With his signature smile and catchy tunes, Dustin Lynch has climbed his way from playing Nashville honky-tonks to the biggest stages around the world.
Lynch, 32, has made several South Florida stops and will be opening for Brad Paisley Friday as part of the Weekend Warrior Tour at Coral Sky Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach.
In recent months, Lynch has been promoting his third album Current Mood, which hit shelves this week. The album includes hits “Seein’ Red” and “Small Town Boy.”
His South Florida stop, comes about two months before Lynch will kick off The Ride or Die tour, his first headlining tour.
We caught up with Lynch in April, when he played for thousands at the Rock the Ocean’s Tortuga Music Festival in Fort Lauderdale.
Q: What did you think about Tortuga Music Festival? How does it differ from other venues?
A: It’s everything I dreamed it would be except more people and a lot crazier. This is amazing. This is the biggest party I have been a part of. You can’t get much better of a view than this.
Q: You were here in March for Kiss 99.9’s Undercover Concert ( a show the radio station puts on periodically where listeners win tickets for a concert without knowing who is going to perform). What did you think about that concept?
A: We’ve never done an undercover show like that. I didn’t know what to expect. And then there’s always in the back of your mind when I walk out am I going to disappoint people — that it’s not Luke Bryan or somebody. But what a warm welcome. Just to be able to play an acoustic concert in front of that many people is insane and they sang every single word back to us. It was just really cool. We have been here a lot over the years and we have built a really nice partying, badass following down here.
Q: Right before Tortuga Music Festival, you made an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live and sang your single “Small Town Boy.” What was that like?
A: What a dream come true. You grow up watching late night television and to be able to play a show that I’m a fan of is honor. That was our first late night debut of “Smalltown Boy,” our new single, which is really, really cool. It’s something I’ll never forget.
Q: Tell me about your latest single “Smalltown Boy” and how that song came to be?
A: “Smalltown Boy” is one of the first songs that I wanted to record and its been around for a while. We almost put it out first. It came down to “Smalltown Boy” and “Seein’ Red” and we went with “Seein’ Red” because we wanted another big uptempo moment for our show and we got that and it did great for us. It was our fastest rising single and it went to No. 1. “Smalltown Boy” just felt like the next right move for us especially going into the summer months. It’s a feel good, kinda love, laid-back song and it just feels good on a warm sunny day. Unless something weird happens it looks like its going to be our biggest song by a long-shot.
Q: Can you talk about your current tour with Florida Georgia Line and your tour for the summer with Brad Paisley?
A: We have been out on the Digging Roots Tour with FGL since January and that was my dream tour. A couple of years ago I said “Man, I want to tour with FGL in ’17.” And sure enough it happened. And you know we have had a great time with guys and when we wrap up we will jump in with Brad Paisley in May. You know Brad for me is, he’ll probably slap if I say this, but he’s like my hero. I grew up learning the guitar to his songs. So to get to get to make music as part of Brad’s tour is unbelievable. It’s going to be a fun year.
Q: I read somewhere that you chose your college based on it being close to Bluebird Cafe in Nashville. Is that true? I also read that you considered going into medicine? Ever think you’ll go back?
A: I was in a band in high school and I wanted to be in Nashville and I couldn’t afford to get into any schools in Nashville. It just wasn’t an option for me. So I was actually enrolled in Middle Tennessee University and then got a call from Lipscomb University’s golf coach kind of late in the game and he offered me a scholarship in golf and it allowed me to be like two blocks from the Bluebird. Once the parents finally said their goodbyes, I went on over to the Bluebird and I realized I was only 18 and couldn’t get into any honky-tonks and so I started frequenting writer’s round and really honed in on song writing. I am so intrigued with how the human body works. It was a great plan B. My parents wanted me to be a doctor instead of a honky-tonk singer. But I think they are cool with it now.
Q: You started your own clothing line. How did you get into that?
A: It’s been a great new challenge. Stay Country Clothing is something we’ve been working on for a few years now and the big big big reveal will happen later this year. We’ve been developing it with a team in New York. It will be available world-wide and the goal is to keep expanding it in the retail sense.
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