Country Star Randy Houser Brings New Music To New York

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Randy Houser has a lot to celebrate. Not only did he release his new record this week, How Country Feels, but his current single (the title track) is the No. 1 song in country radio.

More: Randy Houser Performs Live On The Couch

How Country Feels, Randy's third album, was a long time coming. During a show at New York City's Mercury Lounge Thursday night, he told the packed crowd that he began writing for it in 2011. While Randy cowrote several of the tracks on the album his friends, including Lee Brice, also played a part.

Randy's 90-minute set at the Mercury Lounge provided a blend of his new material and the older hits, many of which had the crowd raising their beer cups in the air and singing along word for word.

Though many of the songs Randy played were the first time New Yorkers heard live, they already knew the words.

"Guess what y'all? It's been a crazy week for us. We have the No. 1 song in the country. How 'bout that?" he told the audience. "We put out a brand new record and we started off the record with one of my favorite singles on there right now. This might be the next single."

A radio friendly hit, it's easy to see why "Runnin' Outta Moonlight" is a contender. Randy Houser is no stranger to radio hits whether they're his own or he's written them for others.

"We don't really get a chance to play this song so I thought tonight would be a good night," Randy told the crowd. "This is the first song I ever performed as a songwriter. I don't get to play it enough."

Once the opening lines of "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" began the crowd went wild. A track made famous by Trace Adkins in 2005, Houser co-wrote it with Jamey Johnson and Dallas Davidson.

"This is fun!" Randy asserted once the track came to an end. "It's cold as hell out there but it's hot as hell in here. I can't say thank you enough for comin.' We haven't been to New York in a while."

Just as fast as "Badonkadonk" riled up the crowd, beautiful ballad "Anything Goes" quieted the room. The first song he ever had on the radio, the track struck a chord with wavering pedal steel, piano, and Randy's delicate vocals.

Randy segued effortlessly from the high energy numbers to the slower ones but just because he got quieter didn't mean the crowd ever would. No doubt excited for his show, fans screamed requests and compliments throughout his set.

"You play like there's 18,000 of us. We love it!" one fan screamed to Randy.

Just as quickly as the show began it came to an end, but not before Randy played his biggest hit.

"This is for all the country music fans out there. How many of you know what the country is? It's a very proud time for us. This is the Number One song in the country now. Help me sing it!"

And the night came to a close as the fans sang along word for word to "How Country Feels," and encore tracks "Lean On Me" and "Whistlin' Dixie." But once again, Randy thanked everyone for where it all started.

"I want to thank everybody out there that's listening to country radio."

-Annie Reuter, Radio.com