CHRIS JANSON

                                                            "Keys To The Country" 

                                                            Warner Music Nashville

With his new album All In due out on April 29, 2022, country superstar Chris Janson has been expertly showing his fans a little bit of all the different sides of what to expect from the album as a whole; first with its heart-tugging single release “Bye Mom,” but then through several teaser songs that have wet the whistle.

“All In” took us inside his more romantic side, “Cold Beer Truth” delivered a very strong message that brought us back to the simple things that matter most, and he’s now released “Keys To The Country” – a catchy, rollicking country rocker that holds a vibe that’s become synonymous with Chris Janson.  

In a list type fashion, Janson sings throughout the opening verse of all the fancier things in the city that he really doesn’t understand such as where to find the finest wine in town, where the velvet rope unhooks for the uptown crowd, or what the name of the restaurant is with the valet parking.

However, this is all expertly designed to lead us to the punch from his country boy cred as he switches gears and begins to list the things that he confidently does know about as he proudly carries the “keys to the country”:

“I know where to buy ice cold beer, where to tear up a Friday night.”

“Where to park way out in the dark, where the stars shine down so pretty.”

The second verse goes more into vivid descriptions of the backroads type of place that he knows all about as he paints the perfect pictures with lines about the muddy spot where you can spin your truck’s wheels, the crack of the roof in the barn where the moon shines through, etc.

There’s an unexpected instrumentation switch to the rocking melody as you stride into the lyrical bridge of the song, while there’s also an interesting risk in its structure as it negates some of the common formula to go back to the bridge again to end the song on, rather than ending it on its chorus like many other songs so often do.

Chris Janson started splicing “Keys To The Country” into his live set last summer and fall, and it’s very easy to see why. This song is the type that will excitedly rev up a crowd and it wouldn’t surprise us to see it become the opener as he continues his Halfway To Crazy tour.

(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis)

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