By Robyn Collins
“A lot of things have changed,” Florida Georgia Line’s Brian Kelley says of the band’s career and their lives. “We’ve grown up, we’ve learned a lot. … I think that translates into this music, into this album and into this lifestyle – it’s all one.”
“It’s been fun for us to try to better ourselves every day,” Tyler Hubbard agrees. “Whether that’s spiritually, musically, mentally or creatively, that’s really been our goal for the last couple years, and I think our music is doing that as well. It was fun being boys, but we’re trying to be the men we want to be now.”
The last couple of years have been good to FGL: during that time, they have had 11 #1 hits as artists and songwriters with the Platinum-certified Anything Goes (Big Machine Label Group), which boasts five consecutive hits – “Anything Goes,” “Sippin’ On Fire” and “Sun Daze” (all platinum), “Dirt” (double platinum) and “Confession” (gold).
At the 2016 ACM Awards, the duo went home with their third consecutive honor for Vocal Duo of the Year. In addition, they have collected CMT Artists of the Year honors, along with numerous accolades from the AMAs and Billboard.
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FGL are the only artists other than Brooks & Dunn to achieve four back-to-back, multi-week #1 singles. Breaking the record for longest #1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, and having sold nearly 26 million downloads and over 3.5 million albums worldwide to date, the boys have already left their mark on country music.
Their third studio album, Dig Your Roots, which features collaborations with Tim McGraw, the Backstreet Boys and Ziggy Marley, will be released August 26th and delivers what they have said is an evolution in both their musical and personal journeys.
The lead single “H.O.L.Y.,” was a #1 hit and was written by producer/songwriter extraordinaire busbee, Nate Cyphert and Williams Larsen and produced by award-winning Joey Moi. Holding onto the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot Country Songs Chart for the last 12 weeks, the song marks their 11th consecutive Top 10 hit as artists at country radio.
But it’s not just about the hits. “I think music’s powerful and it can do a lot of things,” says Hubbard. “It can entertain, but it can also heal and create emotions that only music can create. I think with our album, it’s got potential to do a lot of things — make people laugh, make people cry and make people want to party.”
“We want to put out all sorts of songs,” Kelley adds. “We want to be artists that can put out party songs, songs like ‘H.O.L.Y.’ or songs that make you want to call your dad like ‘While He’s Still Around.’ We want to be 360-degree artists, that’s what we’re chasing.”
The band has been playing “H.O.L.Y.” at their shows, expect to hear more Dig Your Roots songs on their tour, which extends through the end of 2016.