Luke Bryan has released the new song “Country On,” and spoken of how it represents “a different sound for me.”
The Capitol Nashville track does indeed have a slightly unusual approach by the country superstar, delivered in a baritone style. But it nevertheless exudes plenty of potential to become a future anthem, with its celebratory, cheerleading “Hey! Hey! USA” lyrics and rock guitar running throughout, along with a fiddle feature.
Bryan will be playing “Country On” on his Raised Up Right amphitheater tour of 30-plus cities across the US, which arrives in Virginia Beach, VA on Thursday (7) and stretches until the end of October. The tour, which opened last month with a sellout show in Charleston, West Virginia, features special guests Riley Green, Mitchell Tenpenny, and DJ Rock. Bryan then resumes his residency at The Theatre at Resorts World in Las Vegas.
The singer told host Kelleigh Bannen on Apple Music’s Country Radio: “We thought that we were going to come with something new in the latter part [of summer]. And so, I started playing this particular song, ‘Country On,’ to people in my circle. I just always love having a summer song out and knowing that people are out on the lake and on their boats [playing the song].”
He added: “I started thinking, ‘I’m going to go the whole summer playing amphitheaters and arenas, and [I don’t] have anything excitingly new to play.’ So, I started spreading it around and letting some tastemakers hear it and we realized the song has a very patriotic ‘Let’s all get together and country on’ kind of thing. I felt like it really works around 4th of July.”
He added that the time was right for a new direction in his music. “With ‘Country On,’ I’ve never heard me sing on something in that baritone deal,” he reflected. “This is a different sound for me and that’s what you have to start kind of trying to look for and attempt.”
Listen to the best of Luke Bryan on Apple Music and Spotify.
