What Makes Luke Bryan So... Luke Bryan?!

I could ask you who the hottest man in country music is, and chances are that before I finished my sentence you would have shouted out "Luke Bryan!!!".  And, well, you wouldn't be wrong.  Luke Bryan has taken the country music world by storm, and seemingly overnight.  Just hearing his name sends women into a frenzy, and yet, in an interesting twist, guys seem to love him almost as much.  While the ladies focus mainly on his tight jeans, his dance moves, and that faaaantastic butt, guys just love how down-to-earth and fun Luke Bryan seems.  He likes to kick back and have a beer after a long day, he goes fishing on his rare days off, he wears baseball hats, he tends not to shave, and he sings songs that make you want to party.  In a sense, Luke embodies the cliché saying "girls want him and guys want to be him."  So what did he do to warrant this incredible popularity?  What makes Luke Bryan so damn... Luke Bryan?!

Having been a loyal Luke Bryan fan before most people had any idea that Luke Bryan even existed, this is a subject of great interest to me.  What does an up and coming country music artist have to do to go from being just another musician to being a household name?  Luke released his debut album "I'll Stay Me" in 2007, although he had been song writing for well known performers long before that.  For example, many people who claim to be Luke Bryan's biggest fan don't know that Billy Currington's most well-known hit 'Good Directions' was written by Mr. Bryan himself.  Luke gained some popularity with his song 'Rain is a Good Thing', but it wasn't until he released the undeniably dance-able single 'Country Girl (Shake It For Me)' that his career really took off.  From then, Luke has been unstoppable.  The song 'Drunk On You' off his third album really solidified Luke Bryan's place as one of the biggest superstars in country music.

Luke Bryan is an artist who goes above and beyond the call of duty.  He's the guy taking selfies with girls in the crowd at his shows.  He's the one drinking moonshine on stage, taking beers out of fans hands to shotgun between songs.  He releases a special "Spring Break" EP every March, with four or five new, fun songs for fans to get excited about.  Luke Bryan embodies the fun, rowdy, carefree life he sings about on his albums.  When he gets up on stage, he shines.  His energy and his enthusiasm are undeniable.  He loves being in the spotlight and never for a second comes across as a person who takes his success for granted.  When I saw Luke perform last year at Watershed, he grabbed a neon pink trucker hat off of a girl in the front row and wore it for the entire show.  Printed on the front of the hat were the words "Big Booty Hoe".  You can call him a lot of things, but Luke Bryan definitely doesn't take himself too seriously.

But not everyone is fooled by Luke's down-home charm and booty shakin' dance moves.  In a fairly recent interview with Barbara Beam, an on-air personality for Vancouver radio station JRFM, Zac Brown (of the Zac Brown Band) stated that Luke Bryan's hit song 'That's My Kinda Night' was "the worst song [he's] ever heard."  To Zac's credit, he did make sure to mention that he loves Luke and that he has put out some great music (true) but when it comes down to it, this specific song is kind of garbage (also true).  In 'That's My Kinda Night' Luke Bryan casually tosses together all the necessary ingredients to produce a number one country single in 2014: Moonlight?  Check!  Tailgate?  Check!  Big truck?  You betcha!  Sun tans?  Obviously!  Hot girl, beers, summer night?  Check, check aaaand check!  So was it a cop out?  I guess it was.  But as long as Luke keeps showing up excited to perform for his fans, putting on a great show every night and shaking that ass of his, I don't think many more people will be complaining (sorry, Zac).