Belmont University has been the starting point for a lot major talent over the years, Brad Paisley, Trisha Yearwood, Lee Ann Womack and Josh Turner just to name a few. But if we had to guess who the next superstar Belmont alumni would be, we’d have to say Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley, a.k.a. Florida Georgia Line. The up and coming country duo met at Belmont but are from, you guessed it, Florida (Brian Kelley) and Georgia (Tyler Hubbard). “People always ask us ‘Where on the line are you all from?’ but the line is not so much a tangible place as much as where we meet in the middle creatively as friends, as partners in the business of music. That’s where the line comes from” Kelley says of their name.
The two actually hadn’t planned on being artists but wrote a lot and did a lot of writer’s rounds together. The chemistry was undeniable so after some encouragement from friends, they decided to give the duo thing a shot. Success has been on a break-neck pace ever since. The pair signed with platinum songwriter/publisher Craig Wiseman’s Big Loud Mountain record label. They’ve opened shows for Jake Owen, Brantley Gilbert and Colt Ford and they’re among the line up for the 2012 Country Throwdown Tour which wraps this weekend (7/8) in Nashville at Fontanel (buy tickets here).
Hubbard and Kelley wrote every song on their new five song EP, Itz Just What We Do with “Cruise” being their debut single. “Cruise” appeared in the top 50 country songs when it was released. “We were in the studio tweaking tracks with Joey Moi (who produced the record) and it just turned in to something we really believe in. It’s sort of a summer, upbeat, feel-good song. Hopefully it’ll be a summer anthem for everybody” says Hubbard.
Hubbard also said he got to check one off the bucket list when his song “Black Tears” made it on to Jason Aldeans’s forthcoming album. “Apparently Aldean had a buddy who told him he needed to hear this band Florida Georgia Line, so he listened to our songs and then Jason told Michael Knox (Aldean’s producer) that he wanted to record “Black Tears”. It was a pretty good day to get that phone call.
With musical influences from Skynyrd to ‘Lil Wayne, Florida Georgia Line has something for everyone. If you want to get an inside look at their life on the road, check out their video series Inside The Line here. And don’t forget you can catch them live this weekend at The Woods Of Fontanel.
—Jerry Holthouse
Contact: jerry@nashville.com
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