Luke Bryan Isn’t the Barfly He Used to Be

Luke Bryan used to play a lot of bars and would spend time hanging out with fans when he did, but since the success of his recent No. 1 single 'Do I,' he says it's a little harder to do that.

"I have to catch myself, because I can't hang out in bars anymore," Luke tells The Boot. "We used to play bars and I'd go back in and get a couple beers. That doesn't happen anymore and it's a little unfortunate."

Luke says that while he misses sitting at the bar having a beer with fans, there's another element to consider. "It's nice to know you create a little pandemonium when you go into that situation. I think that's what every artist strives for. I've been fortunate not to have that first hit that was so massive that you can never overcome it. I ramped into 'Do I' and came in at a pace comfortable to me. If your career started with a solid hit, and another one, and then the bomb drops, there you are. If I could have scripted it, this is how I would have wanted it."

The singer says one of his favorite things is to watch how fans react to the songs that also mean something to him. "It's all about standing on stage and watching your songs, whether you wrote them or not, light up people's faces and take those people away for an hour and a half."

It's also nice to have fans tell you that one of your songs has really touched their life and Luke is experiencing that with 'Do I.'

"I think what made the song a hit is when a girl hears a guy ask, 'do I still turn you on,' being vulnerable, that's what's endearing about it. She thinks it's neat that he was that concerned with where their love is. I remember the song was playing on a big syndicated radio show and women were calling in saying, 'This song saved our marriage, it got me and my husband talking about our problems.' Other people called in and said they pulled the car over and started crying, going, 'Is that us?' I remember leaving that studio and going, 'Man, I never realized this song would do that for people.' When you hear that it did, that's pretty cool."

Luke is already thinking about his next album, and is starting to look for songs as well as write them. He plans to reunite with Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood of Lady Antebellum, who co-wrote 'Do I' with him, for more writing sessions.