How to Build a Successful Team w/ Country Music Star Dustin Lynch
In this episode of the Big Success Podcast, country music star Dustin Lynch shares his journey in the music industry, highlighting the challenges, successes, and lessons learned along the way. He discusses the importance of creating music that resonates with audiences, branding and marketing strategies, and the balance between professional and personal life. Dustin recounts the perseverance it took to release his hit song "Cowboys and Angels" despite initial resistance from his label and emphasizes the magic of live performances and connecting with fans. Through candid insights, he sheds light on his approach to goal-setting, team-building, and staying relevant in a fast-paced industry.
About Dustin Lynch:
Dustin Lynch is a chart-topping country music artist known for his heartfelt lyrics, dynamic performances, and unwavering dedication to his craft. Hailing from Tullahoma, Tennessee, Dustin has captured fans' hearts with hits like "Cowboys and Angels" and numerous chart-topping singles. With a passion for storytelling and a keen sense of audience connection, he has become a staple in the modern country music scene. Beyond his music, Dustin is celebrated for his ability to balance creativity with business acumen, inspiring both fans and fellow artists with his authenticity and drive.
Learn more: https://www.dustinlynchmusic.com/
About Brad Sugars
Internationally known as one of the most influential entrepreneurs, Brad Sugars is a bestselling author, keynote speaker, and the #1 business coach in the world. Over the course of his 30-year career as an entrepreneur, Brad has become the CEO of 9+ companies and is the owner of the multimillion-dollar franchise ActionCOACH®. As a husband and father of five, Brad is equally as passionate about his family as he is about business. That’s why, Brad is a strong advocate for building a business that works without you – so you can spend more time doing what really matters to you. Over the years of starting, scaling and selling many businesses, Brad has earned his fair share of scars. Being an entrepreneur is not an easy road. But if you can learn from those who have gone before you, it becomes a lot easier than going at it alone.
Please click here to learn more about Brad Sugars: https://bradsugars.com/
Build a Business That Gives You More Time, Money & Life:
Get The $100M Playbook: https://go.bradsugars.com/100m-playbook-ebook
2024-12-28
8 min
Transcript
2 chapters
Available Results
Generated results are saved to the knowledge database for reuse and search.
No generated results are available for this episode yet.
Extract Knowledge
Pick what you want extracted first. Model, scope, and chapter options appear after a template is selected.
Generated results for public episodes are saved to the knowledge database so they can be reused and searched later.
Transcript
WEBVTT 00:00:00.059 --> 00:00:06.286 <v Speaker 1>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. 00:00:06.286 --> 00:00:07.309 <v Speaker 1>I've never even been there. 00:00:07.540 --> 00:00:08.644 <v Speaker 2>The Dustin Lynch. 00:00:08.644 --> 00:00:12.771 <v Speaker 2>What most people don't realize about a country music star these days is it is a business. 00:00:12.980 --> 00:00:13.823 <v Speaker 1>Whether you write them or not. 00:00:13.823 --> 00:00:17.618 <v Speaker 1>Keep chasing the best song you possibly can, because that's what people want to hear from you. 00:00:17.839 --> 00:00:21.513 <v Speaker 2>You got to write something today that speaks to what people are feeling. 00:00:21.614 --> 00:00:26.160 <v Speaker 1>two years from now there's certain songs we've had success with that are a pain in my butt every night. 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:31.466 <v Speaker 1>I've learned that I gotta be sure that I'm gonna enjoy singing it, because if it is a hit I gotta sing the dang thing the rest of my life. 00:00:32.360 --> 00:00:34.709 <v Speaker 2>How do you today define success? 00:00:35.140 --> 00:00:46.109 <v Speaker 1>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. 00:00:46.109 --> 00:00:53.076 <v Speaker 1>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. 00:00:53.076 --> 00:00:54.121 <v Speaker 1>It's a really cool job. 00:00:54.322 --> 00:00:58.274 <v Speaker 2>Where did you decide success was going to be your reality? 00:00:58.274 --> 00:01:00.299 <v Speaker 2>Was it something your parents instilled in you? 00:01:00.299 --> 00:01:03.143 <v Speaker 2>Did something happen where you said I'm going to be successful? 00:01:03.143 --> 00:01:04.924 <v Speaker 2>That's who I am when. 00:01:04.963 --> 00:01:13.189 <v Speaker 1>I started seeing doors open that I wasn't having to open myself, you know, and it was really just following some gut decisions I had made creatively. 00:01:13.189 --> 00:01:17.153 <v Speaker 1>We were in the fraternity sorority party circuit pretty heavily. 00:01:17.153 --> 00:01:27.454 <v Speaker 1>It kind of started organically here in Nashville and when away teams would come play Vanderbilt they would see us play down at you know one of the college bars and then we would catch a gig out of that and then word would get out. 00:01:27.454 --> 00:01:28.543 <v Speaker 1>So that started growing. 00:01:28.543 --> 00:01:43.350 <v Speaker 1>And that's when I realized, wow, I'm addicted to growth and growing, something that wasn't there three months ago and and and just, I think that's really where it turned me on Like, wow, this is this is fun. 00:01:45.579 --> 00:01:51.912 <v Speaker 2>There was a song you wrote for Grandma and Grandpa Cowboys and Angels and your label said no, we're not releasing that song. 00:01:51.912 --> 00:01:58.391 <v Speaker 2>Tell us about how you persevered in knowing that song, like you believed in it so much. 00:01:58.391 --> 00:01:59.653 <v Speaker 2>How did that work? 00:01:59.859 --> 00:02:03.834 <v Speaker 1>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 for them. 00:02:03.834 --> 00:02:07.745 <v Speaker 1>And that was my only goal, was just hoping they would like it and gift it to them. 00:02:07.745 --> 00:02:14.730 <v Speaker 1>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. 00:02:14.730 --> 00:02:19.520 <v Speaker 1>They heard the song and were like, yeah, it's too country, it's too this, it's too sappy, whatever their excuses were. 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:23.383 <v Speaker 1>And it was the first time where I felt like I was right and they were wrong. 00:02:23.383 --> 00:02:25.686 <v Speaker 1>They it was the first time where I felt like I was right and they were wrong. 00:02:25.705 --> 00:02:33.413 <v Speaker 1>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. 00:02:33.413 --> 00:02:36.975 <v Speaker 1>And so you start second guessing yourself like man, is my gut wrong? 00:02:36.975 --> 00:02:48.905 <v Speaker 1>I just feel like this is a different thing, and how I pivoted from that is just go OK. 00:02:48.905 --> 00:02:53.870 <v Speaker 1>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, and we started seeing a life of its own start growing at these events. 00:02:53.870 --> 00:02:56.193 <v Speaker 1>That's when I go okay, I still think I have something. 00:02:56.193 --> 00:02:56.955 <v Speaker 1>So fast forward. 00:02:56.955 --> 00:03:06.915 <v Speaker 1>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 still be one of my most impactful songs. 00:03:06.915 --> 00:03:07.979 <v Speaker 1>We do every night 10 years later. 00:03:08.185 --> 00:03:09.932 <v Speaker 2>Let's talk about branding and marketing. 00:03:09.932 --> 00:03:13.312 <v Speaker 2>How do you succeed at branding and marketing yourself out there in the world? 00:03:13.433 --> 00:03:13.713 <v Speaker 1>It starts. 00:03:13.713 --> 00:03:24.168 <v Speaker 1>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 and through the years, trying to hone in on what that is. 00:03:24.168 --> 00:03:25.549 <v Speaker 1>Where's my lane in country music? 00:03:25.549 --> 00:03:27.030 <v Speaker 1>What is the general population? 00:03:27.030 --> 00:03:30.554 <v Speaker 1>When they turn the radio on or they're streaming, however, they're consuming music. 00:03:30.554 --> 00:03:33.216 <v Speaker 1>It's just self-discovery and I think we have learned. 00:03:33.295 --> 00:03:42.227 <v Speaker 1>I've swung for that fence and this fence when it comes to stylistically as doing still country, but what we've learned is kind of right down the middle, what has worked for us. 00:03:42.227 --> 00:03:45.491 <v Speaker 1>And it's so obvious when you step back you go, dude, just do that again. 00:03:45.491 --> 00:03:53.409 <v Speaker 1>But I think as creatives, uh, 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. 00:03:53.409 --> 00:03:55.843 <v Speaker 1>Like I said, it's easy to see what are you comfortable doing on stage? 00:03:55.843 --> 00:03:59.961 <v Speaker 1>There's certain songs we've had success with that are a pain in my butt every night. 00:03:59.961 --> 00:04:06.816 <v Speaker 1>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. 00:04:06.816 --> 00:04:12.055 <v Speaker 1>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. 00:04:12.504 --> 00:04:18.317 <v Speaker 2>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. 00:04:18.317 --> 00:04:21.495 <v Speaker 2>How do you succeed at building that team? 00:04:21.865 --> 00:04:24.370 <v Speaker 1>Building a team for me is just are we having fun? 00:04:24.370 --> 00:04:29.298 <v Speaker 1>Because 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. 00:04:29.298 --> 00:04:34.692 <v Speaker 1>Most of my teammates right now on the road have had real jobs, because what we do is not real, in my opinion. 00:04:34.692 --> 00:04:43.617 <v Speaker 1>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. 00:04:43.617 --> 00:04:51.350 <v Speaker 1>The current challenge is everybody's bitching about, you know, cold showers and it's like, well, this is where the Preds play, so it's easy, you know, to forget. 00:04:51.350 --> 00:04:52.995 <v Speaker 1>Hey, this is the dream. 00:04:52.995 --> 00:04:54.937 <v Speaker 1>This is literally the top of the pyramid right here. 00:04:55.064 --> 00:05:04.687 <v Speaker 2>When 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? 00:05:04.687 --> 00:05:05.367 <v Speaker 2>What's the thing? 00:05:05.408 --> 00:05:10.449 <v Speaker 1>It's got to be a passion for the same vision you know, and that's who are we making music for. 00:05:10.449 --> 00:05:15.552 <v Speaker 1>If everybody can identify who that is and describe to me what that is, we get along pretty good. 00:05:15.793 --> 00:05:20.274 <v Speaker 2>What's the key to success, to breaking through, I mean I think with the music industry. 00:05:20.295 --> 00:05:26.836 <v Speaker 1>If I could put my finger on how it was done, I would probably have a long line of people calling me. 00:05:26.836 --> 00:05:37.521 <v Speaker 1>I 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 advice before I roll out of here. 00:05:37.521 --> 00:05:38.283 <v Speaker 1>And that's what he said. 00:05:38.283 --> 00:05:53.232 <v Speaker 1>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. 00:05:53.271 --> 00:05:54.254 <v Speaker 1>There's multiple number ones. 00:05:54.254 --> 00:05:54.836 <v Speaker 1>How do you stay relevant? 00:05:54.836 --> 00:05:55.238 <v Speaker 1>We like to evolve. 00:05:55.238 --> 00:05:57.165 <v Speaker 1>You know, with the music we have to it's wild. 00:05:57.165 --> 00:06:05.274 <v Speaker 1>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. 00:06:05.274 --> 00:06:08.930 <v Speaker 1>We're creating what is happening on the radio two years from now, today. 00:06:09.031 --> 00:06:13.810 <v Speaker 2>You got to write something today that speaks to what people are feeling two years from now. 00:06:13.810 --> 00:06:16.716 <v Speaker 2>How do you balance professional? 00:06:16.817 --> 00:06:17.398 <v Speaker 1>personal. 00:06:17.398 --> 00:06:18.767 <v Speaker 1>I had to learn the word no. 00:06:18.767 --> 00:06:21.696 <v Speaker 1>It's easy to say yes to money that's sitting right there. 00:06:21.696 --> 00:06:35.088 <v Speaker 1>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. 00:06:35.310 --> 00:06:42.384 <v Speaker 2>What's your theory on how your goals go from being normal size, normal people goals to crazy big goals? 00:06:42.367 --> 00:06:44.184 <v Speaker 1>I started realizing what was possible, crazy big goals. 00:06:44.184 --> 00:06:48.737 <v Speaker 1>I started realizing what was possible as songs started to really scale. 00:06:48.737 --> 00:06:57.517 <v Speaker 1>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. 00:06:57.517 --> 00:06:58.660 <v Speaker 1>I'd never even been there. 00:06:58.660 --> 00:07:00.350 <v Speaker 1>We ended up playing it twice that night. 00:07:00.350 --> 00:07:04.877 <v Speaker 1>That's where I realized wait, a second, my music matters at least to Seattle right now. 00:07:04.877 --> 00:07:07.348 <v Speaker 1>And then we got to tour around and figure out where else. 00:07:07.348 --> 00:07:09.072 <v Speaker 1>So it started right there. 00:07:09.072 --> 00:07:15.274 <v Speaker 1>I was regional, playing a lot of SEC schools and then those college kids would graduate. 00:07:15.274 --> 00:07:16.476 <v Speaker 1>We'd go play their wedding reception. 00:07:16.476 --> 00:07:17.406 <v Speaker 1>That was kind of my world. 00:07:17.406 --> 00:07:22.567 <v Speaker 1>And then once Cowboys and Angels hit the radio waves, we felt that it was like, oh, wait, a second. 00:07:22.567 --> 00:07:25.552 <v Speaker 1>That's why I started realizing wow, I get to make a new set of goals. 00:07:25.711 --> 00:07:27.093 <v Speaker 1>Honestly, I never had on my goal list. 00:07:27.093 --> 00:07:29.036 <v Speaker 1>I did have from two years ago. 00:07:29.036 --> 00:07:31.339 <v Speaker 1>They do like a year end chart. 00:07:31.339 --> 00:07:38.752 <v Speaker 1>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. 00:07:38.752 --> 00:07:42.367 <v Speaker 1>And in big red letters I wrote where are you? 00:07:42.367 --> 00:07:44.471 <v Speaker 1>Last year we're the number one played song. 00:07:44.471 --> 00:07:45.773 <v Speaker 1>So it's like pretty awesome. 00:07:46.074 --> 00:07:47.916 <v Speaker 2>And that's the Big Success Podcast for today. 00:07:47.916 --> 00:07:56.351 <v Speaker 2>Hopefully, you took a lot of notes, learned a whole bunch and, if you need to go re-listen to it, we dropped a lot of information right there today. 00:07:56.351 --> 00:07:57.254 <v Speaker 2>Big success is what it's all about. 00:07:57.254 --> 00:07:59.908 <v Speaker 2>And, by the way, if you haven't subscribed, hit that subscribe button. 00:07:59.908 --> 00:08:03.937 <v Speaker 2>So you're here with us every single week on the Big Success Podcast. 00:08:03.937 --> 00:08:07.305 <v Speaker 2>I'm Brad Sugars. 00:08:07.305 --> 00:08:07.627 <v Speaker 2>That's BS. 00:08:07.627 --> 00:08:08.649 <v Speaker 2>Big success is what we're shooting for. 00:08:08.649 --> 00:08:10.132 <v Speaker 2>Check the show notes for all the links. 00:08:10.132 --> 00:08:12.947 <v Speaker 2>Make sure you follow through, keep learning, keep coming back. 00:08:12.947 --> 00:08:17.226 <v Speaker 2>Oh, and, by the way, share this with any of your friends who you know are up for success. 00:08:17.226 --> 00:08:19.894 <v Speaker 2>I'll see you next week on the Big Success Podcast. 00:08:21.399 --> 00:08:27.033 <v Speaker 3>You've been listening to the Big Success Podcast with the number one business coach in the world, Brad Sugars. 00:08:27.033 --> 00:08:36.576 <v Speaker 3>To learn more about how to achieve business and personal success, as well as how to level up or listen to past episodes, visit wwwbradsugarscom.