Big & Rich celebrated their recent back-to-back hit singles, "Look at You" and "Run Away With You," at a party held at Rich's Nashville house, affectionately dubbed "Mount Richmore," on Tuesday night (Jan. 12). The two songs, both from Big Kenny and John Rich's newest release, 2014's Gravity, are among their most successful tunes to date -- but the duo says that the best is yet to come.

"For a farm boy coming from Virginia, scared as hell to just leave that little town, go[ing] anywhere was a big deal. And to even do that, to a lot of people where I come from, maybe that was a little bit crazy: How you gonna make a living? How you gonna make it in this town?" Big Kenny told the crowd, which included Tim McGraw, Gretchen Wilson and news anchor Dan Rather. "You just got to believe. There was always someone that showed up with something just at the right time when you thought all hell was lost.

"Once again, it continues to happen and continues to happen," he continues. "To meet a brother like John Rich, who I can say has been one of my greatest inspirations, one of the greatest talents that I can imagine anyone ever having the privilege of working with. To have the kind of plain, organic energy come out of that, and continue to come out of that and still be the magic that happens every time that we should meet each other, is just one of the most glorious things that a person could ever hope for in our life. I stand here tonight and I think to myself just how blessed I am."

Rich echoes his good friend's sentiments, hinting that the best parts of their career are still ahead of them.

"At the end of the day, country music is not a hobby," Rich says. "... I would not have anything like this without country music and all the people. I’ve been on BMI, and I’ve been on ASCAP. I’ve been around that long and felt that support for that long."

Rich also recounted his early days playing at Opryland USA right out of high school, as well as his time in the band Lonestar, before forming Big & Rich. It's been 12 years since the duo released their first album, 2004's Horse of a Different Color, and their newest single, "Lovin' Lately" (which also features McGraw), earned them the biggest add day of their career.

"... 1994 was my very first Lonestar single, "It Was Just the Tequila Talking." And to go from ’94 [until now], it defies logic; it defies gravity," Rich muses. "... I think that, at the end of the day, it's the essence of country music. It is about living by the seat of your pants.

"When Big & Rich came on the scene, they looked at us and said, ‘I don’t know what that is, but it ain’t country.’ Well, it’s country to us; as far as we’re concerned, it’s country," he continues. "... If it all ended today, it’s a storybook. It’s fantasy land, if it ended today. But the good news is, it doesn’t end today. It’s going forward."

Gravity is available for purchase on Amazon and iTunes.

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