Brett Eldredge Celebrates 1st #1
There was a party in Nashville recently to celebrate a big occasion: The first #1 for a new singer named Brett Eldredge. The guest of honor showed up early, and spoke with reporters about the success of “Don’t Ya.” “I’ve never had a #1 party before. I’ve come to parties for writer friends, and I’ve had the finger sandwiches and the good food and free drinks, especially when I was new to town! That’s a meal for a songwriter. Now I get to have my own #1 party. I’ve been in Nashville for 7 years, but it’s only been in the last year that it’s taken off. Lotta firsts. It’s great to be experiencing all this. I feel blessed.”
You jumped out of airplane? “Yes, getting a #1 song is something I always dreamed of, and I saw my friends get #1s, and I thought it was so cool that you get recognized for something like that, and the journey to #1 is almost impossible. So I wanted to set a goal, and say what am I gonna do if I get a #1, so I jumped out of an airplane after 40-some weeks in the chart, we finally got there. All of a sudden, it just took off, and it’s the craziest feeling in the world to see that momentum. See it get to the top was cool. Now I’m being asked what I’d do if I get another one, and I have no idea.
Headline Tour: “It’s really cool, we started to do some show on my own, and it’s crazy to see people come to see shows just to see me. They know all of my songs. I’m excited to get out there in front of die hard fans, that excites us so much. The energy is not like anything else. We’re ready to have some fun. It’ll be a party for sure.”
CMA New Artist nomination: “I was in Canada when the nominations came out, I’d just woke up, and apparently my manager woke me up at 6 in the morning to watch the announcements, but I slept through it. So I woke up and saw a bunch of text messages that said ‘Congrats,’ there were like 60 texts, and I didn’t know what they were for. I had no idea. I finally figured it out, and I almost got emotional in that hotel room in Calgary. I feel honored to be nominated, I’ve never been nominated before, and all the artists are friends of mine, so it’s a cool feeling.”
What’s kept you grounded? “I got a great family and friends and management who’ve been behind me. That’s the whole journey of becoming a singer and songwriter, you can’t do it alone. You can’t do it on your own. I remember knocking on a door a few blocks away and dropped off a CD of cover songs, and those people are who will help you. So many people gave me a shot. There are times when you question yourself. I remember when my first single came out and didn’t do well, and I had to go back to the drawing board and start all over. That’s been my way of looking at this.”
Where were you when you got the news that it went to #1? “I was on stage and what better place to get the new is on stage at midnight, right before I performed that song. I was on stage and my manager said ‘You got the #1 song,’ and I was completely freaked out. I was in Georgia, and when I played that song the place was electric, what better place to be than the place I’m happiest in the world to be. That was one of my most favorite moments ever.”
What’s on your schedule for 2014? “I’ll be on tour with Billy Currington in the Spring. I’ve always loved his music, so that’s gonna be a lot of fun.”
What’s your daily routine on the road? How do you keep yourself occupied? “I’m kind of a health freak, and I love to be active on the road, you can only sit on the bus for so long. So I try to pump the guys up, and maybe we can work out for 45 minutes. The band lines up and we do the Insanity workout. It’s good to stay healthy and active on the road.”
Billy Currington is this week’s co-host, and he told Lon Helton that he was thrilled Brett has his first #1: “I’m so happy for him, and I hope he continues to do better because he’s on our tour next year. He’s in the middle slot. I look forward to going out there with him. It’s going to be good, three crazy boys, maybe we can write together, we play a lot of sports, we play soccer and football, we stay pretty active, so I hope them boys can keep up.”
Country Countdown USA host Lon Helton was on hand at Brett’s #1 party, and presented him a plaque showing his name and song at #1. Lon told Brett he remembered meeting him in Detroit earlier this year at the Downtown Hoe Down.
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