-old’s most recent album, Real Friends.

“It’s a one track take and there’s no funny editing or overdubbing, or anything like normal polished records, it’s nothing like that,” he said. “We just built it right there in my house and I sang it right there in my house. I got the iPhone recording still. My co-producer Tommy sent it to me the day, he’s like, ‘Check this out bro, I figured you’d want this,’ and it was just, it was a one take, that’s it.”

Real Friends was released in October and includes collaborations with Blake Shelton and Offset.

“It’s been really good, it’s just been amazing,” Janson said of the response to the project. “It’s been different than the last two albums too, I really feel like I’m hitting my stride right now and I feel really confident yet humbled by the whole experience. I’ll tell you, some people don’t even make it to their third album and I’m getting to do that and already thinking about the fourth one. So, Real Friends has been good.”

Photo Credit: Getty / Taylor Hill