Dustin Lynch stopped by The Bobby Bones Show to talk about his new album, Killed The Cowboy, why he struggles to allow himself to be bored, his hero George Strait, how his collaboration with Jelly Roll happened and more!
Killed The Cowboy, Dustin Lynch’s new album, is out today (September 29,) and it feels like an edgier project for him. The photos for it were taken on his farm in Tennessee, which is where he feels comfortable and like he can be himself. The title track is the first song on the album and has a more rock sound than Lynch’s music typically is. He said he didn’t want to make safe choices when creating the album and just went for what sounded good and right. Because of that, it felt fitting for him to name the album after that song.
It’s been a great year for Lynch. He said he is happy but while he was in the process of creating the album and figuring out how to release and promote it, he realized he is not the best multi-tasker. He focused so much on work, and then spending time alone on his farm, he realized he hadn’t been with someone in a long time. It’s hard for him to carve out time to be social and try and meet someone because he loves to recluse for a week and see no one. He stated that he is scared to fail and that’s why he keeps running so hard and why when he does get into a relationship, he keeps it very casual and distant because breaking up sucks. He reflected on a time he had his heart broken. When it happened, it took a lot of time and energy from him, but it inspired him to write good songs. To him, music means something different when you go through a heartbreak. He talks to himself a lot because he’s always alone and has a lot of inner battles going on, he said. He’ll ask himself if he’s okay, enough, is he letting himself be available enough to find someone? A piece of advice that Bobby Bones shared that he liked was that he needs to give himself time to be bored.
“George Strait Jr.” is a new song on the record about his hero, George Strait, who has inspired his career. Although he does not personally know him and only met him once and said hi, Lynch likes that it seems in his personal life everyone likes him, and he is a class act. Another new song is his collaboration with Jelly Roll on “Chevrolet,” which samples the Dobie Gray song “Drift Away.” In 2020, many artists were connecting and trying to figure out how to exist online, which Lynch called one silver lining of not being able to tour, and he and Jelly Roll’s producers worked together and connected them to create the song. Lynch said it was a blessing he was able to keep the iconic melody alive and rewrite lyrics for it.
The 2024 Killed The Cowboy Tour tickets are on sale now, and putting together the set list has been a bit challenging for him because he has so many hits now but also wants to include some new material. While figuring out which songs best connect with the crowd, he shared that one his goals for his shows is to at some point incorporate magic tricks into them!
Earlier this year, he got his pilot license and although he flies frequently, he has not seen any UFOs, but his trainer said he saw one the other day. He does want to have a deep dive with pilots more to find out exactly what they’re seeing and how often. He does believe in the theory that aliens and UFOs come from the bottom of the ocean because a large majority of it has never been explored. He also thinks bugs are a form of aliens like transformers.
For more information, visit Dustinlynchmusic.com.