Chris Young photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

As he enjoys his second Top 5 hit with “The Man I Want To Be,” Chris Young is becoming… sort of… the artist he wanted to be.

He and Josh Turner are currently travelling as opening acts on Alan Jackson’s Freight Train Tour, and the association is one that Chris will likely value throughout his career.

“If I could go back in time and like see myself as a kid, singing along to Alan Jackson records, and be like, ‘Man, you have no idea. You’re gonna open for this guy one day.’ I probably wouldn’t believe myself,” he says.

It’s often been said that it’s better not to meet your heroes. But in this case, Chris’ perceptions of Alan haven’t been tarnished in the least.

“The first weekend we were out he pulled me up on the bus, and it was kind of funny — he walked over, he’s like, ‘Hi, I’m Alan.’ I was like, ‘Yes you are,’” Chris recalls. “I couldn’t think of what else to say to him. I mean, he’s not supposed to introduce himself. This is backwards. But [he’s] just a really, really nice guy — actually sent me a bottle of Jack Daniel’s when we first went out there with a note. And I told everybody, ‘I’m not drinking that!’ I was like, ‘That’s staying unopened. Don’t y’all drink it when I’m not looking. I’m just gonna put it in my house somewhere.’ It’s pretty cool. I’m really loving this tour.”

The Freight Train Tour takes a break this weekend, so Chris has squeezed in a couple of dates on the road with Miranda Lambert. The shows with Alan resume Thursday, May 13, in Manchester, N.H.

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