In an era when Americans are more connected — and yet also more divided — than ever before, LOCASH’s Preston Brust and Chris Lucas are offering up a dose of big-picture solidarity with their new single, “One Big Country Song.” And at the 2019 CMA Music Festival, they got proof of the power behind their optimistic message.
Speaking with Sounds Like Nashville before their set at Ascend Amphitheater’s Firestone Country Roads Stage Thursday night, June 6th, Brust and Lucas explained what CMA Fest is all about. Even though artists now have direct access to fans through social media, they said, there’s no replacing face-to-face time — not even with FaceTime — and it’s a lot harder for people to focus on their differences when it happens.
“This is that time of the year that everybody can depend on that physical connection,” Brust said, nodding to the series of big shows and appearances the “I Love This Life” singers had on tap. “The eye to eye, the handshakes and autographs. … It’s not just Instagram, it’s a real, person-to-person thing.”
“I think that’s what country music is about,” Lucas agreed. “It’s a family thing. Once you realize we’re all built around family, that we’re all somebody’s son or somebody’s daughter, it’s one of those things.”
That’s also the theme of the duo’s latest single, “One Big Country Song,” which celebrates the little things that tie people from all walks of life together. Sure, everyone is unique in their own way, the beers-in-the-air anthem reminds, but we’re all part of the same “song” in the end.
“There’s no drawing lines in the sand here,” Lucas explained. “We all live in America and we need each other, that’s what this song is. I was telling someone else, ‘I feel like music is the only thing that can actually bring us all together, because it’s something we can agree on – we all like to listen to music.’ When that song comes on that makes you smile, we all have a song like that that does that to us, something that changes us. We want [LOCASH’s] music to be like that, and I feel like our new single is that song.”
“One Big Country Song” is out now and is part of the duo’s latest album, Brothers. Brust and Lucas will be on the road all summer long, joining tour lineups with Chris Young and Rascal Flatts.
