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10 Questions with ... Russell Dickerson
January 13, 2019
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. For the radio tour, I'd heard it's real tough. And yeah, it's exhausting, but it's not tough. You're meeting people that believe in you, and you're just hanging out getting to know these people who are going to bet their career on you just as much as you're betting your career on them. So it's cool. It's mutual respect ... We've got this common thread, and I think it's super fun. It's really cool the relationships that you actually truly build
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BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
Signed to Triple Tigers Records in 2016, singer-songwriter Russell Dickerson got off to a fast start with back-to-back #1 singles, "Yours," and "Blue Tacoma." His third single, "Every Little Thing," is currently climbing the charts. He is one of just five artists chosen by Country radio personnel to perform during the "New Faces Of Country Music Show" on Friday, February 15th during Country Radio Seminar in Nashville.
1. Your career in the last couple of years has been a whirlwind, highlighted by two back-to-back #1 singles. What do you think about when you have time to catch your breath and process it all?
You go so hard at the beginning. It's like you're all out, 100 miles an hour. That's been the last two years for me. So, literally, after our last show [of 2018] on December 13th, I got up at, like, four in the morning to fly home, and sitting in the airport it just hit me. I was posting on Instagram, "We're done, thank you so much for such a great year," and I just got flooded with emotion, and I was sitting at our gate just crying into my hoodie. My wife was sitting right next to me, and I was just overwhelmed with joy and gratitude, and relieved for being done for the year, and what a crazy year it's been!
2. In what ways has Triple Tigers been integral to your success, and what do you like best about being signed to that label?
It's a new label. It's a small label, but it's the little engine that could. It's a mighty force within the industry. They were one of the top 10 record labels of 2018.
As soon as they came on board, they came with such knowledge and such experience. Everybody they hired had just a new wind inside of them ready to go, ready just to dominate, so that's exactly what we did. We all came together. We were small and mighty, just trying to stay humble and hustle hard, and ended up being [among the] Top 10 airplay artists and top 10 labels of 2018.
3. Will you be coming with additional singles off of your current album, "Yours," or are plans in the works for a follow-up set? If it's the latter, what can fans expect from the next project and the direction you have in mind for it?
I don't know if there's going to be another single after this [from 'Yours,"], but we've been writing all last year with all the same writers, and we wrote a lot with the Lady Antebellum's Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood, so I'm so excited about these songs and some [other] new collaborations with songwriters. Everybody's pumped about the next album. It's definitely next level for me as far as songwriting and just being real, and so I'm kind of freaking out a little bit. I'm ready to go.
Me and Charles actually wrote a ton of songs out on the road [last] Summer on the "Summer Plays On Tour." There's a couple that I want to cut, and there's a decent handful that they want to cut [for Lady A]. So, I don't know who's going to end up cutting what, but somebody is, and it's going to be magic.
4. How did you react when you got the news that you'd been picked to play the "New Faces Show," and what do you have planned for the video that intros your set?
I've been going to New Faces since like, 2011. When Brett Eldredge was on there [in 2014] I remember sitting there thinking, "Next year, I'm going to be on the stage." I've been wanting to be on this show for so long, and I didn't want to get my hopes up too much. But, to be picked to be on "New Faces" is such an honor.
We've got a cool little idea for our video, but you'll have to wait and see. It's super simple, but it's going to be really special.
5. You also just got nominated for an iHeartRadio Award in the Best New Country Artist category. What does that feel like?
What a way to start 2019! I was scrolling through my Instagram, and I saw "The Bobby Bones Show" post about the [nominees]. I was tagged in it, and all I saw on the first one was Thomas Rhett and Jason Aldean. So, I kept swiping, and then it said, Russell Dickerson nominated for New Country Artist of the Year, and I was like, "Oh, my God!" I was sitting at coffee with my wife, and I was like, "Look at this. Holy crap!"
6. Where were you the first time you heard your debut single, "Yours," on the radio, and how did you react in that moment?
The first time I actually heard it I was headed to my grandmother's house. We were leaving Nashville, and I was with my wife. We had the radio on kind of low, and then I heard the guitar solo on "Yours," and I was like, "Wait, I know this solo. I played this solo." I was like, "Oh, this is it, this is it," and turned it up and tried to get video. It's just overwhelming. "Yours" was almost exactly four years to the day from when we wrote it until it went #1.
7. Radio personnel picked you as a "New Faces" performer, so they obviously believe you have bright future ahead of you in the industry. If you were to look in to a crystal ball, where would you hope to be professionally by CRS 2029?
One of my favorite live DVDs is Garth Brooks in New York's Central Park. That's my vision. I want to go as long and as big as absolutely possible.
I think there's a reason that it kind of took me a little longer to get started. I didn't just graduate college and get a record deal and have a couple singles that did okay. I took a lot of time building before I was ever in the spotlight, or had a record deal, or anything. To come out of the gate with two #1s is the dream that every artist hopes for, so it's been really cool to put that time in - kind of in a secret place - and then once we hit the debut, it's like all the gears are going, and it's actually working. It's so awesome.
8. You wrote all three of your singles with your college buddies, Casey Brown and Parker Welling. What's the magic that happens when all three of you get in a room, and what's your songwriting process?
I was signed as a songwriter in 2011. As soon as I got out of college, I was - boom - hitting it hard. [The publishing company was] hooking me up with some bigger writers and people I was just meeting that I didn't really know that well. So I had to go in a room and introduce myself, try to be vulnerable, talk about my life, and write a good song. But as soon as I started writing with Casey and Parker, they knew me. They knew my story. They knew my wife before we were even dating, and it was just so easy. I didn't have to describe how I wanted to communicate. They know how I communicate. They know I'm super goofy, over the top, and too much to handle sometimes, and they knew how to help me communicate these songs.
"Yours" is the second song we ever wrote together, and I think "Blue Tacoma" was in the first 10 songs we wrote, and then we just kept it going. "Every Little Thing" came soon after that, and I just knew as soon as we wrote "Every Little Thing," I was like, "This is going to be a single. This is going to be a jam," and I love playing that song every night.
9. What surprised you most about how radio works once you really got out there and started interacting with programmers on a regular basis?
For the radio tour, I'd heard it's real tough. And yeah, it's exhausting, but it's not tough. You're meeting people that believe in you, and you're just hanging out getting to know these people who are going to bet their career on you just as much as you're betting your career on them. So it's cool. It's mutual respect ... We've got this common thread, and I think it's super fun. It's really cool the relationships that you actually truly build.
10. You're kicking off your "The Way Back Tour" with longtime friend Carly Pearce this month. What can fans expect from that tour? And, since you both have singles titled "Every Little Thing," is some kind of mash up planned?
Oh, my gosh, this is what I've been dreaming of - just an entire headlining tour coming off of two #1s. I'm still the new guy, [so] it's so fun, especially to partner with Carly Pearce, [who has also] had a couple hits now. We get to team up, and it's going to be next level for us. I'm pulling out all the stops. My team is like, "How are we going to pay for this?" I'm like, "I don't know, we're going to figure it out, but we're doing it."
What I keep telling myself is, "Just take your time during the show" because, for so long, I've been the opening act, and you've got 30 minutes to go out there, kick them in the face with some good jams, show them a good time, [and] introduce yourself. Now, it's our show, so we can both take our time. I want the fans to get to know me even deeper now, [including] what music raised me. Go back and play a couple of my favorite old songs, just take my time and make the best of every moment onstage of this tour.
It's crazy that we both have songs called, "Every Little Thing." Hers is slower, and mine is as uptempo as uptempo can be. We're going to figure it out though. I think at some point we have to do a mash up.
What are you most excited about with the upcoming "Very Hot Summer Tour" with Thomas Rhett, Dustin Lynch, and Rhett Akins, especially having toured with Thomas before?
I'm excited to be the second act and, again, be able to take my time and have a little production package, and rethink the set because it's different playing in a club than it is in an opening slot in an arena. I love figuring that out. I love feeling the crowd, and just to be in these iconic venues. I mean, Madison Square Garden? Come on! It's crazy.
Bonus Questions
1. After countless radio visits and radio shows, is there anything radio doesn't already know about you that you'd like them to know?
I'm not out here to kind of just give it a whirl and walk away. I'm here to stay, and I want them to know that they can trust me, and I'll just keep bringing the hits, try to keep writing good songs, and keep this thing going.
2. You launched your own app in November. How involved were you in the creation, and how involved do you stay with regard to the content on the app, such as doing live chats and curating your own playlists for fans?
Probably a little too involved, some might say, but I wanted it to be cool and special and different, and not just like another version of a website. This company, Aloompa, did such a great job of helping make this dream of mine come alive. We created this content [like] me doing like goofy dance moves and drinking a glass of wine. Instead of just giving [fans] information, I wanted to give them a true look of my personality, too, and I really think we did that with the content. I love keeping up with the fans on the chat rooms, and I try to post a few pictures here and there. I just really wanted it to be my personality, not just a website.
3. Your wife, Kailey, travels and works with you, and you two seem like #RelationshipGoals. What's your secret for a happy marriage?
It's just all about humility. One of my favorite quotes, when it comes to an argument, is, "Do you want to be one, or do you want to be the one that won?" We would rather be one than have a right or wrong, or make anyone feel lesser than the other. It's a lot about laying down your pride and apologizing.
4. Let's talk about your hilarious wine glass challenge, as seen in this Instagram. What's that all about?
It all started with my guitar player when we realized he would be telling jokes, or just goofing around, and every time he would say a punch line of a joke he would drink his beer all funny. I had a wine glass at the time, and I told a funny joke. Everybody was laughing, so then I was mocking him doing that, and I just put my whole huge mouth around it and just chugged the rest of the wine. It was just a joke. Obviously, I'll do anything for a laugh. I don't know why it stuck, but it was just the goofiest, dumbest thing, and now, sadly, there's people all over the internet trying to do this and tagging me. It's ridiculous, I know!
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