Luke Bryan Looks Forward to Headliner Status
Luke Bryan is having a blast opening for Jason Aldean, but he admits he'd like a shot at that headliner slot.
"It's been amazing out there with Jason," Luke tells The Boot. "I've never been out on a tour where, at any point of the day, I can just pop in on Jason['s bus], or he comes on mine. There are no boundaries; we're all out there enjoying each others company."
Luke says that despite the economy, the tour is playing to packed venues. "Any time you're selling out shows, it's a fun vibe."
The singer, who recently celebrated his first No. 1 song as an artist with 'Do I,' is looking forward to the time when he can headline. As for his opening acts, he's already got a couple picked out. "Me and Colt Ford are big buddies. As far as new acts, Easton Corbin has been doing good. He's certainly taking off and on fire. The main thing is, we've got a tour planned but we just want to get out there and see what the year holds."
Luke isn't sure when to tell fans to look for him as a headline act, but he does know what to use as a barometer of when the time may come. "I think the songs always dictate when it's time to headline. If it's going good then we'll put me in a situation where I can headline. I never want to headline prematurely either, where I go out and promoters are losing money. You have to be careful when you make that transition."
The business side of music always competes with the creative side, something of which Luke is very aware. "You can obviously be too business-like in it, because in the end you have to focus on who you are and your music. On the other hand, you don't want to be blind to something blatantly not right in your organization. If I have an opinion about something and I want to take my career somewhere and it requires something on the business side of it, yeah I'm all over it. It is a business, you have to run efficiently and smartly. You can't tell me Brad Paisley and Kenny Chesney don't do that.
"I get up every day and check emails, check the charts, see where I'm at. You can't focus on that too much, but in the end you've got to be running in the black, ahead of where you were a year ago."
Luke is nominated for ACM Artist of the Year, which is a fan-voted honor. (Watch his hilarious, star-studded video campaigning for the award below.) He'll perform on the ACM broadcast, which airs April 18 at 8:00 PM ET, live on CBS.
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