Russell Dickerson Talks Touring With His Friends, Forthcoming ‘Yours’ Album

Russell Dickerson might be just coming into the country music spotlight, but he's already got friends -- and tour bosses -- in high places. The singer, who opened for his good friend Thomas Rhett on Rhett's Home Team Tour, is also hitting the road this fall with his former college buddies, Florida Georgia Line's Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley, as part of their Smooth Tour.

Although Dickerson counts the FGL guys among his closest pals -- he was a groomsman in Hubbard's wedding -- Dickerson found out about his new touring gig through his manager, instead of from Hubbard or Kelley.

"Me and Tyler, we talk -- not every day, but we talk a lot. He didn’t even say anything to me," Dickerson tells The Boot. "I found out through my manager, and, of course, [Hubbard] knew. And I was like, ‘Bro, what the heck? We’re freaking touring at the end of the year?’ We had dinner that night, and it was really cool to celebrate that."

Dickerson, who released his Yours EP last year, will release a full album by the same name in October.

"It’s going to be a continuation of my EP that is out right now -- just fun and uplifting and exciting," Dickerson explains. "At this point in my life, there’s not a lot of heartbreak and not a lot of sorrow, so I’m like, ‘I don’t have to put a breakup, sad, sappy song on there.’ I’m just here at this point in my life, just celebrating.

"There’s a lot of fun songs on there," he adds. "There’s a couple cute little date-night songs, about staying in and ordering Chinese and drinking boxed wine -- just being happily married."

While some artists want to keep their personal lives separate from their careers, Dickerson isn't the least bit afraid to let people see inside his personal life -- "not at all."

"As my outfits say, I’m not afraid to be myself. If people don’t like it, then that’s fine. They’re entitled to their own opinions," he notes. "But thus far, we have a lot of people on board that are excited about my music and what I’ve got going on, so I’m excited."

After touring with Rhett and FGL, Dickerson has big plans of his own for 2018, when he will take center stage.

"In 2018, we’re going to be playing a lot of our own shows, I think, and really play the more intimate settings and really build those relationships of just one on one and not being an opening act," Dickerson shares. "They’re there to see my show, and they’re there because they heard the single and the EP and the record and all of that. I really want to build that one-on-one relationship."

Dickerson's Yours album is available for pre-order on iTunes. A list of all of his upcoming shows is available on his website.

New Artists to Watch in 2017