Chris Young Tour Family Gets Respect (& Pizza) From the Boss
Chris Young spent plenty of time honing his craft by opening for other acts before he launched his own Liquid Neon tour in November. The Tennessee native, whose previous concert credits include touring with Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton and Rascal Flatts, quickly realized being the tour boss meant he had plenty of things to consider -- including feeding a lot of people.
"I didn't think about that," Chris told The Boot and other reporters at a recent media event. "I was like, 'Oh yeah, we do need food, because I'm not on somebody else's tour.' I don't have to worry about that when I'm in a club, because we're going to order pizza, or Jimmy Johns, or something. So we had to take care of that. It's also one of those things that just reminds you that you're on a tour that's yours, which is pretty cool."
The 27-year-old is also now responsible for the paychecks of several people, including his band, but says he is easy to work for, as long as everyone does their part.
"I'm not a tough boss," he explains. "I just ask people to do not just their job, but if they see something else that they can help with ... One person I let go, the moment he killed his job was when he looked at one of the other guys, who said, 'Hey can you do this?' and he went, 'That's not in my job description.'"
Chris says he has plenty of respect for everyone who is on his staff. "We're a family out there on the road," he notes. "I love my band guys and my crew. I really try to look out for them and hope they enjoy it, because we have a fun job. There's a lot of days that it dumps rain on everybody trying to pack a trailer at the end of the night. There's rain. There's mud. We're at a festival and it's really dusty, and somebody gets sick, or they're sick waking up and they have to come mix the show. It's the same for me and everybody else. It's a full day of work. But if you have a job like this and you love your job, you should be able to have fun. I love my guys being out on the road enjoying their job and feeling like they belong, that they're a family, and we all have fun on the road. But at the same time, it's just about doing the best job you can."
Chris will resume his Liquid Neon tour on Jan. 23, with a sold-out show at Joe's Pub in Chicago. See a list of his upcoming shows here.
Watch Chris Perform 'Neon' Live