Famous Friends

As a Nashville superstar, Chris Young certainly has no shortage of famous friends. On the title track of his eighth album, though, Young sings of the kind of “famous friends” listeners may not have heard of, like his “buddy Brandon [who] holds the record for single-season touchdown throws” and “my girl Megan” who was “teacher of the year…five years in a row.” While much of the lyrical content on Famous Friends keeps the focus on small-town lives and the people who lead them, Young did tap a handful of more conventional big names to join him on the project, such as Lauren Alaina on “Town Ain’t Big Enough” and Kane Brown on the title track. In terms of its sound, Famous Friends has a little bit of everything fans love about Young: rowdy riffs, festival-ready anthems, and, of course, plenty of down-home twang.