Chris Young is scheduled to have a busy year and it’s to no surprise since he finished 2013 off strong with the release of his fourth studio album “A.M.” which debuted at No. 3 on Billboard’s Top 200 chart, marking his highest charting album ever.

Young spent much of 2013 out on the road redefining what it means to be a supporting act both on and off stage — being named one of the summer’s top tour openers by Entertainment Weekly. When he was not performing his set during the Brad Paisley’s “Beat this Summer Tour,” one could catch the 28-year-old country singer out of Murfreesboro, Tenn. signing autographs, taking pictures at his meet-and-greet or giving the tour support massages (which ultimately probably lead Paisley to keep Young on the tour for the for the final leg of the tour which was renamed the “Beat this Winter Tour”).

“I thought it was pretty cool for Brad to let us stay out with them,” said Young “because sometimes when people extend the tour they don’t necessarily bring the same people out.”

(Photos of Chris Young performing in Orlando)

Booked through the first half of the year, Young will join George Strait’s “Cowboy Rides Away tour” for a weekend in April once he is done touring with Paisley in Europe. “As soon as we are done with that we have a few shows on our own before heading out with Dierks Bentley this summer,” he said.

Extensive touring is no stranger for the 2006 winner of TV reality show “Nashville Star.” During Young’s time in college, he was “still playing 100-150 shows a year on his own,” he said, as he recalls falling a sleep in class due to the long nights of putting the band together and playing acoustic sets.

“I remember being in a 12-passenger van and loading all our gear in the back, while we all took turns driving to gigs. The fact that I’m out here with multiple buses and a truck, and people are walking up taking photos in in front of our tractor trailer — that’s just pretty wild.”

Dating back to the release of his self-titled debut album under RCA records, Young states that he learned early it was important to have the ability to write your own songs. “You never have to search for the song that does what you want it to say if you write it yourself,” he said.

On “A.M.” Young co-wrote six of the album’s 11 songs, including the project’s lead single “Aw Naw,” which is certified gold. Under his belt he has a “CMA Triple Play Award” — an award that recognizes songwriters who have written three number-one songs within a 12-month period — for “Tomorrow,” “You” and “Voices.” Out of his past five top consecutive country radio records he has helping out with the writing on four of them.

“When people put in the CD they want to listen to the whole thing. If they download it to their iPod I want them to have it on repeat for weeks,” said Young.

As the country music brand continues become more diverse and grow overseas, one can expect one of the genre’s rising artist to help front-run the movement.

Country music is just life and everyday stuff, says Young. “Yeah we have some sad songs in there and some songs talk about serious stuff, but beyond that, if you come out to a show you are going to hear big party songs, love songs and a whole variety of stuff.

“I think that’s what makes country music great, it touches everything.”

(Taken from Feb. 12 issue)

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