Chris Lane Reflects On Family, Faith, And The Sentiment Behind His New Album, ‘Shade Tree’ [Exclusive]

Chris Lane is fresh of his time on the road supporting Rascal Flatts on their sold-out arena tour, and now he’s getting back to his roots and the place it all started with Shade Tree. His new 12-track album, out now, is filled with stories about growing up in North Carolina, celebrating where he comes from and the person he’s become as a result.

Shade Tree holds a significant memory in Lane’s upbringing as it represents the tree that lived in the backyard of his childhood home of Kernersville, North Carolina. As Lane grew up, this tree stood by as he played sports, celebrated birthdays, enjoyed family cookouts, and made countless memories. The album’s title track — a song he wrote nearly four years ago — encapsulates themes of nostalgia, lessons learned and his journey with faith.

Giving The Title Track A Second Chance

Seeing as how long ago it was written, the country singer admitted the song spent a few years lost amid the pile of hundreds of other tracks he had penned. It was his wife Lauren who stumbled upon the tune in his catalog and insisted it was worth a second listen. Thanks to her good ear, Lane fell in love with the sentimental tune all over again.

“Even though as a writer, you know, you tend to overthink everything and you have no clue what people actually love, when I re-listened to it, it was just nostalgic for me,” he told Country Now. “It’s the way I grew up as a kid, which in return, I think made me the man that I am today, the reason that I am, the way that I am, the father that I am. It all started there with the way my dad was with us in the backyard, always playing baseball, always playing football. It kind of just nods to that, just learning about life there in my backyard in Kernersville, North Carolina.”

It felt fitting to name the album after it because it celebrated the start of his life and the great childhood he had while also prompting him to reflect on his current chapter as a husband and father, hoping to raise his kids with the same core values.

“I get to live it on the other side now and remember how it was for me. And I want that same thing for my boys. I want them to always be outside. I want them to always play in the yard, football, baseball, whatever it is, and kind of have the same thing that I had there,” he explained.

Listen

Lane said that he thought “Shade Tree” would help “tie all the songs” together.

“Whether it’s a lifestyle song, whether it’s a family song, whether it’s a breakup love song, whatever it may be, it can really all tie it back to the relationships that I’ve had and it all started there, you know, learning about life in the backyard in North Carolina. So yeah, it just kind of felt like it helped wrap all the songs in quite nice together.”

Best Song Wins

For his first full album since his 2018’s Laps Around the Sun, the “Big, Big Plans” singer took the best song wins approach. He served as a co-writer on eight of the 12 tracks, the rest being outside cuts by esteemed songwriters that just so happened to fit effortlessly into the overarching themes he was building out under the umbrella of “Shade Tree.”

His emotional vulnerability has been previewed on advanced releases like “What Am I Supposed To Tell The Dog,” “Fire We Found” feat. Abby Anderson,” 2×4 & 4x6s,” “If I Die Before You,” and “Nothin’ To Wear.” These songs set the tone for the mature reflection and sentimental delivers that continue throughout the remainder of the project. Plus, it wouldn’t be a Chris Lane album without some true back road anthems and heart pounding breakup centered tracks.

Teaming Up With Abby Anderson On “Fire We Found”

“Fire We Found” featuring Abby Anderson serves as the one and only collaboration inside the collection. Lane revealed that he always envisioned the smokey track having a female’s perspective on it, and as soon as he heard Anderson’s vocals on it, he knew she was the perfect fit.

“ I wrote this song four years ago and always thought that it could have a female on it. I thought that that would help take it to the next level. I liked it as it was with just my vocal on it, but lyrically it felt like it could lend itself to a female singing that second verse…Jay DeMarcus, who I worked with on some of these songs vocally, just sent me outta the blue a version that he had done with Abby Anderson. And I was like, oh, wow, she sounds incredible on the song. And yeah, it just worked out in a great way,” Lane shared.

Watch The Music Video

Tapping Into A Fresh Sound

With a new album comes a revamped live show. Chris Lane revealed he is bringing a new set of sounds to the stage including one that he’s most excited about, a fiddle. With this fresh addition, he’s able to celebrate the rich country traditions that influenced him growing up. This once again feeds into Shade Tree, and its invitation to take fans back in time to a place close to Lane’s heart that was so filled with love, faith and family.

“I’m adding a fiddle player. I haven’t really had songs with fiddles throughout my life, but the songs that I love and found myself listening to on the bus or when I’m in my truck or just all those Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts, Keith Urban songs that I love that were early 2000s hits. There’s something about the sounds of those songs that never got old to me. So, and I went into the studio with Dan Huff that produced a lot of that stuff, I said, ‘let’s find a way to do it in as much of a new school way as we can, but let’s bring all those same elements that you used in a lot of these songs to my songs.’”

Listeners will hear sounds of the fiddle, the mandolin, the banjo all across the project and now, in his live shows as well.

“I think my show is gonna take a different turn. I love the show that I’ve had for the last 10 years of my career as it’s grown from record to record and song to song, but I think now just with the overall sounds and the vibe, like I’m gonna get a really solid energy,” he said, explaining his vision. “And even if a song’s not a hit, it can still kind of feel that way and I’m interested to see how people react just from a live perspective. It allows me a lot more versatility in my set, more so than I’ve ever had, so I’m excited for that.”

Chris Lane recently added brand-new tour dates to an already packed year of shows. His next performance is scheduled to take place tonight at Mulcahy’s Pub and Concert Hall in Wantagh, NY followed by an appearance at Rochester International Jazz Festival in Rochester, NY on Saturday, June 21.