Cuts The Deepest: Chris Lane

In 2019, Chris Lane made his engagement to now-wife Lauren public through his single, ‘Big, Big Plans’. Within the song, Lanes envisions the couple having kids one day. Two years on, that day is now quickly approaching; soon, they will welcome their firstborn into the world - a baby boy.

The North Carolina native is at home in Nashville, sat in the unfinished nursery which currently holds a few pieces of furniture and an adorable rocking horse. As he gives a quick tour of the room over Zoom, he explains that he didn’t think he wanted to have kids – that was until he met Lauren, who made him realize he did. Although the room needs some final touches, he proudly shows off the dark brown crib that he assembled himself, the first of many tasks to come as a dad.

When asked how he felt about this next big stage in life that is about to commence, Lane doesn’t show any fear. Instead, a proud smile rises to his face, as he quickly expresses his excitement. “We’re super grateful and feeling blessed. I can’t wait to be a dad. I prayed hard for a son first, but I know Lauren wants a girl - so I’m going to pray harder for that next”, he said.

Aside from a few golf trips, Lane, much like everyone else, spent the majority of last year in the house. On top of his parental preparations, he’s also ready to share what he has been working on musically during the downtime. This summer is going to be an exciting one as his new music starts to roll out, just in time for the warm air to take over.

Apart from his tenderhearted single, ’Big, Big Plans’ Lane has not released a record for three years now. On his last tour, he had the chance to write ‘Fill Them Boots’, a song that has stuck around ever since, just waiting to be heard by the public; “I’ve had this song for two years, just sitting around – I’ve been able to listen to it this whole time. I never got tired of it, so I felt like that was a good sign that I should probably record it, and I’m glad I did”.

As soon as he begins talking more about his latest single and the potential of live music being revived soon, his face once again lights up. Luckily, Lane was able to finish off his Big, Big Plans Tour before the lockdown, but there was still a good amount of unexpected show cancellations. There is so much that he and his fans missed out on because of COVID, something he hopes to redeem this year.

For now, the singer is going to be releasing music “song by song.” His latest release, ‘Summer Job Money’, has the perfect summer throwback feel; loaded with nostalgia. As he shares his five favourite songs for Cuts the Deepest, it becomes particularly evident why he's write such a song. Offering a glimpse into his first concert experience, some of his biggest inspirations to this day and the artists who are always on his playlist during his pre-show preparations, Lane delves deep into what has influenced his life and career.

As a kid, we didn’t grow up going to a ton of concerts. When I got into high school and I could work a summer job, I would save my money so I could go to them with my buddies. A lot of the times we would go to country shows, but I remember one of our friends’ dad had bought tickets to a Backstreet Boys concert. I wanna say that Backstreet Boys was probably the first concert that I ever went to, I didn’t know what to expect. A song that stuck with me was ‘I Want It That Way’ - that one’s a classic. I don’t have it on my playlist anymore, but I could listen to it now and 100% know the words. Whether you liked it or not, you knew it.

This is one that pops off the top of my head immediately. I grew up listening to Kenny; it takes me back to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. We grew up going to there every summer and for whatever reason, that song takes me back there. He is the king of recording songs that take you back to a specific moment in your life; I always try to write songs that do that, but they’re hard to write.

Obviously, I could sit here and name a million songs before that one, but I would honestly say Keith Urban inspired me to pick up the guitar. That was the first song that I wanted to learn how to play, not knowing that later down the road I would become an artist myself. It’s one I would name right off the top of my head as a song that’s inspired me, I really love a lot and that I’ve heard eight million times and have never gotten tired of.

One of my first big tours was with Rascal Flatts. In college, I always went to their concerts, so it was such an incredible full-circle moment for me to be able to go out with them. They’re nostalgic but are still doing it to this day. It’s unbelievable the career that they’ve had; their songs always stick around, you never get tired of them, they’re timeless. One of my favorites of theirs that always takes me back is ‘These Days’. In fact, I used to play that song in my set acoustically, I love it so much. I became great friends with those guys when I went out on that first tour; I think I had just put out “Fix” at the time, so I didn’t have that much music out - I was grateful for that opportunity. Now, to be able to come back all these years later and hopefully go out on their Farewell Tour with them as direct support, that would be incredible. I’ve got my fingers crossed; I am praying that they get to do that.

I mean, I love the sentiment of this song. Have I nailed one like that? I don’t think so, but that’s something that definitely inspires me - I’d love to be able to write a song like that. It’s a lot of these nostalgic, throwback songs that I really love a lot. When I’m warming up before a show and I’m having a drink on the bus, I have a playlist of all these old Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney and Keith Urban songs. For whatever reason, I always want to listen to those. One of my favorite things to do before a show is watch the music videos - just to see all those throwback moments is so funny and cool at the same time.

Chris Lane’s new single ‘Summer Job Money’ is out now via Big Loud Records. Watch the video for the single below.