is just getting started
NOBLESVILLE, IND. Luke Bryan s well tanned face is slathered with the patagonia synchilla fleece vestheavy makeup entertainers wear when they know they re going to be on camera.
It s 85 and muggy in this Indianapolis suburb, home to the Klipsch Music Center. Bryan will headline there in a few hours for a sold out crowd of 24,000 people. The folks frpatagonia better sweater mens vestpatagonia better sweater mens 1 4 zipom Wal Mart, who are responsible for the chain s Wal Mart Soundcheck series, are at the venue filming Bryan, which explains the makeup.
He finishes with them, hops into the 1968 Ford Bronco patagonia nano air reviewthat he hauls behind his bus and tools through the parking lot wherepatagonia pro deal discount amount Tyler Hubbard of opening act Florida Georgia Line was just riding his skateboard. He continues past tpatagonia r1 wetsuit jacket reviewhe backstage gate and into a small field beside the employee entrancbuy patagonia shoes uke to pose for another publicity shot. Before he can make it back behinpatagonia better sweater beanie reviewd the gates, he s spotted by a gaggle of giggling employees who whip out their cell phones and want pictures with the Cpatagonia better sweater beanie review1rash My Party singer.
After he breaks away from fans in favor of an overstuffed couch in his backstage dressing room, Bryan credits his third and most recent studio album the double platinum selling Tailgates Tanlines for completely changing his life over the past two years.
Luke Bryan signs posters inside his dressing room during a break.
It s put everything on a bigger scale, he says, leaned back on the couch as mist from the smoke machine on stage starts to seep into the room. It s given me the ability to headline. It s made radio want to play whatever I send them, which is amazing. It s made fans want to buy albums, come to headlining shows. It s upped the ante. When that third album comepatagonia better sweater beanie review2s alpatagonia better sweater beanie review3ong, you oughta be hitting your stride and it made us hit our stride perfectly. I couldn t draw it in the ultimate plan any better.
Bryan s fourth studio album, Crash My Party, is due in stores Tuesday, and with the success of its lead single, also called Crash My Party, the work seems poised to boost Bryan s upward trajectory.
Luke is on a jaw dropping path right now, says Butch Waugh, industry consultant and the Academy of Country Music s chairman of the board of directors. You ve only seen the beginning of Luke Bryan now. He s easily got a 10 or 15 year career where he s on top. He s got the magic, whatever that magic is. It hasn t always been that way.
Just a year ago, Bryan was still an opening act on tour with Jason Aldean. Before that, Cindy Mabe, senior vice president of marketing at Bryan s label group, Universal Music Group Nashville, remembers begging other artists to include Bryan on their major tours to no avail.
She was continually turned down for national television appearances for Bryan, she says, because the bookers said he was too country. Bryan was relegated to the club circuit and strenuous cross country routing that made him question if he could continue.
I remember one Christmas, Luke said, I don t know if I can make it another year like this, Mabe recalls. We all dug in and focused on what we could do to change his momentum because we knew he was special. The thing that was always there was his charisma.
Those memories keep Bryan sensitive to the fact that his headlining status is still new.
He s enjoying the perks, like his longer set time and the right to claim the premiere parking places right behind the stage for his entourage of tour buses and long haul trucks.
But when it came time to build the tour, he kept his stage pretty basic to keep his overhead low until he s more confident in his ability to sell tickets. At that point, he says, he plans to build the bells and whistles around me. We re not going to build some galactic spaceship and spend $200,000 a night putting on a show, says the Leesburg, Ga., native. At the end of the day, one spotlight and me doing my job as an entertainer should be enough to hopefully make it a great show. I want fans to know we re going to build it each year, and every time they come to a show they re going to see something that keeps them wanting to come back for years.
By early this spring, fans and the country music industry alike had already bought into Bryan s entertainer abilities.
When Country Music Hall of Famer Reba McEntire announced plans to retire from hosting the Academy of Country Music Awards, Waugh says that after considering all the factors including whose personality was engaging and who would work best with country star Blake Shelton, McEntire s previous co host all signs pointed to Bryan as a replacement.
He s screaming red hot, totally respected in the creative community and he s worked so hard to get where he is and everyone just loves Luke and being around him, Waugh says.
The night of the April awards show, Bryan landed the Academy s top honor the fan voted entertainer of the year besting favorites including his co host and the Country Music Association s reining entertainer of the year Shelton, Bryan s most recent touring partner Jason Aldean and megastar Taylor Swift.
When they called his name, Bryan says, he was the most shocked person in the room.
Waugh admits he was surprised, too, but says he s never seen an audience jump on its feet so fast for a standing ovation.
I obviously patagonia better sweater beanie review0did not have a speech prepared, says Bryan, who teared up and hugged the trophy into his chest after his name was announced. I was so focused on the hosting role. When the entertainer of the year came about, I didn t have my composure to think about what I wanted to say and it s still divine intervention that I was able to deliver the acceptance speech. It still feels incredible apatagonia guide pants jumpsuitsnd unbelievable. Given his success during the past couple of years, Bryan says he feels more relaxed and that he s not chasing his tail.
He and his wife, Caroline Bryan, finally felt confident enough to break ground on their farm in Franklin. Bryan has always dreamed of having a house where he could walk right out opatagonia girls jackets bigf his bedroom and go fishing in his own pond then head back to the house and make a sandwich if he got hungry.
Addie Mitchell, 14, is overcome with emotion as she meets Luke Bryan and gets his autograph before his concert.
