“Baby
you a song, you make me wanna roll my windows down and cruise.” These
words from their #1 hit single "Cruise" have become an anthem for duo
Florida Georgia Line. Even Taylor Swift has gotten these catchy lyrics
stuck in her head. Need we say more? Oh why not? If it weren’t enough
that the duo is touring with Luke Bryan on his "Dirt Road Diaries" tour,
Swift has just announced that Florida Georgia Line will be joining her
as guest artists for select dates on her upcoming "Red" tour. It’s all
in a day’s work for this hot new duo, also selling out venues on their
own national tour.
Fresh off the ski
slopes of Jack Frost Mountain in the Pennsylvania Poconos. we met with
Florida Georgia Line’s Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard. Kelley hails from
Florida and Hubbard from Georgia – hence their unique moniker. These
tall (well over our 5’8” frames), handsome Southern guys dominated the
room with their youthful energy and charm.
You would never
know they spent the morning on a tour bus, the afternoon skiing (well,
Brian skied and Tyler snow boarded) and now were about to perform an
acoustic show as the headliner for Philadelphia’s WXTU ski day. There
was a huge crowd of fans anxiously awaiting the show downstairs while we
were with them upstairs overlooking the ski slopes with an impressive
snow falling (“as big as frosted flakes” according to Hubbard).
They were so cool,
totally laid back and quite witty. No rush, no worries but boy were they
excited; excited to be doing what they love and just as excited to tell
us all about it. Their infectious smiles, Southern accents, and boyish
charm had us hooked just like their devoted fans, who we later learned
during the show knew every lyric to every song.
They were elated
to share with us their brand new video for "Get Your Shine On" which
they just received and viewed for the first time that very day. We
watched the video with them as they grinned from ear to ear, nudging
each other while they were reliving their time filming in Cancun. You
could just feel that they had a blast making that video. It was
refreshing to see their thrill. You can tell that the fame has not gone
to their heads. They humbly wanted to know what we thought of their
video. Well, we thought it was great. You can now see it since it was
officially released on February 25th.
They are also
stoked that they are nominated in three categories in the 48th American
Country Music Awards: Vocal duo of the Year, New Vocal Duo or Group of
the Year, and they already won the third category New Artist of the Year
for Vocal Duo or Group. They are excited that they are touring with Luke
Bryan (ACM male vocalist of the year nominee), and that they will be
presenters at the 48th ACM Awards on Sunday April 7th. Quite a list of
accomplishments for these newcomers.
These super nice
guys have such a contagious energy and enthusiasm about them. And it
doesn’t hurt that they play some darn good, fun music so you just can’t
help but love ‘em and be excited with ‘em as they "Cruise" along an
awesome highway.... Here’s To the Good Times guys... we know
there’s a lot more to come!
Where do you guys
get your inspiration for your songs?
Brian Kelley:
From life. I mean everything that's going on. Everything that has
happened or what we want to happen. From day one we made our album based
on our lives. If you listen to our album from song one to song 12 – or
13 on the deluxe album – you get to know us pretty well. Were gonna sing
about what we like.
How did you guys
get involved in music? Did you always want to be singer/songwriters?
Tyler Hubbard:
We both started out in church and learning to play guitars then we both
got into songwriting in high school. We went to college, and just
pursued it together.
When you guys went
to college together, did you try to create a little duo or did it just
happen that way?
Tyler Hubbard:
It just happened that way. We never thought we would be doing that
artist thing but over time it happened. We just kind of fell in love
with it.
Cool so do you
guys ever see yourselves doing something other than country?
Brian Kelley:
Yeah, we're pretty open to whatever. We just like writing and doing what
feels good to us. We grew up listening to hip-hop and country and all
kinds of stuff so yeah were open to anything. We're not really in a box.
We have some things coming down the chute that might surprise some
people. It'll be really cool and we’re excited!
What is the
coolest performance you have done so far?
Brian Kelley:
My favorite was probably the Chili pepper cook off in Florida. There
were people as far as you could see. To the back and to the sides. When
you’re performing its good to have your level of excitement as high as
everyone there. It's very rare that you get a good crowd where you feel
like you’re one with everyone. It's really a special feeling.
Are there any
performances you hope to do in the future in a certain state or venue or
even with someone?
Brian Kelley:
Well, we have some stadiums coming up this year that I’m personally
really excited about. We’re both pretty pumped that we can be in a big
stadium and perform in front of thousands and thousands of people.
When you say you
have exciting things coming up, is there anybody that you want to
collaborate with?
Brian Kelley:
We always talk about wanting to collaborate with Lil’ Wayne and Wiz
Khalifa. But yeah we have some stuff in the pop world coming up that's
pretty exciting.
What is your
favorite genre of music?
Brian Kelley:
We’re pretty all over the place. I mean, obviously country is our music
at heart, but it depends on the day and the mood. After a show we're not
going to get on the bus and blast country music. We’re going to throw
some things around and rock out. We find that's the case with our fans.
They like it all too, which is why were kind of all over. [Just playing]
The same thing after a while gets pretty old.
Is there anybody
that you would want to hear cover one of your songs?
Tyler Hubbard:
If [Justin] Bieber sang “Cruise” it would be crazy. His voice is insane!
Do you guys have
any influences that you look up to for inspiration?
Brian Kelley:
Yeah definitely! Luke Bryan, who we're on tour with now, he kind of sets
the bar as a performer, a songwriter and a singer. It's been a couple of
weeks since the tour started and his voice is amazing. The notes he can
hit are amazing. I wouldn't be surprised if he is chosen as entertainer
of the year. He's just a cool guy. He doesn't take himself too seriously
but he knows when to lay down the law.
Were you expecting
"Cruise" to go as high as it did?
Brian Kelley:
Well, we knew it had something special. but it was hard to expect what
happened. It was so cool to be part of something so unheard of.
Yeah "Get Your
Shine On" is up there also. Its in the top 30.
Brian Kelley:
Yeah the music video just got sent to us a couple of hours ago and were
very excited to share that with the world!
Are there any
misconceptions about being a musician?
Tyler Hubbard:
Some people think you have more time than you really do and others think
it's all fun and games. It's a lot of fun and games but it's also hard
work. There are long hours and a lot of traveling. We love it but it's
definitely still a job.
