Dierks Bentley, Brothers Osborne, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Mickey Guyton, Darius Rucker and Carrie Underwood are among the artists performing during the upcoming CMA Summer Jam TV special. Filmed at Nashville’s Ascend Amphitheater, the CMA Summer Jam is a three-hour television event airing Thursday, September 2nd at 8pm ET/7pm CT on ABC. Luke Combs, Jimmie Allen, Gabby Barrett, BRELAND, Florida Georgia Line, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, Cole Swindell, Thomas Rhett, Lainey Wilson and Dwight Yoakam will also perform.
Keith Urban is set to perform “Wild Hearts,” among others during the Today Show Summer Concert Series on September 3rd on NBC.
Chris Stapleton performed “Worry Be Gone” on Late Night With Seth Meyers on Wednesday (August 25th). The song is from his latest No. 1 album, Starting Over.
Josh Turner was surprised by his wife Jennifer and their four sons – Hampton, Colby, Marion and Hawke – after learning that the video for his 2005 chart-topping hit “Your Man,” surpassed 100 million views on Youtube. The video was the first he and his wife filmed together. He took to his socials to share a photo of the celebration, and said, “The ‘Your Man’ video surpassed 100 MILLION views yesterday. It was the first video Jennifer and I shot together, which makes it all that more special. Thanks to y’all for all the watchin’ and support these past 15 years.”
The boys surprised us with some big news yesterday. The “Your Man” video surpassed 100 MILLION views yesterday 😳🤠. It was the first video Jennifer and I shot together, which makes it all that more special. Thanks to y’all for all the watchin’ and support these past 15 years. pic.twitter.com/kRy8zx1Tvm
Luke Bryan is set to launch this year’s Farm Tour September 9th at the Statz Bros. Farm in Marshall, Wisconsin, and he can’t wait to get back to the farms to perform and help raise money for scholarships and feed the hungry.
“To say it’s been 12 years of Farm Tour is pretty miraculous. I mean, it’s been something that’s been very special to us,” says Luke. “I can’t remember the stats, but I think we’ve fed, we’ve done six million meals to hungry families over the life; it may be even more, and to partner with these farmers to come on their fields to allow fans to come to a rural setting and watch Farm Tour is always very charming and humbling to me. I mean farming is such a special part of who I am and my background. Any time I can bring awareness to the challenges that farmers have and the ups and downs, and we get to do all that with the Farm Tour – we get to give scholarships out, we get to help a lot of people and we get to have a lot of fun too.”
As five-time Entertainer of the Year Luke Bryan is performing for fans coast-to-coast on his “Proud To Be Right Here Tour” this summer and gearing up for the next season of American Idol, Luke’s also been busy lining up additional talent for his 12th FARM TOUR taking place this September. Dylan Scott, Whitney Duncan, The Peach Pickers and DJ Rock will round out the concert line ups as Luke headlines each of the six concerts scheduled September 9-18. Tickets for FARM TOUR are on sale now at www.lukebryan.com/FarmTour.
Bayer will continue its partnership with Luke Bryan to help fight hunger across the United States by using the hashtag #HerestotheFarmer to help families in need. The campaign supports Bayer’s vision of Health for All, Hunger for None and asks fans across the United States to share the hashtag #HerestotheFarmer on their social media channels to show their gratitude to America’s farmers. For every share, Bayer will provide one meal* to a person in need through Feeding America ® with the goal of helping to provide 1 million meals.
FARM TOUR 2021:
9/9 Marshall, WI Statz Bros. Farm
9/10 Cedar Rapids, IA Brown Farms
9/11 Chillicothe, IL Three Sisters Park
9/16 Kingman, IN Martin Farms
9/17 Baltimore, OH Miller Family Farms
9/18 Fowlerville, MI Kubiak Family Farms
Luke is also poised to take over the top spot on the country charts with his latest smash hit, the song of the summer, “Waves.”
Audio / Luke Bryan talks about his 12th annual Farm Tour.
Luke Bryan (Farm Tour 2021) OC: …of fun too. :50 “Well, obviously coming off a year where we couldn’t do it and being in lockdown. I mean to say it’s been 12 years of Farm Tour is pretty miraculous. I mean, it’s been something that’s been very special to us. I can’t remember the stats, but I think we’ve fed, we’ve done six million meals to hungry families over the life; it may be even more, and to partner with these farmers to come on their fields to allow fans to come to a rural setting and watch Farm Tour is always very charming and humbling to me. I mean farming is such a special part of who I am and my background. Any time I can bring awareness to the challenges that farmers have and the ups and downs, and we get to do all that with the Farm Tour – we get to give scholarships out, we get to help a lot of people and we get to have a lot of fun too.”
For many decades, Labor Day was seen as a day for workers to voice their complaints and discuss better working conditions and pay.
U.S. Congress declared Labor Day a national holiday in 1894, and on Monday, September 6th, we will once again celebrate the people in every occupation whose work and dedication make this nation great.Labor Dayin the United States is a holiday celebrated on the first Monday in September. It is a celebration of the American labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of workers.
Labor Day weekend also signals the unofficial end to summer, and many of the hottest country stars are taking a look back at some of the toughest jobs they had prior to making their mark in music or their dream job now.
Adam Hambrick (Labor Day) OC: …that summer. :41 “I don’t know if I’ve ever had a bad job. I don’t think I had a bad job, ‘cause I actually enjoyed this job ‘cause I was actually sitting in the air conditioning all day over the summer in Arkansas. It was very monotonous, because I was spending every summer day repairing old fallen-apart medical charts in a heart clinic in Little Rock. I would take all these photos of all these records and re-sort them page-by-page and put ‘em back in the manila folder and re-alphabetize ‘em. But I did bring my computer and watch movies while I did it, so I drank a lot of soda and watched a lot of movies that summer.”
Audio / Alan Jackson says that working man values have always been a part of his music.
AJ (working people songs) OC: … appreciate that. :28
“I’ve always written songs and recorded songs, other people’s songs, about workin’ people, and workin’, the workin’ life ’cause I mean, that’s where I’m from. I mean, I worked…I’d already had jobs and worked as a grown person before I ever even thought about bein’ in the music business, so I come from that background, and…although I hadn’t had a job in a long time (laughs), I still remember a lot about it, you know, and I remember what the lifestyle is, and I still appreciate that.”
Audio / Billy Currington recalls some of the jobs he had before landing his record deal in 2003.
Billy Currington (Labor Day) OC: …record deal. :40 “I started working like at [age] 12, landscaping. This was summer, every summers, and roofing. I started when I was about 16 roofing houses, and that was probably one of my toughest jobs because down there in South Georgia, it gets hot, so doing that every day all summer long. The pawn shop when I moved to Nashville was one of my favorites, even though it was one of my least favorites. The concrete job was my least favorite of all – six years of that, and I couldn’t take it no more. After that job, that was my turning point. Either I’m going to do something else for a living [laughs] or quit and try to really focus on music and get this record deal.”
Audio / BRANDON LAY SAYS HE’S ALWAYS ENJOYED THE LABOR DAY WEEKEND.
Brandon Lay (Labor Day) OC: …a good one. :13 “You know, I can’t complain too much about Labor Day, ‘cause usually doing landscaping and it had slowed down a little, but the water’s still warm enough to hit the river. I’ve gotten to spend some time out on the lake for Labor Day, so Labor Day’s a good one.”
Audio / CARRIE UNDERWOOD TALKS ABOUT THE JOBS SHE HAD GROWING UP AND HER BEST JOB -- PERFORMING FOR HER FANS.
Carrie Underwood (Labor Day) OC: …born to do. :59 “I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad job. I’ve had hard jobs. I’ve had jobs that worked random hours. My first job was at a gas station, and that was a lot of fun actually. While I was working at the gas station, I took another job at a hotel down the street. There was nobody else working there. I had one day of training and then the next day I came in, and the lady that had worked there the longest and was training me just didn’t show. So, the second day at work I was now in charge ‘cause I was now the senior member that was working at the hotel. So, I feel like that one was really challenging to figure my way through it, but I did. My best job is definitely what I do now. I really like being on stage. I really like performing for people and just having fun and singing, because that’s what I feel like I was born to do.”
Caylee Hammack (Labor Day-worst job) OC: …worst job. (laughs) :38 “My worst job was working in a nursery, actually. I love kids so I thought I’d be really good at it, but wen you’re the new person coming in, you have to change all the diapers first. So, I was changing 45 diapers a day and it got to the point where everything smelled like baby poop. It literally drove me crazy. I would walk my dog and I would have to go to pick up her poop, and it would smell like baby poop, and I just couldn’t handle it, honestly. The smell of poop warded me away. The children were lovely, but the smell of poop lingered, and I couldn’t handle that job. That was my worst job.” (laughs)
Audio / Darius Rucker recalls one of his worst jobs before turning to music.
Darius Rucker (Labor Day) OC: …pizza. :15 “I was fifteen, and I worked at a pizza place, and the guy decided that at fifteen, that I could not only clean the floors and wash the dishes, but I also had to make pizza. So, for two months, he taught me how to make pizza.”
Audio / Dierks Bentley makes a living performing for his fans, and he can’t say enough about them.
Dierks Bentley (Labor Day) OC: …generosity. :26 “Personally, the fans give me amazement. That’s the only word to really sum it up. I look out in the crowd, you know, usually see a lot of faces and fans are cheering. I know each one of these like from the road-the signs are from California…Michelle and Kayla live up in the Ohio area. They’re all, I just see them, and I’m like, ‘Wow!,’ they’re all from different regions. You know when you’re in a different region of the country and you just see certain fans. These people are way more hard core than I am, and I’m just amazed by their generosity.”
Audio / Eric Church talks about one of his worst job.
Eric Church (Labor Day-odd jobs) OC: …bought at 2am. 1:27 “I had an awful job. I’ve had a lot of awful jobs…my worst one was when I first came to Nashville. I got a job at the Shop at Home Network. I worked midnight, graveyard, midnight to eight. That was bad enough but then I would work all night, go home, shower and then I had writing appointments all day because I was trying to get a career started. I’d go write songs and get meetings just trying to get signed. And end up getting done at 3 of 4 with all of that, I’d go home, take a shower or sleep for a little bit and then I had to be at work again at midnight. So the schedule was bad enough, however, what I had to do at the job…I sold knives from midnight to 7 or 8am. And, anytime somebody calls you at 3 or 4am and needs 200 knives for $19.95, it’s automatically an alarming situation. And I just, I was young and I’d been in a lot of these people’s shoes, I had done this…I knew they were drunk. I knew what they had done. They’d just come home from the bar, flipped on Shop at Home and said, ‘You know what? I need that.’ So the reason the job didn’t last long for me is that I was maybe the worst salesmen in history because I ended up talking a lot of these people out of it, I’d say, ‘I’ll tell you what man, go to bed, call me, I’ll be here in the morning. If you get up in the morning and want these knives you call me back.’ Because I knew what was going to happen, you know. They bought 200 knives for $19.95…first of all some of these people you didn’t know whether you should call the cops. What do you need 200 knives for? Even though I’m selling them…what do you need them for? So, it was awful doing that job. And then they got rid of me because, they were like, ‘You’re the worst. I can’t believe you’re talking people out of it.’ I was like, ‘Man I know…I’ve been there.’ [laughs] I’d want some to talk me out of buying some of the stuff I’ve bought at 2am.”
Audio / GEORGE STRAIT’S CAREER HAS SPANNED DECADES AND 60 NO. 1 HITS, BUT HE CAN RECALL HEARING ONE OF HIS SONGS ON THE RADIO AND HOW COUNTRY RADIO HAS SUPPORTED HIM.
George Strait (first time on radio) OC: …records I’ve put out. :26 “I took it to a radio station in San Antonio KKYX, and a guy named Jerry King put it on and played it while I ran out to the car to listen to it on the radio. So, it’s just been relationships like that through the years that I’ve had with different people. I don’t know, they’ve just supported me so much and have been very open to the records I’ve put out.”
Audio / Jon Langston says he's just not cut out for cooking chicken, but he is made for performing on stage.
Jon Langston (Labor Day) OC: …is the bomb. :45 “The worst job – it wasn’t bad – I could just say growing up and stuff and in high school, I was working for my dad. It was a great job, working at the shop. One day I got tired of working for my dad. I thought it’d be smart to go work for somebody else and so I went to work at Chik-fil-a for a family friend, and I’m just not made for cooking chicken. But, I told my dad, ‘Hey, can I come back to work?’ (laughs) So, yeah, I mean, Chik-fil-a a great place to work if you’re into that kind of thing, but not me. But Chik-fil-a is my favorite fast food restaurant of all time. I mean, I will go to war for Chik-fil-a. I eat there probably three or four times a week. Chik-fil-a is the bomb.”
Audio / Jon Pardi talks about his worst job, which was at a grocery store.
Jon Pardi (Labor Day) OC: …so bored! :17 “The worst job I ever had was at Hometown Grocery Store. I didn’t want to work, I was 15, and I did not want to work at the grocery store. Bagging was fun, but they sent me down the aisles to pull up cans and turn ‘em around and face ‘em, and I would just get so bored!”
Jordan Davis (Labor Day) OC: …worst job. :41 “[My] worst job was probably whenever I got out of school I started working for an environmental group in Baton Rouge, and I was doing actual environmental work at first. I went to my boss probably about four months in and told him that I was going to move to Nashville and write songs. Luckily enough, he let me stay on, but I became the weedeater guy for the landscaping side of the business. I seriously weedeated eight hours a day. The only break I would get would be in-between yard to yard. So, like we would be in the car and I would try to doze off for like 10 minutes. I was covered in grass in the middle of the summer in Baton Rouge. It was awful. That was definitely the worst job.”
Audio / Keith Urban has never had another job other than performing, and he loves watching people connect to his music.
Keith Urban (Labor Day) OC: …amazing. :22 “Seeing people connect to the music is absolutely, hands-down the biggest reward for me, especially when you go to a place you’ve never been to before and it’s all these people, I mean lots of people out there. You’ve never met a single one of ‘em and they’re singing every word, and you realize that it’s not just a pretty melody and everything, but they get the songs. It’s amazing.”
Kip Moore (Labor Day-worst job) OC: …than that. :21 “I’d have to say my worst job ever was laying sod in the south Georgia heat. There’s nothing than that, especially when somebody would think that you’re waiting for the next sod patch to be thrown to you and you got your back turned, and all of a sudden, that big ole piece of sod hits you right on the back. You got nowhere to clean up, and you’re just stuck with dirt on your back for the rest of the day. It doesn’t get any worse than that.”
Audio / Kylie Morgan says being on the road performing for people is her “happy place.”
Kylie Morgan (the road is her happy place) OC: …that’s me. :48 “The road is truly my happy place. I love going to sleep and not knowing where I’m going to be the next day. I love hotel beds. I literally just eat and breathe the road. It is truly an adventure all the time, and I knew even when I was little that I had to do something where I traveled because I love the feeling of it. I love experiencing new things, and the fact that I truly feel like what I do is not a job. And the fact that I get to see the world, meet so many amazing people, have a one-on-one connection through my music, I never have to work a day in my life because I would do this for free. It is one of the most liberating feelings to finish a song and see someone turn to someone and go, ‘Omigod, that’s me.’”
Audio / Luke Bryan talks about the different jobs he worked in and around Leesburg, Georgia, before heading to Nashville to pursue a career in music.
Luke Bryan (Labor Day-jobs) OC: …Nashville… 1:07 “At age 12 thru 13, I worked at Rubos IGA Supermarket in Leesburg, GA. I worked during the summers on Monday and Tuesday. I stocked and cleaned up the produce. They paid me under the table…I peeled off all of the brown lettuce. Let’s see, when I was 15, I was a cashier at K-Mart for two months. I worked at K-Mart for two months, and then I reverted back to Rubos because it didn’t really make sense for me to drive all the way into Albany and work for K-Mart. The benefits were great though-you’d get an hour-long on the blue light special. So I started back at Rubos, and then I quit Rubos and worked for my Dad-just awful just driving tractors through cotton all day, and spraying pesticides that eventually would turn your hair green. And then at some point, I started playing guitar. And well, after college I went back and worked for my dad and continued to spray and haul fertilizer around. And then I moved to Nashville…”
Audio / Priscilla Block had a lot of side jobs when she was trying to make it in the music business, including cleaning Airbnbs.
Priscilla Block (Labor Day) OC: …didn’t care. :34 “Cleaning Airbnbs, and that was really interesting ‘cause you’d find some crazy things in those Airbnbs. Those bachelorette parties, all I’m saying is I want to be invited next time. I was kind of sad that I had to be the house cleaner and I wasn’t at the bachelorette party. It was great! You’d go in and sometimes there’d be extra food, alcohol. When I walked in and I would see White Claws in the fridge, I’m, ‘Bingo, baby! Let’s go!’ I don’t know if I was supposed to be taking the alcohol, but I didn’t care.”
Audio / TRAVIS DENNING HAS NEVER HAD ANOTHER JOB OTHER THAN PLAYING MUSIC.
Travis Denning (Labor Day) OC: …right for it. :13 “I’ve always played music. I mean, my first gig was when I was 16-years-old. That was what I did. And as soon as I found out I could make money doing it, I thought I’d much rather make money doing this than anything else, so I went right for it.”
As five-time Entertainer of the Year Luke Bryan is performing for fans coast-to-coast on his “Proud To Be Right Here Tour” this summer and gearing up for the next season of American Idol, Luke’s also been busy lining up additional talent for his 12thFARM TOUR taking place this September. Dylan Scott, Whitney Duncan, The Peach Pickers and DJ Rock will round out the concert line ups as Luke headlines each of the six concerts scheduled September 9-18. Tickets for FARM TOUR are on sale now at www.lukebryan.com/FarmTour.
Bayer will continue its partnership with Luke Bryan to help fight hunger across the United States by using the hashtag #HerestotheFarmer to help families in need. The campaign supports Bayer’s vision of Health for All, Hunger for None and asks fans across the United States to share the hashtag #HerestotheFarmer on their social media channels to show their gratitude to America’s farmers. For every share, Bayer will provide one meal* to a person in need through Feeding America ® with the goal of helping to provide 1 million meals.
FARM TOUR 2021
9/9 Marshall, WI Statz Bros. Farm
9/10 Cedar Rapids, IA Brown Farms
9/11 Chillicothe, IL Three Sisters Park
9/16 Kingman, IN Martin Farms
9/17 Baltimore, OH Miller Family Farms
9/18 Fowlerville, MI Kubiak Family Farms
The tour is sponsored by Fendt, TRACKER OFF ROAD, Farmland, American Building Components (ABC™), DISH, Monster and Citi.
Over 100,000 fans have attended the tour each year since its inception in 2009. Luke will continue giving back to the farmers by awarding college scholarships to students from farming families who are attending the local college or university near the tour stops. To date, more than 60 scholarships have been granted.
Luke has once again partnered with CID Entertainment and On Location to offer Harvest Time VIP Experiences throughout the 2021 FARM TOUR. Packages include a general admission ticket plus parking pass, early entry to the venue, access to a VIP viewing area, private restrooms, and a limited-edition merchandise gift. To view full FARM TOUR VIP Experience details, please visit https://www.cidentertainment.com/events/luke-bryan-farm-tour.
Luke Bryan released his new five-part docuseries this past Friday. My Dirt Road Diary, which can be seen on IMDb TV, chronicles Luke’s life and career, including some of the family tragedies that shaped his course, as well as the extreme successes he’s experienced over the past several years. He says he hopes people experiencing tragedy and the ups and downs of life experience hope when watching the docuseries.
“I’m excited for the potential to help people heal through tragedy and being inspired through tragedy and the ups and downs in life,” says Luke. “So many people deal with that and are going through that constantly, so I hope that they can watch this and really feel, understand that there is a light on the other side.”
The reigning ACM Entertainer of the Year is closing in on the top spot on the country charts with his latest summer smash, “Waves.” He takes his Proud To Be Right Here Tour to Columbia, Maryland tonight (August 12th), Wantagh, New York Friday (August 13th) and Darien Center, NY on Saturday (August 14th).
Audio / Luke Bryan talks about his hopes for people after they watch his new five-part docuseries, My Dirt Road Diary on IMDb TV.
Luke Bryan (hopes for docuseries) OC: …the other side. :54 “Once we started going back and finding older videos from my childhood and stuff like that, it really started being emotional and special. And then once we started seeing all of the footage (director) that Michael Monaco had gotten while being on tour with me, and even that emotion of the backstage area where I won my first Entertainer of the Year was just worth its weight in gold. And so, as this thing came together, I got more and more emotionally invested and now I’m really just invested because I’m excited for the potential to help people heal through tragedy and being inspired through tragedy and the ups and downs in life. So many people deal with that and are going through that constantly so I hope that they can watch this and really feel, understand that there is a light on the other side.”
Sam Hunt is set to perform live at the ACM Awards Party For A Cause, benefiting ACM Lifting Lives, on Tuesday, August 24th at Nashville’s Ascend Amphitheater.
In this past week’s Sunday Sitdown for NBC’s Today Show, Willie Geist traveled to a recording studio in Nashville, Tennessee, for a conversation with Luke Bryan. The “Waves” singer opens up about the moments in his life highlighted in his new IMDb TV docuseries “My Dirt Road Diary.” Luke also shares an early listen to a personal, new single called “Songs You Never Heard,” written to his late brother, Chris. Check out the full interview below.
Chris Stapleton will be a special guest on Taylor Swift‘s upcoming Red(Taylor’s Version), which will be available beginning November 19th. He’s featured on the song, “I Bet You Think About Me” (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault). She revealed the upcoming guests and track list on her socials after fans guessed her word scramble clues as she “unlocked the vault.”
Maddie and Tae kicked off season two of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s “Words & Music at Home” series, developed to help aspiring songwriters of all ages learn the art and craft of writing songs, any time, anywhere. The duo’s Madison Font and Taylor Kerr write many of their own songs, including hits “Die from a Broken Heart” and “Girl in a Country Song.” During their “Words & Music at Home” episode, the two shared insights into their personally inspired songwriting approach with the Museum’s Adam Ollendorff.
Brothers Osborne will release the music video for their current single “I’m Not For Everyone” tomorrow (Thursday, August 12th). The clip stars actor-comedian-Instagram star, Leslie Jordan. Check out his Instagram sneak peek of the video below.
Jordan Davis released the official music video of his new single “Buy Dirt,” today (August 10th). Jordan co-wrote “Buy Dirt” with his brother Jacob Davis and brothers Josh and Matt Jenkins, amid the pandemic with the newfound perspective that, despite the entire world on pause, he still had what mattered most to him – his faith, his family, and his friends. In his new music video, the Louisiana native, alongside country superstar Luke Bryan, illustrate the story behind the poignant song.
“Buy Dirt” is one of Davis’ fastest growing songs to date, having spent 11 consecutive weeks inside the Top 200 on the Country Streaming Chart and currently sitting at No. 47 on the chart. The song has garnered 45 million global streams and over 28 thousand track downloads. “Buy Dirt” is currently Top 40 and climbing on the country radio charts, following Davis’ most recent Top 5 single, “Almost Maybes,” and his three consecutive multi-platinum No. 1 singles, “Singles You Up,” “Take It From Me,” and “Slow Dance In A Parking Lot.” Davis and Bryan performed “Buy Dirt” on NBC’S 3rd Hour of TODAY this past June. Additionally, the singer/songwriter will hit the road this Fall performing on Kane Brown’s Blessed and Free Tour and his own headlining Buy Dirt Tour. Davis’ full list of tour dates can be found HERE.
About Jordan Davis
MCA Nashville’s Jordan Davis has been named an “Artist to Watch” by Billboard, Rolling Stone, CMT, Pandora, Shazam, Amazon Music, Sounds Like Nashville, The Tennessean, SiriusXM, Whiskey Riff, and more. A Native of Shreveport, Louisiana, Davis graduated from LSU and briefly pursued the path of his degree working as an environmental consultant; however, his passion for music and songwriting eventually compelled him to move to Nashville in the summer of 2012. In 2018, Davis released his Gold-certified debut album, Home State, which features his three consecutive No. 1 hits: Platinum-Certified “Slow Dance In A Parking Lot,” the Double Platinum-Certified “Singles You Up” and Platinum-Certified “Take It From Me.” In 2019 Davis won Best New Country Artist at the iHeart Radio Music Awards and was a two-time nominee for ACM New Male Artist of the Year. He was also named Billboard’s Top New Country Artist of 2018 as well as Country Aircheck/Mediabase’s Most Heard New Artist of 2018. Davis has since accumulated over 2 billion streams worldwide. The hitmaker released a six-song, self-titled EP featuring a collaboration with pop superstar Julia Michaels titled, “Cool Anymore.” In May 2021, Davis released his new eight song EP, Buy Dirt. Davis co-wrote every song on the EP except for the John Prine inspired “Blow Up Your TV.” Davis cites Prine as one of his most important influences throughout his life and on his music. Davis has made appearances on Good Morning America, Late Night with Seth Meyers, TODAY Show, and has previously toured with the likes of Rascal Flatts, Jake Owen, Kip Moore, Brett Young and Old Dominion.
Audio / Jordan Davis explains how Luke Bryan ended up on his song, “Buy Dirt.”
Jordan Davis (Luke Bryan on Buy Dirt) OC: …my songs now. 1:13 “I met Luke three or four years ago at an awards show after party, and got to hang with him, but I really kind of got to sit and talk with him after a round of golf one day, and we just really talked about everything under the sun aside from music. Luke kind of embodies what that song is. You know a lot of people get to see Luke on American Idol or on stage, but Luke Bryan really is a great guy. I sent him a message one day, a text message actually attached with the song, and I was like, ‘Hey Luke, I wrote this. It means a lot to me. You came to mind whenever I was thinking about it, through the writing process, and this song just kind of says what you’re about, and if you want to sing on it, great, no pressure. Don’t even feel the need to text me back or whatever. Just listen to it and let me know.’ And he got right back with me. He’s like, ‘Man I love the song. Let me live with it for a couple of days.’ And he called me back four or five days later and was like, ‘When do you want me singing on this thing?’ That was a pretty cool moment. I’m such a big fan of Luke, and he’s been a huge influence on me since I moved to Nashville, and pretty cool to have him on one of my songs now.”
Luke Bryan is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the release of his album, Tailgates and Tanlines. The collection, which has been certified four-times platinum, is the third studio album and was released on August 9th, 2011. The Georgia native co-wrote eight of the album’s thirteen tracks including the record’s first single, “Country Girl (Shake It For Me).”
“When you get into your third album, and you’re lucky enough to get to a third album, you just get more seasoned and a little more calm about the experience. You take the things you did right and wrong from your other two, and you make mental notes and try to do, you know, do all the things that you liked and roll into this album,” says Luke. “You know, there were times on my first two albums, [when] we were really pressured and up against the wall to get it done, so a lot of times I would go in and sing and my voice wouldn’t really feel as good as I wanted it to that day. But on this album, if I went in and it wasn’t happenin’, you know, I would just turn around and walk down, and I was like, ‘We’ll get it when it’s time.’ Little things like that that you learn, you know. I was able to take some songs that didn’t make ‘Doin’ My Thing’ and kind of hold them because I knew there was a proper time for them to come out and we’d put them on this album. And like I said, you get a little smarter about all of the, all of the aspects of making an album. You can, you can go back and make sure you don’t make the same mistakes twice and, um, and you know, I mean I know it even with the success with Doin’ My Thing, you know, there are little things I wanted to change about it and I made sure on this album I didn’t do it again and it makes the, I look back and I’m like, ‘Man, there isn’t one song that I would want to take off this album.” Everything had its place and that’s exciting, that’s what makes it fun to have recorded the album.”
Luke also celebrated the release of his IMDbTV docuseries, My Dirt Road Diary, this past Friday (August 6th). He’s also on the road with his Proud To Be Right Here Tour, which makes stops in Maryland and New York this weekend. Click here for more info on the tour.
Audio / Right before he released Tailgates and Tanlines in 2011, Luke Bryan talked about how he has grown as an artist from his first album to his third.
Luke Bryan (third album) OC: …coming out. 1:18 “When you get into your third album, and you’re lucky enough to get to a third album, you just get more seasoned and a little more calm about the experience. You take the things you did right and wrong from your other two, and you make mental notes and try to do, you know, do all the things that you liked and roll into this album. You know, there were times on my first two albums, [when] we were really pressured and up against the wall to get it done, so a lot of times I would go in and sing and my voice wouldn’t really feel as good as I wanted it to that day. But on this album, if I went in and it wasn’t happenin’, you know, I would just turn around and walk down, and I was like, ‘We’ll get it when it’s time.’ Little things like that that you learn, you know. I was able to take some songs that didn’t make ‘Doin’ My Thing’ and kind of hold them because I knew there was a proper time for them to come out and we’d put them on this album. And like I said, you get a little smarter about all of the, all of the aspects of making an album. You can, you can go back and make sure you don’t make the same mistakes twice and, um, and you know, I mean I know it even with the success with Doin’ My Thing, you know, there are little things I wanted to change about it and I made sure on this album I didn’t do it again and it makes the, I look back and I’m like, ‘Man, there isn’t one song that I would want to take off this album.” Everything had its place and that’s exciting, that’s what makes it fun to have recorded the album and now even more fun it is coming out. “
All episodes of the five-part original docuseries on the life and career of five-time Entertainer of the Year Luke Bryan premieres today on IMDb TV, Amazon’s premium free streaming service. Luke Bryan: My Dirt Road Diaryshares the ups, downs, triumphs, and tragedies along the road to unprecedented success with original home videos, interviews, and incredibly personal footage, allowing viewers a personal look into the life of the country music superstar.
Luke Bryan: My Dirt Road Diary features a new song Luke co-wrote with Luke Laird and Josh Osborne in honor of his late brother Chris. “Songs You Never Heard” is an ode to his brother who was always Luke’s biggest supporter of chasing his musical dreams. Chris was someone who shared his love of country music, going to concerts and listening to Clint Black, George Strait, Keith Whitley, and more, and who would no doubt be by Luke’s side to this day. But Chris never got to hear any of Luke’s own hit songs. “Songs You Never Heard” is available digitally HERE.
Luke Bryan: My Dirt Road Diary is executive produced by Luke Bryan, Kerri Edwards, and Ryan Schmidt, in association with Endeavor Content and Peanut Mountain Productions. Michael Monaco of FlyHi Films also serves as an executive producer and directs.
Since his debut, Luke has garnered 26 #1 hits and has more RIAA certified digital singles than any other country artist with 68.5 million, has 15.6 billion streams worldwide, and has sold nearly 13 million albums. His headline concert tours have played sold-out shows for 12 million fans inclusive of 36 stadium concerts, Farm Tours, Spring Break shows, and seven sold-out ‘Crash My Playa’ destination concert events. Luke has won over 50 major music awards including five wins as Entertainer of the Year. His third and most recent Entertainer win was awarded by the Academy of Country Music this April, and he also holds two Entertainer honors by the Country Music Association. Additional awards include six recognitions as a CMT Artist of the Year, NSAI Artist/Songwriter of the Year, the first-ever recipient of the ACM Album of the Decade Award for Crash My Party, seven CMT Music Awards, five Billboard Music Awards, and four American Music Awards – as well as being named Billboard’s Top Country Artist of the 2010s, the ‘Most Heard Artist of the Decade’ by Country Aircheck, and the ‘Artist Humanitarian Recipient’ by the Country Radio Broadcasters this February. This spring he released a deluxe version of his #1 debuting BORN HERE LIVE HERE DIE HERE (Deluxe Edition). The album’s title track inspired the name for his current tour, “Proud To Be Right Here Tour” with shows scheduled through the fall. Luke is set to return as a celebrity judge for a fifth season, alongside Katy Perry and Lionel Richie, on ABC’s American Idol in 2022.
Luke is sitting inside the country charts Top 5 with his latest smash, “Waves.”
Audio / Luke Bryan says his new song "Songs You Never Heard," has a huge connection to his new docuseries.
Luke Bryan (Songs You Never Heard) OC: …George Strait. 1:27 “So it’s very tied into the documentary. When we wrote it, we didn’t know it was going to be, but the actual docuseries, documentary actually kind of made the song be born because Luke Laird and Josh Osborne were on the road with me, I guess three years ago and (Michael) Monaco was going through some editing of the documentary. And Luke and Josh were watching it and they were educating themselves on my past. And so we sat down and started working on a song. I had the idea of gosh, has anybody ever written something about losing someone…and since my brother passed, there’s been all these life-changing songs that I knew my brother would have loved, would’ve loved every second of. So, that was the main thing and we wrote it with that. And so as it really started working in conjunction with the documentary, we decided to really feature the song and loved how it turned out. It’s just such a special song that I think people can relate to because there’s somebody that lost somebody that their connection was an Atlanta Braves game and when the Braves hit a homeroom, they’re like I wish my brother were here to watch that homerun. Well, with me, I’m like, I wish my brother was here to hear that George Strait song.”
