Luke Bryan’s tailgates & tanlines album has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (R-I-A-A) for selling more than one-million copies. The Georgia native’s third album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Albums chart (and No. 2 overall) with 145,000 copies sold. The collection has produced two back-to-back platinum singles – “Country Girl (Shake It For Me)” and “I Don’t Want This Night to End.” Luke’s current single, “Drunk on You,” is sitting inside the Top 15 and flying up the country charts. Luke wrote or co-wrote eight of the 13 songs for the record, but says that’s a little bit less than his previous two albums. “I just try to write the best song and…so, more and more you know I’m weaning myself off my own albums, but it’s fun to get great songs from the town, from Nashville and the songwriting community,” says Luke. “So, as long as I’m able to do that and find great songs, I’ll always continue to do that. And also, I’m going to always work hard to try to put my stamp in the album as a songwriter too, because I feel like that’s as important as anything.”
Luke recently debuted last month’s EP release, “Spring Break 4…Suntan City,” in the #2 spot on the Billboard Country Albums chart with sales near 30,000 units in its first week and his fourth annual spring break shows at Spinnaker’s in Panama City Beach brought a crowd of 80,000 to the beach. Earlier this month, he performed on the Academy of Country Music Awards and participated in the “ACM Presents: Lionel Richie and Friends- In Concert” taping, which aired this past Friday, April 13 on the CBS Television Network.
In addition to headlining his own dates, Luke is currently on the road with Jason Aldean on the 2012 leg of his My Kinda Party Tour. For more information, visit www.lukebryan.com.
AUDIO: Luke Bryan talks about writing songs for his albums, including his new album, tailates & tanlines. He co-wrote 8 of the 13 songs on the collection.
Luke Bryan (writing songs for t&t) OC: … as anything. :40
“With this album, I’ve never gone into a writing appointment going, ‘Oh, well we need a song that does this because the album doesn’t have it.’ I mean, I just try to write the best song and then, if you know, Nashville, like I said we were talking about how I had 8 of the 13. My first album had like 10 of 11. My second had like 9 of 11. So, more and more you know I’m weaning myself off my own albums, but it’s fun to get great songs from the town, from Nashville and the songwriting community. So, as long as I’m able to do that and find great songs, I’ll always continue to do that. And also, I’m going to always work hard to try to put my stamp in the album as a songwriter too, because I feel like that’s as important as anything.”
