Chris Janson Hits The Road For Halfway To Crazy Tour
Chris Janson was busy the morning before he took time to get on the phone and talk to Sounds Like Nashville about his Halfway to Crazy Tour that started this past week (February 10) in Dubuque, Iowa.
“I was out on the farm planting sod,” says Janson, who loves being in the outdoors. “I’ve really been enjoying it. These are the kind of moments where I get inspiration to work and write songs and do what I do.”
Janson continues his Halfway to Crazy Tour on Thursday, February 17, at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania with Ray Fulcher. The pair will play for the first time in arenas as well as auditoriums and theatres.
“The shows last week were really amazing, we had packed out houses, and I couldn’t be more thankful for the fans,” Janson says. “Coming off a rough couple years, it was good for us to see the fans who came out to see us.”
Janson Junkies, as his fans are called, will see an emergence of some new instrumentation, something Janson is bringing back for this tour. “Yes, I brought back steel guitar and fiddle for this tour,” he explains. “I told my good friend, Tommy White, who plays in the Grand Ole Opry band, that I was looking for someone young and cool who played those instruments. He said, ‘I’ve got the guy’.
“His name is Steve Peavey, and he plays fiddle, steel, banjo and cello. I hired him on Tuesday, we did one rehearsal, and we started the tour on Thursday. It’s been really fun having him out there with us. I love the sound of fiddle and steel, and we put it in where it’s appropriate to the song. He’s a great guy, good player, and I like that.”
Janson says fans can expect to hear some of the new songs from his upcoming album like “Cold Beer Truth” but for the most part he will be playing hits like “Buy Me A Boat,” “Fix A Drink” and “Drunk Girl.” “I try to keep it as familiar as possible, but some crowds like to hear the new stuff,” he says, going on to explain, “I don’t have a set list. We just write out the songs and choose from that list during the concert.”
Janson has a high-energy show, one that he has built on since he started singing. “I’ve been doing music my whole life, since I was eight or nine, and it’s always been part of the fabric of who I am. I’m a self-taught musician and singer; I can hear music and feel it and play it. I picked up guitar when I was a kid and started playing it. It’s been the same with the other instruments I play (including harmonica, bass, piano, banjo and drums). I was an entertainer before I was a songwriter. I started writing songs after I moved to Nashville. Entertaining has always been a part of who I am. I love people and like to entertain them. On the rare occasion when I go to a concert I want to be entertained, so I try to do that for my audiences.”
When you read through Janson’s Twitter or Facebook pages, fans comment on his show and how great his music is, but they also mention the fact that he is a great person along with him being one of their favorite singers and entertainers.
“Thank you for mentioning that,” Janson says. “To be honest with you, outside of the basic principle of music, that is my biggest thing. I’m just being who I am, not someone I’m not. One of the things I’m proud of at our concerts is we keep it cool, classy and fun. People from all walks of life come to our concerts. Status doesn’t matter, where you are born and raised doesn’t matter. I encourage a family-oriented atmosphere. I sing what I walk and talk best, and that is how I’m a father, a Christian and a family man, and at the end of the day what else do you have?
“Stardom is here today and gone tomorrow. My legacy is family and land and lifestyle. There are people who think I’m an awesome guy and it really humbles me and warms my heart for fans to see me that way. I really am that guy. I live that lifestyle. I was having a talk with a very influential guy the other day and we were talking about keeping that form of American lifestyle alive and well. I want it to be every so prevalent out there. I want people to know they can count on me that if they bring their kids to one of my shows, it will be clean, classy, cool and fun. Everyone is welcome so we keep it wholesome.”
Janson is involved with Bass Pro Shops and has become a fan of NASCAR (“I wasn’t until I started meeting people in the NASCAR community”). In fact, he had Johnny Morris from Bass Pro Shops and Richard Childress from the Richard Childress Racing Team on his last video, “Cold Beer Truth.” He also had Kid Rock as a guest, who he says made it possible for him to meet Morris who has now become one of his best friends.
“There was a big concert at Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium in Springfield, Missouri and Kid Rock couldn’t do it, so he recommended me,” Janson recalls his first introduction to Morris. He adds that he and Kid Rock became good friends after they met at Mission Creek Festival in Iowa City, Iowa.
“He was the headliner and while I was waiting to go on this security guy comes up and says Bob Richie wants to meet me. I said ‘who’ and he said Kid Rock. So I went over and met this super humble dude named Kid Rock and he was super nice, very complimentary to me and we’ve been friends ever since. He’s been a really good friend. Every time I’ve called on him he’s been there.”
Janson sells a Bass Prop hat from his merchandise booth, and all proceeds to go charities like Tennessee River Keeper which cleans up rivers and Hunters for the Hungry, which provides free processing for wild game meat to be given to shelters and the homeless. “That’s one of my biggest selling items,” Janson says. “I saw Dierks (Bentley) wearing one the other day. It’s great how it has caught on.”
Going back to NASCAR, Janson says he has personal relationships with folks like Martin Truex, who drives the Brass Pro Racing car, “so I’ve become a NASCAR fan the last few years. It’s part of rural America and part of my upbringing so now I become friends with some of the people involved in it.”
Jamson also admits that he and his wife Kelly have one item on their bucket list they hope to fulfill in the next year or so – to drive a NASCAR racing vehicle. “I’ve never driven one of those cars but I want to. I want to knock it off my bucket list; I want to get out there and put it on the line. Kelly and I would like to do that. It takes a special breed of person to drive those cars!”
Janson is super excited about his upcoming album, All In. “It’s my fourth album. There will be 16 songs, and from start to finish I am most proud of this album hands down. I wrote and co-wrote all songs with the exception of one outside song. I co-wrote one with Eric Church, ‘Flag on the Wall,’ which I’m very proud of. I co-produced the album, which was started at the beginning of the pandemic. We had an extended amount of time doing this album, time to nurture and pick and choose what I wanted on it. It was relaxing and I loved everything about it. This has been the funnest process yet in recording an album.”
HALFWAY TO CRAZY TOUR DATES
2/17/22 // Wilkes-Barre, PA // The F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts
2/18/22 // Stamford, CT // Palace Theatre
2/24/22 // Joliet, IL // Rialto Square Theatre
2/25/22 // West Plains, MO // West Plains Civic Center
2/26/22 // Ashland, KY // Paramount
3/4/22 // Canton, OH // Canton Palace Theatre
3/5/22 // Johnson City, TN // Freedom Hall Civic Center
3/10/22 // Nashville, TN // Ryman Auditorium
3/11/22 // Mt. Vernon, KY // Renfro Valley Entertainment Center
3/12/22 // Greensburg, PA // The Palace Theatre
3/25/22 // Zanesville, OH // Secrest Auditorium
3/26/22 // Worcester, MA // Palladium
3/27/22 // Silver Spring, MD // The Fillmore
4/16/22 // Hiawassee, GA // Anderson Music Hall
