Chris Young Co-Hosts a Hawk Sunday Night

It may not be a warm weekend in the Southern Tier but The Hawk is giving you a chance to warm up with Chris Young Sunday night 7-10pm as he co-hosts "CMT Country Countdown USA" with Lon Helton this weekend.  Lon caught up with Chris on his 2015 World Tour in Maui, on his way to shows in Australia and Asia.

Chris took advantage of the location to bring in some special food: "The guy doing the catering tonight is from the same people who do catering on set when they film 'Hawaii Five-O.'  So we definitely have to eat tonight!"

A couple months ago, Chris performed on the "Sports Illustrated" Swimsuit launch party.  He said it pretty cool: "People asked me how I got to do it, and I said, 'They called me and I said yes. I wasn't going to give anyone else a chance.  I met several of the models, I did some of the interviews with some of them.  I love talking about sports, and got to sit down with SI Now.  Got to talk with Eddie George.  We got to play a show in the middle of the street, and it was pretty cool."

It's been two years since Chris released his "A.M." album.  He told Lon that he's already begun work on his next album, and fans should expect a few changes: "I'm co-producing it with a guy named Cory Crowder, got a bunch of new guys in the studio, and truly a different sound than what I've done in the past.  We're doing some different production stuff.  I think there's stuff that might surprise some people." So when can we expect it? "I have no idea.  We haven't even begun talking about the first single yet."

In June, Chris will celebrate his 30th birthday.  He told Lon he wants to have a low key celebration: "I'm probably going to go somewhere, grab some of my friends and family, and just kind of hang.  Just be very chill.  I'm not throwing a big 30th birthday party.  It's just going to be something fun with the people close to me.  I won't be doing an event during CMA Fest for my birthday.  I shot that down real fast."

Chris also has great stories this week about Dierks Bentley, Brad Paisley, Tyler Farr, Lee Brice and the man who will be joining us in Binghamton at the Hawk Country Lights Festival, Friday night July 10th, Eric Paslay.

Listen for more with Chris Young Sunday night 7-10pm with "CMT Country Countdown USA" on 98.1 The Hawk, listen live on 981TheHawk.com or on your smart phone or tablet with the free Hawk App Radio Pup.