When you look into the eyes of your people out there that came to see you, that's when it's like, 'Yep, this is what it's all about.' This is why we don't sleep, and this is why we write songs and try to be the best. This moment right here onstage.
— Luke Bryan
My thing is to get up there and have a good time and give the fans all you can and appreciate them spending their money and being in the stands - and just be appreciative of them cheering when you come onstage.
You see a lot of people out there that say they're country, and they do their little things that are stereotypical country things, but being country is a way of life.
My main thing is I'm gonna go out there every night and give it all I got and just try to put on the best show I can. That's just the way I'm programmed and wired.
It's pretty cool to see how far music can take you.
With every album, the approach is find the best songs you can find, write the best songs you can write and try to sound better.
Nothing is more rewarding than to take a song, create it out of thin air and then watch it affect people.
You always have to work to become a better singer, songwriter and performer.
I'm a big sports fan in general.
I always want to make an album that lets people immerse in it, kind of like you get caught up in a good movie.
I always want to have a personal relationship with everybody that works for me.
I've been so blessed to have my career gradually get bigger and bigger, so I've been able to absorb stuff and take stuff gradually.
Our crew guys, it's amazing what they have to go through to make a show happen every night.
I think 'Country Girl' is one song that can veer into country or hip-hop or rap. You can listen to it and enjoy the humor and the fun in it.
Growing up in Georgia, my dad was a farmer and we worked in agriculture, so we were always looking up at the sky, checking if rain was in the forecast. That always set the tone for the mood in my household, whether we had rain coming in or not - we knew the crops would be good and it was going to be a good week around the Bryan household.
I don't keep diaries anymore; They're quite incriminating. I just keep all the dirt road diaries in my head.
I think the attraction to country music is the fans, the lure of the hardcore fan base.
I refuse to be one of those artists who, 10 years from now, they're bitter about the rise and the fall of their career. I understand that somewhere there's a peak and a crest for me, and I'm going to enjoy all levels. I'm going to enjoy this ride that I'm on, and when it slows down, that's when it will be time for another phase of my life.
A lot of people don't have near the amount of success as I've been blessed to have, and it's all about working hard and hoping that continues.
I always look back to awards shows and think about being a kid watching them.
My first memories of music were country music and Ronnie Milsap. Where I grew up, it was what you listened to. And anything else, you were somewhat out of place.
Every day I wake up and I lay in bed counting my blessings and saying my prayers for how fortunate I am to have great fans and health and family.
From my dad I learned to be good to people, to always be honest and straightforward. I learned hard work and perseverance.
My dad is very successful in his business. He's always been big in having hobbies and having little ways to get away. He always made time for hunting and fishing. He always encouraged me to do it.
My thing is, when you put a bunch of rules on a tour, you have to hire three more people to enforce all the rules. So, with me, I want everyone to feel comfortable. It's a lot of little moving parts out here, and little hiccups will come. At the end of the day, the show's going to go on, and I want everybody to truly enjoy it.
I'll never forget when me and Jason Matthews wrote the line, 'Don't be a tape player hater,' in 'Country Man,' I don't think I ever laughed harder. We didn't know where we were gonna put that in a song, but we knew we had to make it into a song. I just remember laughing and being so proud of such a goofy little line.
To have your first No. 1 as an artist was everything I could have ever dreamed for. Now we're keeping our fingers crossed, and hopefully we'll have many more, but there's certainly nothing like the first one.
You never take your fans for granted. You always appreciate them every show, night in, night out.
American Idol allowed us to find Carrie Underwood.
Just really, really believe in what you're trying to do. Don't let people alter that. Let people advise you and lead you down paths to make smart business decisions. But trust your instinct and trust that overwhelming drive that made you put all your dreams and everything on the line.
Anything I've ever read by John Irving has been really well written.
Probably fishing is my first passion.
I've always enjoyed things going at a nice pace, nothing too fast, nothing too crazy.
You want women to think of you in a sexy manner. It's all part of the business. It drives ticket sales. It's all a part of it.
My focus is trying to make great music and putting on great shows, and whatever happens beyond that is a bonus to me.
Life's up and down from the time you get here to the time you leave.
