Brett Young has quietly reigned supreme in the country music scene. After more than ten years on stages, he has more than 5 million monthly Spotify listeners, has consistently delivered chart-topping albums, sold out shows around the world, and – somehow – remains extremely humble.
In May this year, the Orange County local will be headlining Highways Festival 2024 at The Royal Albert Hall. And, speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk about it the day before his 43rd birthday, he recognised how much of a privilege the experience will be.
“I think [it’s] a lot of firsts,” he nervously laughed. “Haven’t played the festival [before], haven’t played the venue and closing it out will be a blast.”
Despite the size and grandeur of Highways Festival, though, Brett was thankful that British audiences have been so “attentive” during his gigs in the past. “We’ve been getting such a good response when we come over that we always get excited when we get to come back,” he went on.
Oddly enough, the musician shared that his Highways set is likely going to be more music and less Brett overall. “It’s interesting building a set for a show [in the UK] just because the fanbase is quite different … they’re very respectful listeners and concertgoers. And so whereas I would worry about talking too much in the States when I go over there, I feel like the story behind the song is actually anticipated and people are excited about that.”
I quickly learned that Brett’s willingness to change and adapt is… quite normal for him.
While he opened up about how he’s going to stop talking so much on stage in the UK just to fit in more songs, he’s also switching up his album methodology going forward.
He most recently released Across the Sheets in August 2023 – his fourth studio album. But only officially released one single from the record. Now, he’s ready to modernise a little bit.
“We’re doing something a little different with the next album,” he explained. “To give people more music more often is kind of a goal. So I don’t know how soon you’ll see a full body of work come out as an ‘album’, quote unquote.
“So much as trying to – almost – tease the album with a song every four to eight weeks … We’re gonna kind of come at it from that from that angle.”
He went on to say that another goal of his next album (of which he wouldn’t reveal the title) is to cater to everyone who loves his music.
“The love song, the heartbreak song, the family song,” he listed. “Or maybe even the party song. One of these days… we’ll see.”
Together, Brett and I got into the weeds about his album cycle and touring plans (he’s playing some massive shows in the UK this year), but his dedication and obsession come not just from the desire to be on stage, but his – seemingly genuine – love for the fans.
Speaking about his audience with reverence, Brett confessed: “There absolutely is a huge responsibility that I feel to respect them – their hard work and their hard-earned money that they’re spending. And, also, you think way past it – I do anyways – I think about the babysitter they had to hire and pay, for the dinner they probably went out to. They didn’t just spend money, they gave us their whole evening, you know? So I feel a huge responsibility.
“And a lot of these people are not first-time concertgoers, a lot of people are seeing me for the third, fourth fifth time. I mean that’s a commitment that you have to honour and so we always try to, no matter what the day was like no matter how we’re feeling, the second we walk in the door to the arena, we put a different face on it we go.”
With that said, Brett also wanted to send a message directly to his British fans ahead of his Highways Festival 2024 headliner spot: “Whether or not the new music hits you before we get there, there’s new music coming. We are playing stuff in the live show that we have not played over there before. So there’s some of my music that has not reached that side of the world that you’ll be hearing live and then we have some fun new covers that I think will surprise people a little bit too.
“We went back into the bag a little ways to do something fun. So we’re our goal is to just come enjoy the fans like we always do and reconnect and maybe give them a little different experience every time that we come over.
Highways Festival is taking place at the Royal Albert Hall on Friday, May 17 and Saturday, May 18, 2024. Get tickets here.
