DAVE'S DIARY - 4 MARCH 2019 - BRETT YOUNG CD FEATURE
BRETT YOUNG WEDDING A FAMILY REUNION
"It was midnight in the middle of JFK/ trying to take my mind off the falling rain/ I was saying anything to make her laugh/ never wanted anything so bad/ she got me wishing that she could say/ doesn't even know that I missed my plane/ ain't a single thing I wouldn't trade/ for a ticket to L.A." - Ticket To L.A. - Brett Young-Zach Crowell- Jon Nite.
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When Californian singer-songwriter Brett Young wrote a new song for his bride Taylor Mills for their November nuptials it was a true family affair.
Young's pastor father Brad, also subject of one of his hits, conducted the ceremony in Bighorn Golf Club in Palm Desert , California.
Mentor Gavin DeGraw and fellow stars Luke Combs and Lee Brice sang at the reception.
The couple shared their first dance to a special rendition of Forever Young by Young's long-time producer Dann Huff and DeGraw sang love song More Than Anyone.
“If everybody in the country music family could've been there, we would've asked them all to sing,” Young said.
“We wanted the location to be somewhere where both of our families could make it. When your grandparents get older you want to make sure that they can be there. We wanted somewhere warm and have our whole family there.”
But Taylor, inspiration for many Young songs, was not subject of the title track of his fifth album Ticket To L.A . that he's touring to promote with Novocastrian star Morgan Evans singing spouse Kelsea Ballerini.
The singer, 37, wrote that song after being waylaid by a law student at JFK Airport that caused him to miss his flight to his home state California.
“Taylor definitely has inspired a lot of my music, but this song really came to life in the writing room and isn't based on any one personal experience, so it was fun to get creative with it,” Young told Nu Country TV on the eve of his wedding to Taylor, 31, on November 3.
“But spending most of my life in California , the concept of flying to L.A. is really personal to me because I've done so much of it since my move to Nashville . I knew we had to name the album Ticket to L.A . because that title sums up such a big part of my life."
HERE TONIGHT TAYLOR TRIBUTE
“If ever I get lost in your eyes tonight/ please just let me stay right there a little bit longer/ underneath the stars we are on fire/ and I don't want to go if you don't want to go/ we can just stay here in this minute/ lose all track of time, let the world spin on without us for a while/ I'm telling you, we're just one kiss away from heaven/ so baby hold on tight/ cause I want to get wrapped up in your love/ so baby let's just stay here tonight, I just want to linger like this on your lips.” - Here Tonight - Brett Young-Charles Kelley-Ben Caver- Justin Ebach
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Young confessed Taylor was source of many songs including You Ain't Here To Kiss Me, Mercy, Like I Loved You and Here Tonight - first single on Ticket To L.A . that was released on December 7. “ Here Tonight is about those moments in life that are so good that you wish they could last forever, if you're lucky enough to have moments like that,” added Young who also designed his wife's wedding ring. “ Taylor is definitely an inspiration for this one, and it brings me back to the night I proposed, and she said yes which was without a doubt one of the best moments of my life.” Brett released a video for Here Tonight , lead single from Ticket To L.A . |
It was shot on a beach, featuring the sky behind the singer, clouds, sunshine and lightning.
Scenes of a couple getting ready for a night out finally ends up in a car, where things begin to heat up, with Young singing, "So baby, let's just stay here tonight."
Brett became engaged to Taylor in February, 2018, near Ole Mississippi University where he was once a student.
They originally met 10 years ago, in Scottsdale , Arizona when Mills was a student at Arizona State University.
They dated for about six years, moved to Los Angeles together but split when Young moved to Nashville to pursue his music.
"There was never any bad blood," says Young whose music is dubbed Caliville because of its diverse roots.
"It was just the wrong time for us."
But they reunited after Young built his career,
"We realised that we were both finally in the same place and knew it was right," Young said.
"This all makes it so much more meaningful. I can't imagine it even being worth it without her at this point. Being able to be best friends with a person you're going to spend the rest of your life with is the most important thing. She has a very pure, kind heart. We've been together for a long time and do want kids soon. This is the beginning of our life together, and I'm excited to say husband and wife! We met 10 years ago, so she was around for the beginning. She was in all the little beach bars, and at our terrible gigs. She's seen every side of this business. Then, when it all finally started happening for me a couple years ago we were separated.”
SLEEP WITH YOU A FAMILY TRADITION
“Oh babe, never thought I would be like this/ wide awake waiting on a goodnight kiss/ sipping ninety proof, talking to the moon/ counting down the hours till its two AM/ never thought I would be like this/ but as long as the night ends with you/ in a yellow cab shooting me a text saying coming home soon.” - Sleep With You - Brett Young-Kelly Archer - Justin Ebach.
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But it was Young's parents who inspired another of his hits Sleep With You .
“My parents have been married for almost 40 years, but my dad still has trouble sleeping whenever my mum is out of town, which is really sweet to me” Young explained.
“But I think it's easy to relate to - even in dating relationships - when saying goodnight to this person is part of your routine, and you feel incomplete without it. But it was fun to draw some inspiration from my parents on this one.”
Shane Drake directed the Sleep With You video in Malibu with Miss U.S.A. 2015 Olivia Jordan as his co-star.
Young also topped charts with another wedding song Just In Case You Didn't Know that he penned in a writer's retreat in Mexico .
He released an indie self-titled 4-song EP in 2007, then Make Believe in 2011, followed by albums Brett Young, On Fire and Broken Down in 2012-13.
When Young moved to Nashville after eight years in Los Angeles he signed with Big Machine Label in August 2015 and released a six song EP featuring Sleep With You in April 2016.
He earlier pursued a professional baseball career at several universities until he suffered an elbow injury at Fresno in 2003.
Brett chose music after being mentored by soul singer Gavin DeGraw after he heard his album Chariot.
CHAPTERS WITH MENTOR DEGRAW
“In chapter one, I was raised on the Dodgers/ every boy wants to be like his father/ in Little League, when he was coaching me/ I was hanging on every word/ Sundays, he was the one who would lead us/ taught me everything I know about Jesus/ front row, he's on a roll, and I'm hanging on every word/ it sounds nice, doesn't it?/ I wish that I knew back then/ there's no perfect life, you can't hold back time/ but you hold on tight, hoping you might find/ every page you turn is a lesson learned/ ain't we all, ain't we all just trying to get it right?/ these are the chapters of my life.” - Chapters - Brett Young-Gavin DeGraw-Ross Copperman.
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Young wrote Chapters - one of 13 songs on his new album - with DeGraw and featured him as duet partner and singer at his wedding.
"I pretty much stalked Gavin for a year's worth of shows 12 or 13 years ago," Young recalled.
"I went to 13 shows in a year, and the last one was in Hawaii . He was playing the Honolulu Marathon."
They had met once before Brett travelled to Hawaii to attend that concert.
During that first meeting Young told his idol about his plans to release a debut EP.
DeGraw offered him advice - "don't change so much to lose the fans that you have but change enough that you can hopefully go out and grab some new ones" - that Young has used as a career blueprint.
Then, in Hawaii , when they met again DeGraw remembered Young and asked how that EP turned out.
"His memory's incredible. I mean, anybody that's met him knows that," Young added. he was like, 'Hey, man, listen, what are you doing after the show? I'm staying in Hawaii for the whole week. Let's grab a beer.' We've kept in touch ever since."
Over the next decade-plus the two artists remained friends as Young's star began to rise.
He never wanted to ask DeGraw for a musical collaboration because he didn't want to take advantage of their relationship.
"I've never in 12 years wanted to mix business and pleasure," Young admits.
“I didn't want him to have to question my motives as a friend, so I just never asked."
But when Young set out to write the music for Ticket to L.A . it was the right time to work with his mentor.
"We were both living in Nashville and hanging out quite a bit," Young recalled.
"I just went, 'Alright, here's the deal. I've never asked, but I'm writing an album and I really want to write a song with you.'"
DeGraw said yes - on one condition.
"He goes, 'alright, one thing though: You keep telling me your label wants that song that's not about a girl, that they want a life song. We got to write your story,'" Young added.
"That was his stipulation."
The result is Chapters - a song that DeGraw contributed vocals to and co-wrote.
Young says having DeGraw's perspective on the track is meaningful to him because of their shared experience of becoming performing artists in one of the "chapters" of their lives.
"The happy coincidence is that the third chapter of my story is music, and that's Gavin's story, too," Young added.
"So the writing process was a blast. We got to bring in co-writer Ross Copperman, who's a huge Gavin fan as well. And on top of getting to write with him, getting to feature him on the record - it was all pretty special."
Young performed at CMC Rocks Queensland in 2017 and plans to return here soon.
“It was my first time in Australia , so I didn't plan much time to write because I really wanted to take in the experience and do some sightseeing,” Young recalled.
“It is an absolutely beautiful place, and I loved my time there. I definitely hope to get back to Australia sometime soon. It's a beautiful place with incredible fans, and I loved getting to be there.”
Brett and Taylor honeymooned on a beach before heading to Nashville where Young received the 56th ASCAP country songwriter-artist of the year honour after a platinum album and four consecutive No. 1 singles.
He was also nominated for new artist of the year at the 52nd CMA Awards after winning that honour at Academy of Country Music Awards in April.