Available September 27, we are about two weeks away from the release of Luke Bryan‘s eighth studio album, Mind Of A Country Boy, and the 48 year-old singer-songwriter gave industry professionals a glimpse into everything it will entail with an exclusive event in Nashville, Tennessee yesterday (September 10).
Bryan first announced the album in an Instagram post on August 8, sharing with his 6.9 million followers, “My next album Mind Of A Country Boy will be out 9/27 and I just released a new one off of it, #ClosingTimeInCalifornia! Y’all go check it out and let me know what you think. #MindOfACountryBoy.”
Naturally, fans were excited for some new tunes from the five-time “Entertainer of the Year,” taking to the comment section of the post to express their enthusiasm:
“READY for a new album in September ❣️”
“Yayyyyy!!! Thank you Luke!”
As for what exactly the record will entail, the ACM Award-winner elaborated on the meaning behind Mind Of A Country Boy, his first album in four years, stating that he has “been able to take his time and really compile songs,” hopefully creating a body of work that will be a smash hit for years to come:
“If it’s a song that I cut two or three years ago, and I still love it, and it still sounds fresh, then I feel like it’ll stand the test of time. I think this album, as I’ve tried to do with all my albums, has a little bit of everything.”
Although the album is extremely versatile — said to have “a little bit of everything” — seventeen years into his country music career, Bryan is finally returning to his roots, channelling what it really means to be a country boy throughout the album’s 14 songs.
The meaning behind Mind Of A Country Boy was evident during yesterday’s event — taking place at Green Door Gourmet, “a 350-acre urban farm nestled along the Cumberland River” — where Bryan focused on things that pay tribute to daily life in rural America.
At said event, the CMA Award-winner had food and drinks for attendees that were filled with Southern charm, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables for industry professionals to take home as a party favor. He even included a stand with freshly-boiled peanuts, paying homage to the peanut farm that his parents, LeClaire and Tommy Bryan, owned in his youth.
After producers, publicists, journalists, and more mixed and mingled, Bryan took the stage to perform seven songs from Mind Of A Country Boy, proving that a soon-to-be successful album is on the horizon.
Bryan kicked off the performance with the title track of Mind Of A Country Boy, co-written with frequent collaborators Ben Hayslip, Dallas Davidson, and Rhett Akins.
“There are a lot of references in there that your common person might be like, ‘What’s he talking about?’ I think when I can start talking about these really specific phrases and references in the song, it validates me being a country boy,” he said about the song. “That’s real, not pretentious, not made up, country stuff that I think people can really relate to. It sounds like truly what goes on in the mind of a country boy.”
Continuing his set with “Country On, “Pair Of Boots,” “Country Song Came On,” “She’s Still Got It,” and “Kansas” — with jokes spliced in between each track, in true Luke Bryan fashion — he concluded with his current radio single, “Love You Miss You Mean It.”
This tune is “tracking to be among the most successful of his career” as we speak, so naturally, Bryan had no choice but to gush about “Love You Miss You Mean It”:
“This one feels like one of the bigger up-tempo things I’ve had. I look back on my career of 30 number one songs, and I know that not every song is everyone’s favorite. As an artist, I think you have got to try new things and veer off the common path. Then you go back to the roots and what got you there, and I certainly think ‘Love You, Miss You, Mean It’ is a classic song for me my fans respond to.”
Nonetheless — produced by father-son pair Jeff and Jody Stevens — Mind Of A Country Boy “delivers playful familiarity, sophisticated growth, and a well-rounded collection of songs from a man who has lived what he sings,” proving to be Bryan’s most authentic body of work to date. Captivating “the hunting, fishing, and loving everyday lifestyle” he sang about eight years ago, Mind Of A Country Boy is said to be as Luke Bryan as can be, however, it features some untapped layers that fans have yet to see from the country superstar.
“I think as you grow older and mature, subject matters change, and things that you can sing about change, but the love of trying to find the right song and a song that moves people is still at the forefront of what I want to do as an artist,” Bryan shared in a statement. “It’s trying not to be overly redundant with songs. I think that’s why I’ve been blessed to have a long career and what I feel like this album’s going to do.”
To determine for yourself whether or not Mind Of A Country Boy will “stand the test of time” like Bryan hopes, listen to the project when it hits streaming services on September 27. In the meantime, you can stream pre-released tunes “Country On,” “But I Got a Beer in My Hand,” “Love You, Miss You, Mean It,” “Closing Time In California,” and “Country Song Came On” as we speak.
Mind Of A Country Boy track-list:
1. “Mind Of A Country Boy” (Luke Bryan, Ben Hayslip, Dallas Davidson, Rhett Akins)
2. “Love You, Miss You, Mean It” (Ben Hayslip, Jacob Rice, Jordan Minton, Rhett Akins)
3. “Country Song Came On” (Ryan Beaver, Dan Alley, Neil Medley)
4. “Pair Of Boots” (Bobby Pinson, Taylor Phillips, Tofer Brown, Jaxon Free)
5. “But I Got A Beer In My Hand” (Chase McGill, Matt Dragstrem, Geoff Warburton)
6. “Kansas” (Chase McGill, Hillary Lindsey, Matt Dragstrem)
7. “Country On” (Mark Nesler, David Frasier, Mitch Oglesby, Styles Haury)
8. “Fish On The Wall” (Dallas Davidson, Chris Tompkins, Ben Johnson)
9. “She’s Still Got It” (Rodney Clawson, Heather Morgan, Will Bundy, Jim McCormick)
10. “Closing Time In California” (John Byron, Mark Holman, Hillary Lindsey, Chase McGill)
11. “For The Kids” (Luke Bryan, Justin Ebach, Brad Tursi)
12. “Southern and Slow” (Matt Dragstrem, Josh Thompson, Chase McGill)13.
13. “I’m On A Tractor” (Neil Thrasher, Lee Thomas Miller)
14. “Jesus ‘Bout My Kids” (Jeff Hyde, Tucker Beathard, Ben Stennis, Brad Rempel)