Guest HostTours

Luke Bryan’s New Album Is ‘More Mature’

Luke Bryan‘s new album Mind Of A Country Boy is out today (9/27). As Luke told us recently, the album is a little more mature with the subject matter than…

Luke Bryan is wearing a plaid shirt and a black baseball cap smiling.
Jason Davis/Getty Images

Luke Bryan‘s new album Mind Of A Country Boy is out today (9/27). As Luke told us recently, the album is a little more mature with the subject matter than his past albums.

He told us, "I remember being 35, 36 years old at spring break with my spring break albums going, you know, I am 35. It’s probably time to hang this thing up. But I’ve always kind of leaned toward youthful fun, you know, just fun party music. I hadn’t been just that, but I think I’ve kind of been put in that category, which I love and I’ve enjoyed. And when people come to my show, I think they come to have a great time."

Luke added, "But this album there’s more mature type subject matters. And when I’m making it’s not like I have a mood board and we have a thought team of people. It’s just me cutting the stuff that gets me."

Bryan has been a fixture on American Idol as a judge for a couple of years. What some people don’t know is American Idol actually had to talk him into being on the show.

He told us, "The day that I took American Idol… it’s funny: American Idol approached me. My thing was like, 'Guys, I’m doing stadiums. I’m kinda at the pinnacle of my career, and can American Idol keep that going.' I certainly didn’t want it to hurt at the time."

He continued, "The American Idol brand was kind of roughed up. It wasn’t anybody’s fault. I think it had ran its course and they really had to do some talking to me to get me transitioning to a new form of my career.'"

Nancy Brooks has been working in the country music industry for almost 30 years. She has interviewed pretty much any country star you can think of. In the late 1990s, she started working with Dolly Parton. And yes, Nancy reports that Parton is as sweet as you would think. She loves her life in country music and has been backstage at every CMA Awards show since the late 1990s. Many of her stories are from her one-on-one interviews. She was there at the beginning of the incredible careers of many music superstars today, including Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, and Blake Shelton, and has interviewed them multiple times throughout the years.