Just in time for Valentine's Day, rising singer-songwriter, Christopher J. Essex, releases a passionate, charming love story through his new single "Time On You," available everywhere today. Taste of Country exclusively premiered the "downright sexy" music video, which illustrates the beauty in making time for the ones you love even when life gets busy.
"The idea for 'Time On You' came about when I was on the phone with a girl I had recently started talking to. We were talking about how busy I had been with music and work, but I wanted her to know that that weekend I planned to spend some 'time on her.' I had already been feeling like I wanted to write a song with a Cody Johnson 'Nothin' On You' or 'Tennessee Whiskey' kind of vibe and that's how this song came to life with that hook in mind," shared Essex.
Essex co-directed and choreographed the "Time On You" music video, which features his dance partner Alexa Knutzen, who was recently crowned as Miss Volunteer America 2023, and two additional dance couples Essex met being a performer on Norwegian Cruise Lines and at the Nashville Palace.
Lauded by the Daily Herald as a singer who “exudes star power and guitar gravitas,” Christopher J. Essex is no stranger to the spotlight. Essex started singing and performing in his early childhood and recently landed a role as Johnny Cash in Chicago’s high-energy musical, “Million Dollar Quartet,” held at the famed Apollo Theatre. In 2022, Essex was a contestant on Amazon Prime’s reality TV series, “Cosmic Love,” which follows four individuals as they attempt to find their perfect spouse via astrological matchmaking.
Moving to Nashville in 2019, his dreams got put on hold in March of 2020 when a tornado whipped through his neighborhood, destroying the rental home where Essex resided and leaving him homeless. Two weeks later, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Within three short months of moving to Nashville, Essex was left homeless and unemployed.
He found work doing odd jobs until the entertainment industry opened up again and now has been performing acoustic sets and writers’ rounds across Nashville’s scene. Essex is also a performer in Ranch Hands Cowboylesque and spends his weekends teaching line dance and two-step at the Nashville Palace.