How to Build a Successful Team w/ Country Music Star Dustin Lynch

0:00I wrote Cowboys and Angels and had no idea that the first time I would hear that song sang back to me would be in Seattle Washington Washington. I've never even been there. B, Dustin Lynch. What most people don't realize about a country music star these days is it is a business. Whether you write them or not, keep chasing the best song you possibly can, because that's what people want to hear from you. You got to write something today that speaks to what people are feeling two years from now. There's certain songs we've had success with that are a pain in my butt every night. I've learned that I got to be sure that I'm going to enjoy singing it.

0:29Because if it is a hit, I got to sing the dang thing the rest of my life. How do you today define success? It's fallen in love for me with the magic of creating, more so than the magic of getting a paycheck every night on stage. And what drives me right now is just seeing the joy on others' faces whenever we perform. You know, it's a really neat experience to be on stage and look out and see people having fun and meeting each other and making out and dancing. It's a really cool job. Where did you decide success was going to be your reality? Was it something your parents instilled into you? Did something happen where you said, I'm going to be successful.

1:03That's who I am. When I started seeing doors open, I wasn't having to open myself. It was really just following some gut decisions I had made creatively. We were in the fraternity, sorority party circuit pretty heavily. It kind of started organically here in Nashville. When away teams would come play Vanderbilt, they would see us play down at one of the college bars. Then we would catch a gig out of that, and then word would get out. So that started growing. And that's when I realized, wow, I'm addicted to growth and growing something that wasn't there three months ago. And just I think that's really where it turned me on.

1:41Like, wow, this is this is fun. There was a song you wrote for Grandma and Grandpa, Cowboys and Angels, and your label said no, we're not releasing that song. Tell us about how you persevered and knowing that song, like you believed in it so much. How did that work? This song is something that I just wanted to write for them. And that was my only goal was just hoping they would like it and gift it to them. It's gone on to change my life. But there were years, like you said, there was a couple of years that my record label weren't believers in the song. They heard the song or like, yeah, that's it's too country.

2:17It's too this. It's too sappy, whatever their excuses were. And it was the first time where I felt like I was right and they were wrong. They had a great track record at that point with artists and really a lot of momentum in town. And so I was really putting a lot of weight behind an older gentleman and an older lady telling me what was good. And so you start second guessing yourself like, man, is my gut wrong? I just feel like this is a different thing. and how I pivoted from that is just go, okay, well, I'm going to keep swinging the bat, but I'm also going to figure out how to start getting my music, my original music out there more at these frat parties, more at these wedding receptions.

2:49And we started seeing a life of its own start growing at these events. That's when I go, okay, I still think I have something. So fast forward, I was able to switch gears and get out of that deal and into another one. And within three months, we had Cowboys and Angels hitting the radio and it went on to, it's still one of my most impactful songs we do every night, 10 years later. Let's talk about branding and marketing. How do you succeed at branding and marketing yourself out there in the world? It starts for me. It starts with the song. And this far into my career, I have to find a great song that matches my brand, my flavor.

3:21And through the years, trying to hone in on what that is. Where's my lane in country music? What is the general population when they turn the radio on or they're streaming, however they're consuming music? It's just self-discovery. And I think we have learned, I've swing for that fence and this fence when it comes to stylistically as doing, you know, still country. But what we've learned is kind of right down the middle, what has worked for us. And it's so obvious when you step back, you go, dude, just do that again. But I think as creatives, we always try to find those unicorn type of song. But for me, it's just been honing in and being at the end of the day, like I said, it's easy to see.

3:54What are you comfortable doing on stage? There's certain songs we've had success with that are a pain in my butt every night. It's me, but it's not all the way me. And it seems like the ones that come easier to me are the ones that I enjoy singing. And I've learned that I got to be sure that I'm going to enjoy singing it. Because if it is a hit, I got to sing the dang thing the rest of my life. Building a band, which is really building a team, because it's not just the band, it's management, it's the road crew, it's all of that stuff. How do you succeed at building that team? Building a team for me is just, are we having fun?

4:24Because hell, if you can't have fun doing music. If you can't have fun doing what you do for work, freaking try something new. Most of my teammates right now on the road have had real jobs because what we do is not real, in my opinion. We've all had real jobs before music became the full-time job. And it's easy to forget and complain about whatever catering we've got at whatever arena. The current challenge is everybody's bitching about cold showers. And it's like, well, this is where the Preds play. So it's easy to forget, hey, this is the dream. This is literally the top of the pyramid right here.

4:55When you talk recruiting the right people, like going and finding the right manager, going and finding those people, is there any keys you got to recruiting people or is it just, you know, make sure that they fit the group? What's the thing? It's got to be a passion for the same vision, you know, and that's who are we, who are we making music for? If everybody can identify who that is and describe to me what that is, we get along pretty good. What's the key to success to breaking through? I mean, this, I think with the music industry, if I could put my finger on how it was done, I would probably have a long line of people calling me.

5:27I got to go meet Garth Brooks for the first time. He's one of my heroes. And I shook his hand and, you know, typical young guy like, Garth, give me one piece of ice for a roll out of here. And that's what he said. He said, hey, whether you write them or not, keep chasing the best song you possibly can because that's what people want to hear from you. And I just never forgot that. You've had number ones after number ones. From each album, there's multiple number ones. How do you stay relevant? We like to evolve with the music. It's wild. So if you guys think about, I'm writing a song today. If we write a great song today, in two years is most likely is when the general public gets to finally hear it.

6:05We're creating what is happening on the radio two years from now today. You got to write something today that speaks to what people are feeling two years from now. How do you balance professional, personal. I had to learn the word no. It's easy to say yes to money that's sitting right there. Go play this club in BFE Louisiana or sit at the house. But I think I've realized that sitting at the house pays greater dividends down the road for me whenever I'm able to have a little bit of personal space in life. What's your theory on how your goals go from being normal size, normal people goals to crazy big goals?

6:43I started realizing what was possible as songs started to really scale. I wrote Cowboys and Angels and had no idea that the first time I would hear that song sang back to me would be in Seattle, Washington. I'd never even been there. We ended up playing it twice that night. That's where I realized, wait a second, my music matters, at least to Seattle right now. And then we got to tour around and figure out where else. So it started right there. I was regional playing a lot of SEC schools, and then those college kids would graduate. We'd go play the wedding reception. That was kind of my world.

7:17And then once Cowboys and Angels hit the radio waves, we felt that. It was like, oh, wait a second. That's why I started realizing, wow, I get to make a new set of goals. Honestly, I never had on my goal list. I did have, from two years ago, they do like a year-end chart. Hey, this song was played this many times or this album or this artist on radio. And I wasn't on any of the charts a couple, three years ago. And in big red letters, I wrote, where are you? Last year, we're the number one played song. So it's like pretty awesome. And that's the Big Success podcast for today. Hopefully you took a lot of notes, learned a whole bunch.

7:50And if you need to go re-listen to it, we dropped a lot of information right there today. Big success is what it's all about. And by the way, if you haven't subscribed, hit that subscribe button so you're here with us every single week on the Big Success podcast. I'm Brad Sugars. That's BS. Big success is what we're shooting for. Check the show notes for all the links. Make sure you follow through. Keep learning. Keep coming back. Oh, and by the way, share this with any of your friends who you know are up for success. I'll see you next week on the Big Success Podcast. You've been listening to the Big Success Podcast with the number one business coach in the world, Brad Sugars.

8:27To learn more about how to achieve business and personal success, as well as how to level up or listen to past episodes, visit www.bradsugars.com.