Dustin Lynch treated fans to a concert earlier this month at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, FL, as part of the Audacy 2022 Stars & Strings. Proceeds from the annual concert, which also featured Jason Aldean, Kane Brown, Old Dominion, Randy Houser, and Elle King, benefitted the Wounded Warrior Project in support of veterans’ mental health.
Between shows, Lynch took to backstage, where he sat down with Audacy’s Rob + Holly to talk about a variety of topics, including his latest track, “Wood On The Fire,” his personal life, and more.
During the conversation, Lynch also shared his interest in collaborating with professional rapper and singer/songwriter Machine Gun Kelly.
“The song has to be right that would be the tough part,” Lynch says of the idea to duet with MGK, which he adds has been tossed around before. “We’ve talked about getting into the studio and writing just for fun, just to see what would happen. Like, what would my influence bring, what would their influence bring? Could we make a country song? Or I don’t even know what you would call it… but I love the idea of going there and just exploring. If we don’t get anything, we’ll catch a buzz and have a great time.”
An unlikely pairing perhaps, but Lynch and Kelly have been friends for quite some time. Lynch explains he and Kelly met during a lake trip, which saw them having the summer of a lifetime, jumping out of helicopters and catching waves at the beach with a group of people.
“I went a couple of years back; just a group of friends, and [we] became mutual friends,” Lynch says of his summer trip. “I’ve loved just hanging out and getting to connect because our worlds are so different, even though we both play music for a living most of the time, it’s completely different. It’s a different machine.”
“At the same time, we’re doing the same thing,” he admits. “We’re creating music and hoping people like it. It’s just different types of music.”
The “Party Mode” singer shared a video on social media earlier this year of him on a body of water in Miami, where he could be seen hanging out with MGK and others while getting some bucket list activities accomplished.
“Day off….sent it #Mainstream Sellouts 🏴☠️,” Lynch captioned the Facebook clip, which finds the group surfing on the water.
Of course, there’s no timetable of if or when a Lynch/Kelly duet will occur. For now, fans can add Lynch’s current slow-burning single, “Wood On The Fire,” to their playlist. The track, which dropped in mid-September just in time for the cold weather season, is all about two people who consistently share a desire for one another despite their relationship fizzling out.
When asked what his favorite lyric is from the tune, Lynch says, “Girl, I know the winter gets cold, and what you know is comfortable.”
“It’s cuffing season right now,” he reasons, “It’s very appropriate. Everybody wants a snuggle bud in the cold months.”
And for Lynch the search for that “snuggle bud” is on as he confesses, “I’m kinda lonely right now, going into November with nobody… dang!”
Lynch’s most recent public relationship was with actress and model Kelli Seymour. The country star recently told People that his relationship didn’t survive the 2020 World Health Crisis.
“I learned so much about myself, what I want out of life, and what I want out of my future partner. There’s no regret, but I think I found a lot of clarity after that happened, and we started recording this album,” he said of the split, which inspired his 2022 fifth studio album, Blue In The Sky, which dropped ahead of his current single.
Despite that relationship fizzling out, Lynch is in good spirits and has quite a busy schedule ahead.
“We decided this year, it’s ‘Party Mode’ time, so say ‘yes’ to all events, and a couple of those events have been epic,” Dustin explains.
In 2023, Lynch will take the road as a supporting act for Kane Brown’s Drunk or Dreaming Tour. He is also scheduled to return for the seventh year at Luke Bryan’s Crash My Playa 2023.
