Dustin Lynch chatted with Billboard on the red carpet of the 2023 CMA Awards.
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00:00 So you're on a bit of a hot streak,
00:01 you've been on a hot streak for a while.
00:03 What, you just said you don't stress
00:04 about the charts anymore.
00:06 - I don't.
00:07 - How has that benefited your life?
00:09 - You know, there's ups and a lot of ups and downs
00:11 in the music business.
00:12 And I used to stress about every spot on the chart
00:16 and then I realized, you know what,
00:17 after years of doing this stress,
00:20 the stress hasn't changed anything
00:22 'cause once you release a song to the world,
00:24 it's out of my hands.
00:26 So I've accepted that, it's not mine anymore.
00:28 And yeah, life's become a lot easier.
00:31 It's like we made that decision, now the decision's tough.
00:34 'Cause once you make the decision, it's over.
00:37 But yeah, that's made my life a lot more smooth.
00:38 - Yeah, well that said, you do have a lot of number ones.
00:41 What is, if you had to boil it down,
00:43 the secret to writing a number one hit?
00:45 - I think you have to, it's gotta come from in here.
00:50 Honestly, like every song that I've really felt
00:53 moved me inside and I've believed in,
00:58 it seems like my fan base gravitates towards.
01:01 And they don't even know that I wrote it
01:02 or that it came from a personal experience.
01:05 But those experiences that I've written about
01:08 have always done better for me than an idea
01:11 that I wasn't a part of.
01:13 And so I think moving into writing this next album,
01:16 I'm just really gonna pay attention to that a lot more
01:19 as I've seen this through the years
01:21 and we'll see where that takes us.
01:23 - If you had to give us one vibe for this new album,
01:25 what would that be?
01:26 - Oh gosh, it's a deep inward look of conversations
01:31 I constantly have with myself.
01:33 And when you step back from the outside looking in,
01:36 it's all about relationships, the ups and downs,
01:38 the ins, the outs, the good, the bad, the combustion.
01:42 - Always.
01:43 - And that's why I named it "Killed the Cowboy."
01:46 'Cause it can be rough out there for the single people.
01:48 - Yeah. - Yeah.
01:50 - What does "Killing the Cowboy" look like?
01:51 Like how does that story end?
01:53 - It ended with a few phone conversations
01:57 that it was kind of a quick break.
02:00 Yeah. - It's gotta be quick.
02:02 - But you know what?
02:03 You bounce back.
02:03 You know, it takes a while for you to go,
02:05 "Should I reach back out?
02:06 "Should I not?"
02:07 And I think that's situational.
02:09 You know, it depends on the situation,
02:11 but sometimes that clean break's good.
02:13 It allows a fresh start a little bit sooner in life.
02:16 And I think through the breaks, it's like,
02:19 you know, that's not the right person.
02:21 Accept that.
02:22 Go find the right one.
02:23 - Right.
02:24 Great advice. - Yeah.
02:25 - And then bring it back to tonight.
02:27 Obviously a lot of excitement happening around us.
02:28 What are you most excited for once you get in that room?
02:31 - I love the performances.
02:33 I know we're here for the awards.
02:34 - Eh, both.
02:35 - Yeah, but the performances are so much fun.
02:38 The collaborations are gonna be great.
02:40 Post is here tonight.
02:41 You know, and we got a lot of other great collabs.
02:44 We got a tribute to Jimmy Buffett,
02:45 one of the greatest of all time to do it.
02:47 So it's gonna be a room filled with love tonight.
02:49 - You mentioned Post.
02:50 I am a big fan.
02:51 Have you met the man?
02:52 - Yes, I have.
02:53 - What was that like?
02:55 - Intoxicating.
02:56 (laughing)
02:57 - With Bud Light, I am sure.
02:58 - Yeah, we were on his bus.
03:00 Been on his bus a couple times, hanging,
03:01 and Beer Pong's involved a lot of times.
03:04 But he's always got country music playing backstage.
03:06 - Yeah. - It's pretty cool.
03:07 - All right, just my last one.
03:08 Have you ever beat him at Beer Pong?
03:10 It's near impossible.
03:11 - No, I haven't beat him yet.
03:12 I've had the right partner that has beat him, though.
03:14 Yeah, so when it's partner game, beat him.
03:16 When it's not been, no, one-on-one, haven't beat him yet.
03:19 And I'm pretty damn good. - Something he's striving for.
03:20 - I'm pretty damn good at it.
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