Luke Bryan: I Owe My Fans

Back in April, when Luke Bryan won the fan-voted ACM Entertainer of the Year award, Luke was in the middle of recording a new album.  That night, he decided he would make this album his best ever to reward his fans.  He told Country Countdown USA: “That night was the defining moment in my career.  My goals changed that night.   You just work hard and try to make something the fans love even more because you owe it to them.”

The result is Luke’s fourth album: Crash My Party.  “I have honestly never been more excited about an album, because I feel like all of the pieces truly did come together on this album.  It’s got your dancin’ songs, your hold up your beer sing-along songs, and it’s got songs where you can love on each other a little bit, so it’s good.  We’re lovin’ it.”

The first single, “Crash My Party,” spent three weeks at #1.  Luke says it’s a great way to launch a new album: “Any time you have a multiple week #1, it’s a tremendous achievement and what better way to kick off an album than to start it with a big ole multi-week #1, and Crash My Party has just been an amazing song to watch the fans embrace, and it makes you proud when you hear a song and you cut it, and it becomes this.”

The follow-up is already heading up the charts.  It’s called “That’s My Kind of Night,” and Luke described it this way: “It’s got a sound that catches your ear right off the bat.  You have fun with it.  That’s what you want music to do.  To tickle your ear and make you want to listen.  It’s an interesting sounding track.”

Luke has been performing several new songs from the album on the road this year.  The other song we talked about is “Dirt Road Diary.”  It’s one of only two that Luke had a hand in writing, and he said it’s very autobiographical: “It’s a verbatim childhood memory of mine, and anytime you can write your life into a song, it’s very special, and you live it for the rest of your life.  I love when that moment happened to me and my dad, riding around dirt roads, and we were able to turn it into a magical and powerful song.  There were so many memories of dirt road diaries, it was a fun song to write.”  One of the lyrics even mentions the Alabama song “Dixieland Delight:” I think it’s one of the Top 5 best country songs of all time, it’s just a microcosm of the southern way of life.  It just speaks so much for how we were brought up in South Georgia.”  Luke had the opportunity to join the members of Alabama for a new tribute album, due out August 27th. “That will forever be a highlight for me.  Randy has so much wisdom, just a great storyteller, Teddy is always smiling, and Jeff & I always talk about fishing.”

The media blitz will be in full force this week as Luke’s new CD is released.  Look for him to perform on the “CMA Music Fest: Country’s Night To Rock” Monday night on ABC.  He will be in LA on release day, with appearances on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live and Chelsea Lately.  On Thursday and Friday, Luke will appear on NBC’s Today Show.

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Category: NEWS