Luke Bryan is still as busy as ever when it comes to his career, between releasing music, touring and serving as a judge on American Idol. Amidst all that, he makes sure to prioritize his personal life, telling PEOPLE that he’s working on the balance of being a “celebrity” and a “good dad and a good friend.”
Bryan and his wife Caroline share sons Bo, 17, and Tate, 15, and the country star said he always tries “to keep it real with the family and the boys” when it comes to his job. “They’ve grown up in this lifestyle, so when I get off the road, they really don’t care where Dad’s been,” he explained. “They want to go hang with Dad, go get in the woods or do stuff like that, and that keeps me grounded.”
“I just wake up, put my pants on and get to work,” the Georgia native continued, referencing his upbringing. “And growing up on a farm and [with] family, kind of have that working mentality. But what grounds me is my family, my boys. Going back home to the farm, and fishing, and hunting, and golfing and taking the family on all that stuff.”
Bryan has been in country music for over 20 years at this point, and he’s not planning on slowing down, sharing that as long as there are songs he’s “excited” about, he’ll continue to share them.
“With me, as long as I can have a balance of writing music and finding new music from songwriters in Nashville, as long as I can find music that excites me to perform for the rest of my life, and it excites me to present it to my fans and future fans,” he said. “And as long as I feel like I can reinvent a little bit, I don’t want to get out there on an island and do stuff that’s just totally left-footed.”
In what he calls the “back half” of his career, Bryan is simply focused on feeling good when he’s at work.
“I want to keep pushing myself to be a better singer and a better musician and just make sure from here on out, the rest of my life, when I’m on stage, it’s on my terms and I’m having fun,” he continued. “I don’t want to be going to a photo shoot and complaining about it. I want to try to make sure I’m enjoying every aspect of my career because, thank God, that’s the work I put in to get to this point, to just enjoy the back half of the career.”
Luke Bryan is currently serving as a judge on Season 9 of American Idol, and he’s also gearing up to hit the road this year on his Word On The Street Tour and his now-traditional Farm Tour. The Word On The Street Tour begins on May 29 and runs for several months through September 26. Bryan will be joined by special guests including Drew Baldridge, Karley Scott Collins, Lanie Gardner, Randall King, Zach John King, Shane Profitt, Raelynn, Lauren Watkins, Jake Worthington and DJ Rock, who will rotate support on select dates.
