Courtesy of Chris Janson
One of the biggest news stories coming out of Music City these days concerns the success of Chris Janson. In Gary Trust’s Chart Beat last week, the story of how his latest song, "Buy Me A Boat," has exploded onto the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart at No. 33 -- thanks to huge sales on iTunes spurred on by exposure on The Bobby Bones Show as well as a Twitter mention from Toby Keith.
Trust spoke with Bones and Janson's wife and manager about their role in the song’s success. Today, Janson spoke with Billboard about the whirlwind around the song. He says he’s making it a point to stay grounded with everything going on.
"You've got to give credit where it’s due and, number one, to Jesus,” he says. "He's my friend and the one that blesses me. I don't pray for success. I pray for blessings for my family and just a good livelihood -- and to bless my songs and those that are in my life. Along with that, there's my wife, she really spearheaded this whole idea. Sometimes, I focus better when I'm just writing and singing songs. She just has such a good business mind behind her and she's such a great motivator. This was her brain child of me getting out something for the summer. We're not going to wait around on anybody. We're just going to do it ourselves. So, we did it. Then, what Bobby Bones did for us was such a gift and out of the blue. We wrote a fun song that I love, and that I'm proud of. It feels like the sound I've always wanted to make. We're watching what all is happening with shock, awe and amazement. I couldn't be more humbled and thankful."
As soon as the single hit the Bones show, the interest began to grow, with listeners going to their computers. Janson says the term "Blown Away" was an understatement to describe his emotions. "I'm not the kind of guy who pays a lot of attention to stuff like that, but all of a sudden, people started calling me and Kelly going 'This is blowing up.' She was telling me all about it and I just thought 'What is happening?' You got to understand. I just put a song on TuneCore, iTunes and all the digital outlets to keep the ball rolling, with no record deal."
He admitted that he has nothing to base this success on. "I've never dealt with anything like this before. I remember 'Truck Yeah' taking off quick, but that was on a major recording artist,” he said in referring to his composition, which was a single for Tim McGraw in 2012. "This is just little ole me. We were just doing it out of our house. If this is how it feels to have a number one song, it feels pretty good. It’s all about being thankful to the ones who have gotten me there. Take me out of it. It's all about the team."
Of the song itself, the singer says it definitely stems from his influence. "I was in a '70s head space whenever we wrote it; maybe a Hank Jr or Waylon sound. I hate to compare myself to anybody so I won't do that. I've always taken a sense of pride in trying to be me and trying to find my sound. It's ebbed and flowed over the years, because you grow as a man, but with the song, I didn't pull any influence from anywhere except the stuff that I loved. The song came so quick and it felt so right and easy and we did it. I'll be the first to tell you that I don't know what a hit is. There was a special feeling and the song had that something, whatever that is... but we didn’t want to jinx it. It wasn’t a big plan where we were scheming behind the scenes. This is real."
So, what's the next step for the Missouri native? He stresses to Billboard that he doesn’t know, but he’s simply going to enjoy the ride. "What we're going to do is take it day by day. Honestly, it's been such a whirlwind. We're just so proud of it and trying to keep the ball rolling. Tomorrow will be a good day just like today was. It has nothing to do with the song. I'm just looking forward to it. It's the icing on the cake of life. We're just eating that cake."
Trust spoke with Bones and Janson's wife and manager about their role in the song’s success. Today, Janson spoke with Billboard about the whirlwind around the song. He says he’s making it a point to stay grounded with everything going on.
"You've got to give credit where it’s due and, number one, to Jesus,” he says. "He's my friend and the one that blesses me. I don't pray for success. I pray for blessings for my family and just a good livelihood -- and to bless my songs and those that are in my life. Along with that, there's my wife, she really spearheaded this whole idea. Sometimes, I focus better when I'm just writing and singing songs. She just has such a good business mind behind her and she's such a great motivator. This was her brain child of me getting out something for the summer. We're not going to wait around on anybody. We're just going to do it ourselves. So, we did it. Then, what Bobby Bones did for us was such a gift and out of the blue. We wrote a fun song that I love, and that I'm proud of. It feels like the sound I've always wanted to make. We're watching what all is happening with shock, awe and amazement. I couldn't be more humbled and thankful."
As soon as the single hit the Bones show, the interest began to grow, with listeners going to their computers. Janson says the term "Blown Away" was an understatement to describe his emotions. "I'm not the kind of guy who pays a lot of attention to stuff like that, but all of a sudden, people started calling me and Kelly going 'This is blowing up.' She was telling me all about it and I just thought 'What is happening?' You got to understand. I just put a song on TuneCore, iTunes and all the digital outlets to keep the ball rolling, with no record deal."
He admitted that he has nothing to base this success on. "I've never dealt with anything like this before. I remember 'Truck Yeah' taking off quick, but that was on a major recording artist,” he said in referring to his composition, which was a single for Tim McGraw in 2012. "This is just little ole me. We were just doing it out of our house. If this is how it feels to have a number one song, it feels pretty good. It’s all about being thankful to the ones who have gotten me there. Take me out of it. It's all about the team."
Of the song itself, the singer says it definitely stems from his influence. "I was in a '70s head space whenever we wrote it; maybe a Hank Jr or Waylon sound. I hate to compare myself to anybody so I won't do that. I've always taken a sense of pride in trying to be me and trying to find my sound. It's ebbed and flowed over the years, because you grow as a man, but with the song, I didn't pull any influence from anywhere except the stuff that I loved. The song came so quick and it felt so right and easy and we did it. I'll be the first to tell you that I don't know what a hit is. There was a special feeling and the song had that something, whatever that is... but we didn’t want to jinx it. It wasn’t a big plan where we were scheming behind the scenes. This is real."
So, what's the next step for the Missouri native? He stresses to Billboard that he doesn’t know, but he’s simply going to enjoy the ride. "What we're going to do is take it day by day. Honestly, it's been such a whirlwind. We're just so proud of it and trying to keep the ball rolling. Tomorrow will be a good day just like today was. It has nothing to do with the song. I'm just looking forward to it. It's the icing on the cake of life. We're just eating that cake."