MusicRowPics: Chris Lane

Chris Lane visit

Once a high school baseball player, now singer-songwriter Chris Lane is playing his music for thousands of fans in baseball stadiums across the country as an opener on Florida Georgia Line‘s This Is How We Roll Summer Series, which also includes rapper Nelly. “I sometimes get a little batting practice in before shows,” Lane says.

The Kernersville, N.C., native is making the most of his time on the road opening for Florida Georgia Line, using the tour to promote his single, “Broken Windshield View.” Prior to each tour stop, Lane and his team head out to Country radio stations in the area, often visiting three or four radio stations per day.

Lane performed an acoustic version of the song for MusicRow staff during a recent visit to the MusicRow offices.

“I was working in landscaping with my dad. My truck, which we used in the video for ‘Broken Windshield View,’ had a broken windshield in it, so I feel like I’ve lived this song,” Lane says of the single, which was penned by Rodney Clawson, Shane Minor, and David Lee Murphy.

He’s also in the studio with producer Joey Moi (Jake Owen, Florida Georgia Line), working on his first EP.

Lane also performed “Waste It,” a tune he calls one of his favorites from his upcoming project. “Waste It” was penned by Clawson, Ashley Gorley, and Chris DeStefano. Lane says the song was good enough to cause him to give up his beloved, well-worn Atlanta Braves ballcap.

“I would always wear that baseball cap. When I signed with Big Loud Mountain, they were like, ‘Bro, you are taking your hat off.’ This song came along and I just knew they weren’t going to take a chance on giving the song to a new artist. I told Seth [England], ‘If you get this song for me, I’ll never wear that hat again.’ Two months later, he called and said he got it.”

Lane closed out his three-song acoustic performance with “Saturday Night.” At each tour stop, the singer-songwriter’s brand of rock-infused Country gets a welcome reception from an audience that grew up with an appreciation for an array of musical styles. “At the concerts, you see people in cowboy hats, and they know every word to Nelly’s songs,” comments Lane.