Talks about each track on new album, Born Here Live Here Die Here
By Preshias Harris
Recording artists are always looking for ways to promote their music, and emerging artists usually have an additional challenge: a limited promotion budget.
Read on to learn more about an innovative option and how one of country music’s biggest stars is making it work for him.
The worldwide pandemic has created major problems for musicians who need to get in front of their fans. With a total halt put on touring, country artists have now had to go for months without that all-important fan interaction.
Fan reaction to new songs
Most artists try out one or two new song at a concert to judge the fans’ reaction. Then they and their marketing teams can use that reaction to decide which new music to release. But no concerts mean no fan reaction.
Now many artists are using social media and the internet to reach out to their fans. One online destination – https://music.com/ – seems the ideal place to link artists with their fans, and Luke Bryan is one of country music’s biggest stars to take full advantage of the opportunity the site offers.
Music.com is focused on artist-forward, first-person storytelling. At the site, artists share personal thoughts and ideas about their music in a deeply personal way. Now Luke is doing just that, sharing personal details about each track on his new album, Born Here Live Here Die Here (Capitol Nashville). Released August 7, 2020, the album debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Album charts. Here’s Luke’s page at music.com.
The stories behind the songs
His post at music.com includes individual videos of Luke talking about each of the songs on the new album. He tells the story behind each song and why that song means so much to him. Each of the videos is about one minute long and has Luke talking about the song in a conversational style.
About “One Margarita,” Luke says, “It’s the perfect summertime anthem party song. The first time I heard it, I’m like, that’s the catchiest, most fun party song I’ve heard in a long time, so we knew we had something special.”
But Luke’s mood is different in the video about “Build Me a Daddy.” He says, “Sometimes you just have to record an unbelievable, beautifully-written, emotional song, and ‘Build Me a Daddy’ does that. It speaks about a child that’s lost his Dad and how he explains how he wants to get his dad back for him and his Mom in one of the coolest ways I’ve ever heard a song written. Country music has always been so important to really dive in and talk about tough subjects.” He believes there are many people who will really be able to relate to this song.
Each of the tracks on the album gets a similar treatment. Born Here Live Here Die Here is Luke’s seventh studio album and in addition to his current single “One Margarita”, it includes the recent singles “Knocking Boots” and “What She Wants Tonight”.
Stories connect artists to fans
One of the coolest features of music.com is that fans are asked to share their own video reactions to the songs. Music.com launched in May with a “500 Artists Wanted” initiative, paying indie artists impacted by Covid-19 the cost of an average gig, when they posted the story behind one of their songs on the platform. Visitors can search for music by artist name or by subject such as “Life Lessons”, “Girl’s Perspective”, “Relationships” and “Dancing”. But be warned: music.com is addictive! You’ll find yourself going from one story to the next, maybe about songs or artists that are new to you.
More about Luke Bryan here.
Preshias Harris is a music journalist and music career development consultant with the emphasis on new and aspiring artists and songwriters. Her book, ‘The College of Songology 101: The Singer/Songwriter’s Need to Know Reference Handbook’ is available at www.collegeofsongology.com Follow her blog at www.nashvillemusicline.com