Chris Young tells us it was exciting, but a little scary when he decided to record the classic songs for his just-released acoustic Voices EP project. The three-song digital album came out exclusively on the iTunes Store this week, and it features Chris’ take on hits from a trio of artists who helped shape his career: Keith Whitley, Vern Gosdin, and John Anderson. For Chris, the scary part was in recording songs that so many people know and love. He says, “You don’t want to let anybody down with a song that’s their favorite,” and that’s part of why Chris wanted his interpretations “to stay true to what those songs are.” (AUDIO INFO BELOW) 

• Chris chose three great tracks for his Voices EP: Keith Whitley’s “I’m Over You,” Vern Gosdin’s “Chiseled in Stone,” and John Anderson’s “Swingin’.”  

  Chris Young says that recording the songs for his Voices EP was both exciting and scary. (:38)
“It’s exciting to do this, but it’s kind of scary because when I put out songs like this, yes, these are three of my favorite songs, but it’s also three of everyone else’s favorite songs. So what if I somehow do this song, and they don’t like it because it’s, you know, not Vern Gosdin, or not Keith Whitley, or not John Anderson? I mean, those guys are obviously in a class all their own. I don’t even desire to say that I touched anything that they’ve done. Those songs touched me. And so this is just my interpretation of ’em, and it is kind of scary to put that out there ’cause you don’t want to let anybody down with a song that’s their favorite, but hopefully people will really, really dig our versions of this.”

  Chris Young says that he wasn’t looking to shake up the classic songs on his Voices EP — he wanted his interpretations to really stay true and honest to the songs. (:38)
“I don’t really look at us doin’ these songs acoustic so much as, you know, goin’ out on a limb and kind of showin’, you know, what I can do, as really just bein’ honest to ’em. You know, when you start buildin’ a track for somethin’, you can really easily change maybe, like, one signature lick in the song or not have somethin’ here, and it kind of throws people off ’cause they’re so used to hearing the song produced the way it was originally. But with these, it’s so easy takin’ it, and it’s just the vocal and the instrument, and makin’ it — this is my interpretation of the song, and just really trying to stay true to what those songs are.”