Caleb Lee Hutchinson met one of his musical heroes over the weekend at a festival in Colorado.
On Sunday evening (June 25), the American Idol alum and “Slot Machine Syndrome” singer met McGraw while hanging out backstage at Country Jam Colorado in Grand Junction. The meet happened just one day after Hutchinson performed at the festival on the main stage, the same stage where McGraw performed on Sunday evening.
Hutchinson shared a photo of himself with McGraw. In the photo, Hutchinson is seen with his arm wrapped around McGraw with a big smile on his face.
“I met one of my heroes, Tim McGraw,” Hutchinson wrote. “He squeezed my shoulder and told me I was built like a silverback. Please engrave this on my headstone some day.”
What Is A Silverback?
In the comments of his post, a few fans were confused as to what a Silverback is. So, he explained that a Silverback is a specific kind of gorilla via a description of the animal that he found online.
According to Wild Republic, “Silverback gorillas live high in the mountains in two protected parks in Africa. They are also referred to as mountain gorillas. Silverback gorillas continually wander through their home ranges of 10 to 15 square miles, feeding and resting throughout the day. Because gorillas are nomadic, they build new nests each day at dusk, constructing them out of bent branches in a tree or of grasses on the ground. Silverback gorillas have long black hair and their thick, shaggy coats help to keep them warm in cold climates. Adult male mountain gorillas are called Silverbacks because of the silver saddle of hair on their backs. Mountain gorillas have a stocky build, with a broad chest, long, muscular arms and wide feet and hands.”
Hutchinson recently return to the American Idol stage to perform a duet alongside his longtime girlfriend Maddie Poppe. Both Hutchinson and Poppe rose to fame on season 16 of the popular singing competition show.
In 2021, Caleb Lee Hutchinson Released His EP, Slot Machine Syndrome
Additionally, in 2021, the Georgia native released his EP, Slot Machine Syndrome, produced by GRAMMY-award winning producer, Dave Cobb.
“I believe this is the most representative sounding of myself than anything I’ve put out thus far,” Hutchinson previously told Music Mayhem of the project. “It’s easily the most involved I’ve ever been in any project, and I wrote all of the songs, if not by myself – I wrote them with some of my favorite writers. I was just very inspired this year with everything going on, just to make something that I was genuinely proud of, and I think we accomplished that mission.”
He then went on to explain the meaning behind the title of the EP.
“Slot Machine Syndrome refers to this idea that if you put so much into a thing, and eventually you just keep putting into it because you expect this significant outcome, the big payoff, and that doesn’t always happen,” he shared. “I just thought it was applicable to more than just relationships…”
Hutchinson is set to perform on Saturday, July 30 at Country Fan Fest in Tooele, Utah.
