Russell Dickerson on his new song 'Love You Like I Used To,’ the pressure of creating hits: I'm 'here to stay'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Russell Dickerson is on a roll.
A little over two years after the release of his first album, "Yours" -- which saw three songs hit No. 1 on the country music charts -- the 32-year-old artist is gearing up to release his sophomore album, recently debuting one of the singles, "Love You Like I Used To," which is inspired by his wife, Kailey.
"It's the follow-up to [the lead single of his first record] 'Yours.' Quite literally," Dickerson told Fox News. "With 'Yours,' we'd been married six months when we wrote that song.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We've been married for six years now," he continued. "If 'Yours' is the wedding song and it's like, 'Where are they now?' Boom! 'Love you like I used to, This gets better every time I kiss you' -- [that] kind of idea."
However, writing a song about a loved one proved to be no easy task for Dickerson. The country music singer-songwriter explained that he actually had to write the song twice after it initially got rejected by Kailey.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The first time at the beginning of January 2018, I played it for her, and she was like, 'I don't think we really nailed it.' I was like, 'Excuse me?' But really, deep down me and the other two writers were like, 'Yeah. We honestly didn't,'" he recalled. "So thank you, Kailey, for your honesty.'"
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"The first time at the beginning of January 2018, I played it for her, and she was like, 'I don't think we really nailed it.' I was like, 'Excuse me?'"
After Kailey's input, Dickerson and co-writers Parker Welling and Casey Brown went back to the drawing board, re-working the song completely.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"[It was] a whole different instrumentation and all different lyrics," he explained.
As for if she loved the end result? "Oh yeah. She was like 'There we go! There's the potential I knew you were all capable of,'" he gushed.
When asked if he feels any pressure to deliver hits following three chart-topping singles, Dickerson admitted he "definitely does."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"But I love it," he shared. "I thrive on pressure. I take it and I'm like, 'Alright. I got you. Let's keep this going.'"
He continued: "I really do thrive under that and I'm excited to show the world we're not a three-hit wonder or our first album was a stick or anything. It's like, 'No. Russell Dickerson is here to stay and he's here to play the long game with great songs.'"
"I'm excited to show the world we're not a three-hit wonder or our first album was a stick or anything."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}And Dickerson couldn't help but bare all during the songwriting process.
"That doesn't mean it's slow acoustic songs," he noted. "It's uptempo songs that incorporate great songwriting and I think that's what I'm most proud of -- is stepping up of maturity in this record.
"There [are] a few songs that are on a different level like 'Love You Like I Used To' and 'Home Sweet,'" he continued, adding that the latter song talks about life milestones — like buying a home and starting a family.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Some of it is hypothetical at this time," Dickerson said. "But these songs, I'm so proud of the writing."
In addition to getting ready for the release of his second record, Dickerson is currently on the Worldwide Beautiful Tour with fellow country music star Kane Brown.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"He's obviously blowing up," Dickerson said of the star, 26. "It's so cool to be a part of someone else who is a genre-[bender]. He is taking country music all over the place. He's not scared to do a pop collab or anything like that, and me too. I'm like, 'Let's go. Let's take country music to the freaking world!'"
Of course, while Dickerson goes from city to city playing shows, it goes without saying that he's on the road with the person who's been there from the start: Kailey.
"Kailey's been putting the hours since we were in a band; since we were engaged," Dickerson shared. "She would set up all of the merch. She would design the merch. She would take all of the pictures on the road for the four people who wanted a meet-and-greet after the show.
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"She would line those people up and take the picture. She's been the road warrior and she's still out here with us."