[mp3com-artist]Luke Bryan[/mp3com-artist] teamed up with different people for songs on his new album “Tailgates & Tanlines”  A few of the artists including [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Dallas Davidson[/lastfm], and [mp3com-artist]Lady Antebellum[/mp3com-artist]‘s Charles Kelley came up with some material that we may not hear soon.

The album is available now digitally via Rhapsody and will hit other retail outlets Tuesday, and Bryan has a number of TV appearances scheduled in conjunction with the release

On Tuesday Luke will be a guest on the syndicated “Live with Regis and Kelly” as well as ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live”  He’ll also be featured on GAC’s “On The Streets.”  On Wednesday Bryan will perform on NBC’s “Today” and on Thursday he’ll be back at GAC on “Headline Country”  Luke will be featured on CMT’s “CMT Insider” on August 13th.  Bryan’s TV work actually begins today, with a guest appearance on GAC’s “Top 20 Country Countdown”

More Luke Bryan on KNCIfm.com:

• Luke Bryan Reveals How Tim McGraw Really Injured His Ankle
• Luke Bryan Talks About His Latest Gold Single, “Country Girl (Shake It For Me)”
• Luke Bryan Talks About His CMT Crossroads Performance With The Doobie Brothers

Wynn Varble, Dallas Davidson and Tom Douglas (l to r)

Set List

• Wynn – Sounds Like Life to Me
• Dallas – That’s How Country Boys Roll
• Tom – Grown Men Don’t Cry
• Wynn – A Little More Country Than That
• Dallas – Rain Is a Good Thing
• Tom – The House That Built Me
• Wynn – Things That Never Cross a Man’s Mind
• Dallas – Put a Girl in It
• Ben Schofield – Silent Melody
• Tom – I Run to You
• Wynn – Waitin’ on a Woman
• Dallas – Gimme that Girl
• Tom – Louisiana Moon
• Wynn – Have You Forgotten
• Dallas -All about Tonight
• Tom – Little Rock
• Wynn -Ain’t Going Down on Brokeback Mountain
• Dallas – Honky Tonk Badonkadonk
• Tom – My Little Girl

Tom Douglas

Wynn Varble

Dallas Davidson

Ben Schofield

See the whole album here.

Photo credit: Lyn Sengupta, TSJ Multimedia

We began our conversation by discussing the devastation in Nashville because of the flooding, particularly the destruction of the Grand Ole Opry House. Brantley expressed his regret at seeing such a historic place for country music under water. He mentioned that he had scheduled a trip to Nashville this week for various meetings and songwriting appointments, but it had to be canceled because of the floods. This led us to discuss how he usually schedules writing sessions and the very successful writing partners with whom he’s been able to write. In addition to making trips to Nashville to write, he writes with friends at the property that he affectionately calls “The Compound.” There’s a house on the property that’s been converted into five apartments and is home to several guys from Brantley’s band and crew. He lives in the pool house on the same property. Being in such close proximity to some of his co-writers has inspired several spontaneous writing sessions. We specifically spoke about his writing with fellow Georgia natives Dallas Davidson, Rhett Akins and Ben Hayslip. They have written some of the biggest hits currently on country radio and their most recent number one was Joe Nichols’ “Gimme That Girl.”

“I go up to Nashville to write with them and I’m telling you, I try to get them in, at least one of them, every time we go up there to write because it brings a little taste of home. Them boys, you can’t meet better songwriters and better individuals than those people. They were probably one of the first co-writes to have that actually made me feel at home. I feel like them boys care about what we’re doing and care about me. They take care of me. I don’t consider them friends, I consider them brothers. They’ve done a good bit for me.” When I asked him which of the songs that he’s written is his favorite, he replied, “Uh, that’s a hard question to answer! When I write it’s always inspired by something that’s going on with my life. You know a lot of the sad ones bring back some bad memories, but I like singing them sometimes because it’s kind of an expression. It’s kind of a way of venting and getting that frustration out. I feel like songwriters paint pictures for the blind. You know, if it doesn’t invoke a feeling, I think that it might be kind of a waste of time. You can tell when somebody wrote something from the heart and those are the ones that I’m very, very passionate about.” Listening to his albums, it’s evident that he has an emotional connection with every song that he’s recorded.

In discussing concerts and the live show experience, I learned that Brantley’s first concert was Third Day and Switchfoot at the Roxy in Atlanta. He went to the show with his church youth group. A year later he had a chance to open for Third Day and a host of other Christian artists at a praise and worship festival in Tennessee. Soon after performing praise and worship music, Brantley began playing songs that he had written. His crowds today are a little rowdier than the praise and worship crowd, but there’s still a passion for sharing his music and having it connect with fans. I asked him to describe the feeling of having the crowd sing one of his songs back to him. “I don’t think that there is an explanation for that feeling. I think it’s bliss because, you know, somebody knows the words to something. They’ve listened to it a few times. That to me, especially, you know, it’s usually during the acoustic set and I’ll just drop the guitar and my voice, also and just listen to them sing. When they’re singing it, you know, you can tell that they’re passionate about it, too. So that tells me that it relates to them. And if songs like that relate to them, they also affected them or either helped them through something or at least helps them reminisce about something. So that means that my song meant something to somebody, you know. And that’s why I’m still here. That’s what keeps me breathing.”

Before closing the interview, I asked him if there were anything else that he wanted our readers to know. “Just tell them that I love them and I can’t wait to see them. Come see me when I’m close!” He’s clearly very humbled by his success and appreciative of the fans’ support of his music. He thanked me profusely several times during the interview when I complimented him on his success. He seems very genuine and almost shocked at the amount of attention he’s receiving and the success that he’s achieved to this point.

I’ll be seeing Brantley for the first time this Friday night, May 7, at the Whiskey River in Macon, GA and you can count on Country Concert Chronicles to have the full review and lots of pictures! Tickets to the show are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. You can also check his website for all of his tour dates.

www.brantleygilbert.com

www.myspace.com/brantleygilbertmusic

For tickets to Friday night’s show, go to the Whiskey River’s website.

The link… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BpvqRZrnjA&feature=PlayList&p=E75061C351D1CFCE&index=0&playnext=1