Chris Janson on Living the American Dream
Janson performing in New York City in 2024. Photo via Fox & Friends.
Before Chris Janson had platinum singles, multiple waterfront properties in Tennessee and Florida, or an identity as the “Bass Pro guy,” thanks to an iconic partnership with Bass Pro Shops, he had nothing but a harmonica, a car to sleep in, and a dream.
Born to humble beginnings, Janson grew up with a passion for music in a Missouri trailer park – something he describes as “pretty awesome.” Yet, there were no music industry connections or safety nets – he was just a kid with raw talent, a relentless work ethic, and a pull towards something bigger than himself.
By the age of nine, Janson was already turning music into his career and was being paid to play field parties and local bars. When the time came to choose between a full scholarship to college and the call of Music City, Janson chose the latter. He moved to Nashville in his car, initially spending his nights in the back seat and playing Broadway bars for sixteen hours every day for tips out of a pickle jar.
“I thought, ‘How in the world can I make extra money?’” Janson shares. “I just needed to do something to up the ante a little bit, so I went to Guitar Center and bought a harmonica that I couldn’t afford – it was either lunch or a harmonica, that’s how much money I had – and I learned to play it basically like right then,” he reflects. “I went back into the bars that evening and played it on my next gig, and people just started throwing money at me.”
About a year into his new life in Nashville, Janson was discovered while performing at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge. Publishing and record deals followed, along with a transformative encounter with his now wife, Kelly, at an underground pool hall in 2007 – an experience that Janson has written about in songs like “Holdin’ Her,” “All I Need Is You,” “Done,” and, most recently, “The Bride.”
“I saw her for the first time and totally fell in love at first sight,” Janson shares of meeting Kelly, the only girl in the bar who wasn’t drinking that night. “I was just wildly attracted to that. I thought, ‘Man, she’s different, and she’s smokin’ hot,’” he confesses. Janson, while a prolific writer of drinking songs, shares that he can count the number of alcoholic drinks that he’s consumed in the past ten years on both hands. “Most people don’t believe – they kinda laugh it off – they don’t believe in love at first sight and things like that, but I do, and I know exactly how I felt when I saw her. I said I would marry the girl that I ended up marrying, and it was a no-brainer for me.”
The couple wed three years later on the Fourth of July, amid a whirlwind of obligations stemming from Janson’s first record deal. “We didn’t really put much thought into it to be honest,” Janson says of the couple’s decision to get married on the holiday. “The Fourth of July is an easy day to remember, I mean fireworks, excitement, the whole deal. We just did it because it was fun and was the quickest and easiest thing we could do that made sense, so we did, and it worked out pretty good.”
This year, the Fourth of July holds an even deeper meaning for the Jansons, as it marks their fifteen-year wedding anniversary.
Chris and Kelly Janson at the 2019 BMI Awards. Photo by Terry Wyatt.
The key to a lasting relationship, Janson says, is being friends with the person you love and being unabashedly honest. “You also have to love one million percent – not just a hundred percent – and you gotta love unconditionally. I love Kelly for who she is, and she loves me for who I am,” he shares.
Prior to getting married, the couple also laid out a few ground rules that have served as a strong foundation of their marriage. “Kelly said, ‘I have one rule before we get married,’ and I said, ‘Sure, shoot.’ She said, ‘I’m not going to fight, ever, with you, and if this is going to be a relationship…’ and, by the way, we weren’t fighting, but she said, ‘If this is ever going to turn into a relationship where we’re fighting all the time, I’m out.’ And I said, ‘Alright, I get it.’ She said, ‘You got anything?’ and I said, ‘Yes, I’m going to hunt and fish every chance I get, where I want, when I want, and how I want, and I’m not going to take any shit for it,’ and she said, ‘Okay, cool.’”
Fifteen years later, the couple doesn’t fight, and Janson goes hunting and fishing whenever he wants.
“It’s funny because, when you love somebody, you want to be around them more than you want to be around anything else. I was being a typical guy,” he says of telling Kelly that he wasn’t willing to change his hunting and fishing habits for her. “When you love somebody for real, you want to change those things, so it’s interesting. I do the things I like to do, she does the things she likes to do, we meet in the middle, we love, we raise kids, and we have a great marriage. It’s something to be proud of.”
Now, Janson is not only reflecting on the life he’s built with Kelly, but he also continues to capture it in song. His forthcoming album, Wild Horses, out August 1st, is a celebration of everything he holds dear: freedom, faith, family, and the fearless pursuit of a life on his own terms.
The Wild Horses album cover. Photo by Josh Daubin.
“My wife and I are a bit of wild horses in a sense. We just kind of cut our own path,” Janson shares of the inspiration behind the album. “I really don’t care what people think of me. I want to be well liked, yes, but when it comes to my career and how I conduct business, I’m going to do it my way.”
Wild Horses marks Janson’s return to Warner Music Group, and is being put out in collaboration with his record label, Harpeth 60 Records. Janson co-wrote and co-produced all fifteen tracks on the album and shares that it was the easiest and most fun of his six records to make because he recorded it entirely in-house in two of his waterfront cabins in Tennessee – the way he prefers to do things.
“There’s a little something for everybody, just like all albums,” he shares. “I believe there should be something for every walk of life, and that rings true for this album for me.”
To date, Janson has released three tracks off of the record ahead of its August release, including current radio single, “Me & A Beer,” the patriotic “This Flag,” and the Kelly-inspired “The Bride.” The Jansons even teamed up to co-write the record’s title track and film portions of the music video for “The Bride,” which also includes footage from the couple’s wedding ceremony. “I’m the artistic brain behind things, and she’s the brains behind everything else,” Janson says of working with Kelly.
Janson, who is known for his inexhaustible approach to touring (he was the most traveled artist of any genre in 2018 and has played the Grand Ole Opry over 200 times), will be playing shows across the country throughout the summer and into the fall. When I ask him where he gets the energy to perform so many shows while simultaneously being a great husband, father, songwriter, outdoorsman, and conservationist, he shares, “It’s God-given.”
“I believe that there’s a greater mission at hand, and I’m not sure what that might be, but I know that God has blessed me to the point to where I’m at now, and He’s continuing to do so, so I’m grateful for that,” he says.
For Janson, faith isn’t something performative – it’s deeply personal. His relationship with God began after his friends took him to a church in Shelbyville, Tennessee when he was fifteen. “It was a pretty amazing moment,” he tells me. “I became a real Christian and I can’t really explain it, other than you just know when you know, and you know in your heart,” he reflects. “I know what I felt, and I still feel it today. It’s a pretty great feeling of freedom, and I’m happy about it, so I’ve been a Christian ever since. I really can’t remember a time ever knowing anything different.”
Janson even has his favorite Bible verse, 1 John 5:12 (“He who has the Son has life”), tattooed on his arm. “I just think that’s a pretty profound statement – he who has Jesus in His life, in other words, has life. I don’t try to push my faith upon anybody, but I am not afraid to tell you how great it is, in my world, and should you ever want to try it, it’s pretty awesome,” he says.
“The good news is that you don’t have to go searching out Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is here for you, is there. The being and the Spirit of the Lord surrounds you anyway – all you have to be is open to accepting it. You don’t have to go struggling to find it – you don’t have to go on some crazy lavish search. Just relax and be one with Him or don’t. It’s really a personal choice, but being one with the Lord has changed my life for the better, I can tell you that,” Janson says.
With unwavering faith as his compass, freedom as his fuel, and family at the heart of it all, Janson has built a life as free and unbridled as the spirit behind Wild Horses. From a Missouri trailer park to Nashville’s biggest stages, from tip jars to platinum plaques, from a chance meeting in a pool hall to fifteen years of marriage, every chapter of Janson’s story is a testament to the power of grit, grace, and the belief that true freedom means living life on your own terms, with God at the reins.
