Luke Bryan Says He Performs Live ‘Like Elvis Is Watching’
Luke Bryan grew up on a peanut farm in Georgia, so he knows the hard work and tenacity it takes to run a farm. He's put that same drive into his career and will be giving back to the farmers this week when his tenth-annual Farm Tour launches.
"No matter whether I'm on Farm Tour or I'm at a big football stadium, I try to go out there with the same mentality," he says during a media call ahead of the tenth anniversary the rural tour. "I try to perform my shows like Elvis is watching and try to do the best I can night in and night out and have a big ol' performance."
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"That's just the way I've always approached it, and it'll be no different in the next couple of weeks with Farm Tour," Bryan explains.
He's definitely got hip-shaking moves that would make Elvis Presley proud, but the country superstar is also giving back while on his Farm Tour. In addition to donating meals to hungry families across the nation by using the #HeresToTheFarmer on social media (in partnership with Feeding America), Bryan is continuing his tradition of awarding college scholarships to students who come from farming families.
"We always want to leave these farms and these communities a little bit better than we found them," he says.
Bryan's annual Farm Tour aims to raise awareness for farming communities, and he comes away inspired as a songwriter. This year, he has his songwriting pals the Peach Pickers performing — in past years Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson and Ben Hayslip have joined him on the bus during Farm Tour to write songs.
"We really hole up on the bus and try to write songs. The vibe and the inspiration from being in the small towns, through the years we wrote 'Huntin', Fishin' and Lovin' Every Day' out on Farm Tour. We wrote 'Dirt Road Diary.' So we've had some really amazing success through the years writing out on Farm Tour," Bryan says. "It's really something that through the years has become a tradition of ours to sit on the bus and try to write some songs and get a little inspired by being out there."
Bryan's six-city Farm Tour will run from Sept. 27 to Oct. 6.
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