There’s no shortage of excitement in Chris Young‘s world these days as he earns his third week in a row at number-one on the Billboard country radio chart with his smash single, “The Man I Want to Be.” But even as Chris continues to make his own mark on chart history, he’s offering a tip of the hat to some of the artists who’ve influenced him, and you can hear his salute to those music makers with the May 25th release of Chris’ Voices EP. It’s an all-acoustic digital album, available exclusively on the iTunes Store, and it contains Chris’ recordings of three classic favorites: Vern Gosdin‘s “Chiseled in Stone,” Keith Whitley‘s “I’m Over You,” and John Anderson‘s “Swingin’.” For Chris, releasing the EP was a way to offer something special for his fans while also celebrating some of his favorite artists and songs. And doing it all acoustically was another way that Chris thought it could be a cool project. Chris says, “It’s just really pure…if you were sittin’ there across from me, and I wanted to play these three songs, this is what I would do.” (AUDIO INFO BELOW)

• Chris’ next single is also called “Voices”…it’s from his current album, The Man I Want to Be. But when it came to naming the EP, Chris says that Voices was a natural title for that, too, because these songs were made famous by some of the musical voices that helped inspire his career. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Chris talks with us about all three songs on his Voices EP, and in a really cool twist, he says that one of his all-time favorite Keith Whitley songs — one he recorded for the EP — was co-written by the same person who co-wrote his current three-week chart-topper, “The Man I Want to Be.” How’s that for cool musical karma? (AUDIO INFO BELOW)

  Chris Young says that his acoustic Voices EP is like having him sit across from you and sing. (:14)
“It’s been a really cool process. There’s just somethin’ really special about it, I mean, the way we recorded it, the way it’s just really pure. And it’s kind of, if you were sittin’ there across from me, and I wanted to play these three songs, this is what I would do.”

  Chris Young talks about naming his new digital EP Voices. (:26)
“With us releasin’ the song, ‘Voices,’ we decided to name this EP Voices, too, and one of the reasons we did that is because these are really the voices that inspired me, musically. I mean, this is…if you go through a list of some of my favorite artists, these guys are at the top. And bein’ able to cut these songs — and these are songs that just spoke to me — and it was like, man, you know, Voices is just a perfect name for this EP that we’re gonna do, too.”

  Chris Young reveals some cool musical karma about recording one of his favorite Keith Whitley hits, “I’m Over You.” (:45)
“You know, it’s so funny about when I cut this song. This song has been…I mean, everybody knows I’m a huge Keith Whitley fan, but this has been one of my favorite Keith Whitley songs for years and years and years. It’s gotten me through many break-ups. This is like my break-up song; I play this song. And it’s so funny because I was playin’ down in Mexico, I was doin’ this songwriters thing, and Tim Nichols, who’s actually one of the writers of ‘The Man I Want to Be,’ was playin’ with me, and he started playin’ this song. I’m like, ‘Man, I love that song.’ And he goes, ‘Yeah, it was my first cut.’ So this is…here’s this guy that I’m a huge fan of, and I just cut his song, and now I got a chance to cut another one of his songs. And it really is just one of my all-time favorite Keith Whitley songs, and I’ve always wanted to cut it.”

  Chris Young talks about “Chiseled in Stone.” (:40)
“‘Chiseled in Stone’ is one of those songs that I think it’s pretty much like, when you get to Nashville, if you move here from somewhere else, or if you’re livin’ in Nashville like I did, and you’re growin’ up and you start learnin’ cover songs, that’s one of the first, like, classic country sad songs, and it’s not even necessarily sad — like the end of it is sayin’, you know, this guy kind of reconciles with this woman he’s been arguin’ with ’cause he hears this story from this old man. But it’s just one of those songs that you have to learn how to play. Like, if you don’t know the words to ‘Chiseled in Stone,’ I don’t know if you can go play downtown Broadway in Nashville. I think that’s just one of those things you have to know. It really is a classic country song.”

  Chris Young says that John Anderson’s “Swingin'” is a song he loves to play. (:55)
“‘Swingin” is like, so fun for me to play live, just because, to me, you know, John Anderson was another one of those guys that I just always loved. I loved his voice; I loved his song selection. And I mean, there were so many songs, like, I think the actual title of it was called ‘When It Comes to You.’ (singing) I always get a hard time, honey, when it comes to you. I mean, he just had so many great songs. ‘Seminole Wind,’ I mean…but this song, for whatever, has always stuck out in my mind. It’s ‘Swingin’.’ It was like one of the first John Anderson songs I actually learned to play on guitar, ’cause it’s not that hard. It’s pretty simple to play. And so I learned this one, and I’ve just never looked back. I still love playin’ this song. As many times as I have played this live, you know, for tips somewhere, you know, on stage and my show here recently. I just never get tired of that song.”