- 2 days ago
Luke Bryan opens up having fun and joking with other Country artists and how social media has changed the artist-fan dynamic during a talk with Audacy's Katie Neal.
Category
🎵
MusicTranscript
00:00How are you? I know that you've been recovering from a gnarly bout of COVID.
00:04Yeah, it wasn't that gnarly, but it was gnarly enough to where I couldn't sing.
00:11And then when I thought I was better, my lungs weren't all together over it.
00:19So it's just a sad reality of if I'd have had the flu, I would have had to cancel shows.
00:28If I'd have had so, you know, I think the main thing is I think fans and artists and what artists are going through and the fans are so connected these days because videos of me on stage are getting shared.
00:44I'm having a bad show one night. I'm having a good show. I'm on stage. I'm coughing. I'm drinking water. I'm having trouble breathing.
00:52And so I think just to kind of not for there to be all these mysteries circling around.
00:58I think the best thing to do is go, guys, I had COVID. It's, you know, 10 days beyond it, but I'm still struggling.
01:07And I think the fans are like, all right, well, at least he hasn't, you know, BSing us about something.
01:14Of course, not even about BS and just, you know, but well, there is some narratives out there where people will be like, he needs to take care of himself and quit doing this and that.
01:24And I'm like, I've laid in the bed for 10 days and I still can't sing.
01:28Right. How often is it that like something will happen when you're on stage and you're like, oh God, I'm going to be watching this back on social media.
01:34Well, you know, I used to not think about it that much and I used to get caught up in moments and say, I think we as artists, we always got to remember when we say something that's out of our, out of our routine, the fans are going to key in on that, you know.
01:52But I think when I'm cutting up, like I was cutting up about, I mean, me and Tim Tebow, we constantly are Georgia, Florida.
02:02He's a big gator. And I was making fun of the Florida chomp, you know, in South Carolina.
02:07And I was cutting up about the Gamecocks.
02:11So I went down that rabbit hole and then two minutes later, it's on TikTok and that becomes, nobody wants to hear me sing.
02:17They want to watch me do that.
02:18So I think that, you know, I think is, you know, you get a little more, I don't want to be so guarded that I don't.
02:27No, yeah. And that's what makes your shows fun is when you are cutting up and you're saying all the silliest.
02:32Yeah, you got to go for the big, I think that's what, you know, the hurdle in society this day is when we were talking, you know, when you go into comedy, you know, the comedians, they got to go for the big joke.
02:45Yeah. And you can't, you know, you can't always, so sometimes if I'm having fun up there, I want to go for the big joke or if somebody, and if you do that, there's a percentage that it's, they're not always going to, you know, land like you want them.
03:00But I think you got to trust your fans to know, you got, your fans got to know you got a good heart under there and you didn't, you know, don't, don't, don't twist it around too much.
03:09I was cracking up. I think the one of you that went viral last week was the one where you were like, that's my Riley Green impersonation.
03:14Well, yeah, Riley actually screenshot it and sent it to me and was laughing. And yeah, I mean, I think it's, and Riley needs to be out there giving me, razzing me. I mean, that's, I mean, people are really, will really worry about me and Blake.
03:30It is so funny to me because anytime I post something where I'm winding either of you up about the other one, people are like, what? I'm like, this is a bit that's been going on for 20 years.
03:41I mean, if the day that country music loses that or any of that gets lost, I mean, listen, I mean, some real, there's real beefs that go on, but I don't know. I mean, I don't have time for like beefs.
03:56No, no one wants to do that. You're just, we're all here having fun.
03:58I just want to grill the beef.
03:59You mentioned the comedy thing and I always, I've said this to your manager before. I'm like, Luke needs to do just like a little acoustic comedy, like tour. Like, I think if you did that and played songs, like Shane McAnally has been doing that. I don't know if you've seen some of his stuff and it looks great, but you played that totally private show for us at the beginning of last year.
04:17Yeah, and I was.
04:18You rare form, but also like, I didn't stop laughing the entire time. I was like, he needs to do this.
04:23Yeah, I was a little tipsy for that.
04:25I know, but you could do that.
04:26But good tipsy.
04:27Good tips. It was hilarious.
04:29But yeah, you know, I kind of, I did a little bit of, you know, the thing is, is when you're in a 20,000 seat amphitheater, your jokes can't, they're going, the jokes really aren't going to work.
04:42I mean, the people, the people all over, they want to hear the music and maybe you can fire them up with, with something funny or if a fan does something funny.
04:50But, but you know, it may be fun.
04:52I mean, I've always thought like, um, a real stripped down version in Vegas one day where I just walk out with a guitar and a piano and, you know, don't have 8,000 people in the room.
05:03Keep it, keep it real, uh, intimate and, and real cool and don't have a set list, you know, let the fans start, kind of start chatting and cutting up with them and then just let it start, uh, let it start, yeah, let it start going.
05:19But, uh, but then, you know, you'll, you know, you'll have to, you still got to be crafty at that stuff.
05:25No, you definitely do.
05:26Like it's not, it can't be all off the cuff, but you're very good at it.
05:28You got to have it on the rail, guardrails a little bit.
05:31A little bit.
05:31Let's Talk Country Song came on.
05:33Yeah, yeah.
05:33You did not write this song, but I feel like this is a song you could have written.
05:36I feel like it's probably a song that you've lived many times, right?
05:39Oh, certainly.
05:40I mean, um, I've spent so many nights in honky tonks in Georgia, whether it was with my dad and some of his buddies, you know, after work, after a long day in the field, swing by the bar, have a beer.
05:58Um, and I played a lot of these, these famous honky tonks in South Georgia.
06:03We had the Putney Oyster Bar.
06:05I never played there, but, you know, all these old Oyster bars and all these little, we called them beer joints.
06:13And, um, so yeah, I mean, I, I know that life.
06:16And when I heard this song, I loved that, um, that imagery.
06:21I loved that, you know, a lot of my music is kind of, you know, kind of driving right in your face, big walls of instruments.
06:30And this was more really scaled down, really simple, classic sounding, talking about, you know, this guy just kind of, just kind of shaking off a long day at work.
06:43And, you know, it's just like a, you know, the, the neon lights pull them in and everything.
06:49And the right country song came on, and that was the tipping point for it to turn into a late night honky tonk time.
06:56So we've all been there.
06:57We have all been there.
06:58Is this going to be last single off of this album?
07:01Yeah, pretty certain it's the last single off Mind of a Country Boy.
07:05And, um, in the studio, uh, in the studio next week recording some stuff that I'm really excited about.
07:12So, uh, that's the thing with me, you know, I mean, I, uh, um, I'm enjoying where I'm at.
07:18I'm enjoying seeing the crowds on the road.
07:20And this year's summer tour has been, been amazing.
07:24Yeah.
07:24It looks like it's been super fun.
07:25You also recently just celebrated your birthday.
07:27Oh, gosh.
07:2849th.
07:2949th's my last year in the 40s.
07:31So I'm gonna, um.
07:34Have you thought about what you'll do for 50?
07:35Like, is Caroline plotting something yet?
07:36Well, I think we'll have to sit down and I got one idea I want to float around.
07:42I'm not telling you.
07:44It will be, it'll be fishing, you know, it will be fishing involved and it will be, you know, all my people that, you know, all of my, all of my peeps.
07:56So, uh, my, my children, you know, with, with summers, my oldest is doing a lot of football.
08:02And then my, my middle is doing a lot of golf.
08:05I mean, my youngest is doing a lot of golf.
08:07So we're kind of running around doing golf tournaments and football stuff too.
08:11So I may be standing at a scrimmage for my 50th birthday watching football.
08:15Exactly.
08:16How are the boys?
08:17They're about to go back to school, right?
08:18Yeah.
08:19They're getting, you know, they're dreading school, which.
08:21What year is everybody going to be this year?
08:22Uh, Bo will be a junior and Tate will be a freshman.
08:25So they're in high school together.
08:26So you're going to have to start having like the college conversations with Bo soon.
08:29Yeah, we already are.
08:30You know, I think he's, uh, he's kind of gearing up to maybe check on a couple.
08:34You know, colleges and stuff like that.
08:36So it's fun, you know, my wife and I were actually talking about, there was a Texas school Bo brought up.
08:43My wife's like, you're not going to Texas.
08:45And I'm like, if he gets in that school, he is.
08:48But it's going to be hard to have him out of the house.
08:51I'm sure it'll be, uh, yeah, my wife, my wife will be, uh, you know, cause I mean, being what I've done, I mean, I've, you know, this business pulls me away from them a lot.
09:05So it's kind of not a, but ma'am, you know, my wife, it's going to be, uh, it's going to be, uh, we'll have to, I gotta, I gotta, I gotta, hell with my birthday.
09:14I have to come up with a trip for her.
09:16To distract her.
09:18When we do that.
09:19Um, what kind of student were you?
09:22Um, first of all, I was the youngest kid in my grade.
09:27Oh, because of your birthday.
09:29July 17th.
09:31So I got screwed mentally.
09:36Cause, and then I was the latest bloomer in my grade.
09:41So I'm the youngest.
09:42And then like.
09:44And you're tall.
09:44So I'm assuming for a long time you were like the shortest kid.
09:47Oh my God.
09:47In 10th grade, I was five, seven in the 10th grade.
09:52And that's why I had to stop.
09:53And now you're what?
09:54Six, two, six, two.
09:56So you had a huge growth spurt at some point.
09:57Oh, I grew.
09:58Well, I grew so fast, so quickly.
10:00I couldn't play sports anymore.
10:02Cause I looked like a baby giraffe.
10:06And then that's what made me essentially pick up guitar is the fact that sports went away.
10:11That's so funny.
10:11But, uh, you know, I was a much better college student.
10:16Um, but I think I, you know, in Georgia, we had the Hope Scholarship, which is a 3-0 or
10:21better.
10:22But I think a 3-0 back then was an 80 or above.
10:26Okay.
10:27Or an 82 and above.
10:28I don't even know what it is now.
10:29But, uh, I was, I had the Hope Scholarship.
10:32So I was.
10:32Yeah.
10:32Well, that's good.
10:33Yeah, yeah.
10:33Did you get voted anything?
10:34Were you like most likely?
10:35No, I didn't get, I didn't get voted most, you know, I, I, I, I wouldn't have, you know,
10:41I was really, I think because I was younger and kind of, um, I think I wasn't, um, I really
10:48kind of came into my own in college because.
10:52It's hard to imagine you like being quiet or not being like.
10:55I really was, I really wasn't like.
10:58Knowing you now, I'd be like, he was class clown, obviously.
11:01Yeah, I wasn't because I just, I didn't, I didn't, I wasn't mature enough to really
11:06plant that flag.
11:08I think, I think I was just, um, I think I was just quiet.
11:13I mean, I had confidence, but.
11:15Yeah.
11:16I didn't, you know, I really, like I said, when I got to college and then I took a kind
11:21of a leap year in college.
11:23So then I was a little older in college, which helped me.
11:27So.
11:27Yeah.
11:28Well, that's great.
11:29You're also, you mentioned the tour this summer has been awesome playing fairs and festivals.
11:31You got the farm tour and I know that wraps like late fall.
11:34So what do you have rest of the year that you're excited about?
11:37Well, we'll be doing, uh, you know, for the fall, I'm pretty, I'll be watching football,
11:41Friday night football games and, and, uh, really hopefully getting to spend a lot of time in
11:46the woods.
11:46A lot of times I've, I've toured, you know, a lot of years I've toured into October and
11:53I think, you know, I think I'll get a chance to probably pop around and go see some, uh,
11:57some Georgia games and go maybe go spend some time and, and, and just spend some weekends.
12:03Uh, but like I said, my Friday nights are kind of committed to, uh, football.
12:07Do you have any big like hunting or fishing trips planned there outside of that?
12:10Well, I've got, I've got, you know, my hunting trips are kind of, um, annual.
12:14So this week I know, I know where I'm going to be cause that's kind of what we do every
12:19year.
12:19So, you know, uh, like the opening of dove season is every day.
12:24So I'll have all these dove shoots and then the, the bow hunting season opens in mid
12:29October.
12:30So me and the boys will go down and bow hunt for the weekend at this place.
12:34So all, when the seasons opens, that's kind of our, yeah.
12:39And then duck season opens.
12:40So we, we kind of follow the seizing openers.
12:43Do you have like a hunt that's on your bucket list?
12:45My, my dad always talks about, he's like, Oh, I always wanted to go to New Zealand and
12:47there's like, well, we'll do, uh, you know, I'll probably try to do an African, uh, deal
12:53and it's not like, uh, it's, it's not like, uh, crazy, crazy stuff.
12:57It's just like, you know, all of the plains animals, like the deer of Africa, try to go,
13:02uh, do some of that.
13:04Um, you know, but like, uh, I I'm so content.
13:09I love my yearly elk hunt.
13:11I love going elk hunting.
13:12I love, um, if I could one day maybe have two elk hunts a year right now, only have
13:17time for one.
13:19Um, I'd love to go, you know, um, man, I'd love to go off the grid up in, you know, up
13:27in caribou country one day and stuff like that.
13:30So I don't know, just as the schedule progresses, I got to get all this stuff while I can go hike
13:35up mountains.
13:36Yeah, no, for sure.
13:37And then is idle?
13:39We're in the talks.
13:40You're in the talks.
13:41Okay, got it.
13:41I wasn't sure.
13:42Nothing's been announced, but, um, we're still, still chatting it all out.
13:45Okay, well, good.
13:46And then Thomas Wright is on the show the week after you.
13:49Do you have any good TR stories or any stories I should ask him to tell while we have him
13:53on?
13:54TR and I, we, we chat intermittently.
13:56He asked if I was going to be golfing at Troubadour.
13:58I said, I might be out there.
14:00And I called him and then we launched into a five minute therapy session with one.
14:04He and I are always each other's therapy, but, um, you know, he, we, we just chatted.
14:10Um, um, um, he had, he's had the cast, the castelos out with him and my nephew dates, uh,
14:19Lily.
14:20I don't know if I knew that.
14:21Yeah.
14:21Yeah.
14:22I don't know if it's, they're, they're, they're public.
14:25They're, they post on Instagram and all that.
14:26But, but so, uh, till my nephew's been out there and really been bragging about TR show
14:32and then I, and, um, I know the girls have had a blast being out there with TR.
14:38So, uh, so yeah, but, um, I get to chat with him every time.
14:41I think he and I try to get in the woods, but you know, his kids are still so young.
14:45Like if he tries to, if he tries to plan hunting trips and mini golf trips, he's going to get
14:50in trouble.
14:51So I'm trying to keep him out of trouble with Lauren.
14:53That's nice.
14:53Well, Luke, thank you so much for the time.
14:55I'm so glad to see another song headed up the top of the chart for you.
14:58I'm excited to hear new stuff.
Recommended
30:44
|
Up next
16:57
20:11
22:25
18:09
10:46
3:33
43:54
23:31
4:12
24:22
21:01
26:26
24:08
20:19
15:05
27:32
20:35
4:08