Chris Young on ‘Sober Saturday Night’: The Ram Report

Chris Young’s “Sober Saturday Night” ships to country radio today, marking a surreal, full-circle career moment for the Tennessee native. Vince Gill provides background vocals and a killer guitar solo on the track, and it was actually Gill who, many years ago, inspired Young to become a singer.

“The first concert I remember going to [was Vince Gill]. My mom was a single parent and didn’t have a lot of money, and she had won tickets somehow,” Young recalls. “So we sat in the grass and watched the performance, and I just remember Vince being on stage and how awesome he was, and I was like, ‘I want to do that!’ [Laughs] The amount of pull and sway he had over everybody in the crowd that night was incredible. You could feel it, it was tangible. So, it would be an understatement to say I’m a fan.”

Young co-wrote “Sober Saturday Night” with brothers Brad and Brett Warren, and when they went to record it he realized it was missing a key instrumental moment. So he got up the courage to call his hero. Not only did Gill say yes, he invited Young to record the track in his home studio.

“It was just great because with all that he’s accomplished, he’s still one of the most humble people on the planet,” says Young. “He went in and sang the harmonies and he came in and sat back down and said, ‘What I play is a little bit different, maybe not as progressive as I’ve heard on the other tracks. I don’t know if you want me to do it. . . ‘ And I look around at all his Grammy awards and was like, ‘Yeah, we probably want you to play that [laughs] if you don’t mind!”

Read a candid chat with Young and Gill from inside that same studio where they recorded “Sober Saturday Night” here.