What’s Cole Swindell’s ‘Reason to Drink’? Celebrating His First Headlining Tour
In February, Cole Swindell kicked off his first-ever headlining Reason to Drink Tour. At a recent press event, the singer told The Boot and other media outlets that, as his tour's name suggests, hitting that milestone calls for a little celebration.
"I'll never have another first one of these, and that's worth a toast," Swindell says.
The Reason to Drink Tour takes its name from one of the tracks on Swindell's upcoming third studio album. He noticed while planning his tour that fun, uptempo party songs were something he has in common with his two opening acts, Lauren Alaina and Chris Janson.
"Everybody's just fun out there," Swindell explains. "I thought [the name Reason to Drink] would fit the party vibe."
Swindell goes on elaborate on what makes the trio of country artists such a special live show: "I locked Chris in because we're labelmates and buddies, and I'd seen him perform. He gets people fired up, and that's what you want. It makes the rest of us step up our game," he says. "Sometimes Lauren Alaina comes out and sings with me, and I get lost paying attention to her voice."
Swindell adds that while much of the tour is about party anthems and drinking songs, Alaina helps him perform some memorable ballads, too: "I don't even try to compare to her vocally. It's an honor to have her out there," he notes. "Having her sing on "Middle of a Memory" takes that song to a whole new level, and that's already a big song live. Some of those vocal runs she does make me wish I could have recorded it with her. It's just a really big moment in the show."
While Swindell has amassed an impressive number of hits in the past few years, headlining a tour has also been a learning experience in terms of keeping a crowd engaged over the course of a longer set.
"After the first night in rehearsal, the set felt a little short, and I was like, 'Oh man, that felt so long!'" he recalls. "Keeping people's attention for 90 minutes is just different. I'm thankful I have some hits to play, and it's a thing I'm learning how to do, but it's just a different situation with a different kind of pressure."
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