Russell Dickerson Gives Fans the Inside Scoop on ‘Famous Back Home’

Russell Dickerson is no stranger to hits, heart, or humor. He brings all all three as he co-hosts with Elaina Smith on Backstage Country.

Smith asks the Tennessee native about his creative process and on his album, Famous Back Home. Dickerson admits that he found the vision for his album along the way: “I feel like in this town, you can just jump into writing songs. It's kind of little micro directions, like with ‘Happen to Me.’ I think was the first song we wrote off of this album in 2023. Whoa, we've been sitting on this thing for a while.”

Since they had had the album since 2023, Smith asks if he got bored with it. Dickerson replies, “Not really. I didn't forget about it. We wrote it, and I just immediately put it in the yes. We're absolutely cutting the song pile and so it's kind of right. We write, we write, we write, and I feel every day that's kind of the exhausting part of the artistry.”  

Dickerson shares that they picked from over 50 songs, “In each one of those, I'm pouring my heart, my life, and my story. They're not all super heavy, but every day, every song, I'm just pouring out and pouring out. So, to go from 50 to 12 is really hard. But that could mean there's another album coming quick on the heels of it.” He chuckles, “I'm not saying that that's happening!”  

Smith sounds hopeful that perhaps it’s happening.  

The “Yours” singer said, “We never know. But yeah, it's just really hard to do that. So, every time I write one of those songs, it's like, yeah, no question. We're cutting this. I feel like that helps shape the album more than me trying to just come up with some [grandiose idea].”  

Dickerson admits that of all the songs in the album, there’s one that stands out to him lyrically: “There's a song called ‘For A Truck,’ and it's about saving up for a truck, and then you're like, ‘Oh snap, it's time to buy a ring.’ So that's the concept of the song. But Blake [Pendergrass] threw out this line, ‘I guess that 4x4's gonna have to wait until next spring / She'd look good in that shotgun, but she'd look better with a ring / And there's a million other Chevrolets but that girl's one of one / So now I'm looking at a whole lot more half-carats than half-tons.’ And I was like, ‘Yo, that line is crazy!’ It's so good.”  

Whether it’s co-hosting a radio show, performing live, or chatting candidly about his music, Russell Dickerson has a knack for connecting with people. His talent shines through every song and story behind Famous Back Home.