What Inspired That Luke Bryan Song? He’s Telling All on ‘Backstage Country!’

Country superstar Luke Bryan is trading the stadium lights for the radio mic this week as he co-hosts Backstage Country with Elaina Smith. From August 11–15, the five-time Entertainer of the Year steps into the host chair to share more than just good music. He’s bringing the stories behind some of his biggest hits.

Bryan described “Country Song Came On” as a tribute to the honky tonk era of country music. “I grew up learning guitar and building my band, my first band back in high school and college, listening to 90s honky tonk music.” He added, “So when I heard it, it just felt like an environment that was so comfortable to me, an environment that I spent a lot of time [in]. I have spent some time and honky tonks on stage and out on the dance floor. And I love the fact that this guy was trying to have a simple night, but boy, the right country song came on and everything kind of changed.”

Smith asked Bryan if he considers “Rain Is a Good Thing” as his first number one song, since there are some technicalities with the charts. The Georgia native replied, “Well, I was number one in one chart, and I guess ‘Rain Is a Good Thing’ probably was number one in both charts. So, I kind of consider it my first one.” He chuckled, “But, you know, ‘Rain Is a Good Thing’ is really special because I wrote it with just me and one of my best friends, Dallas Davidson. He and I wrote from a saying that we grew up hearing down in Georgia. The saying was, ‘Rain makes corn, corn makes whiskey.’”

He continued, “A lot of guys would, when you had a whiskey drink, you'd be like, ‘Here's to the...’ it was like a little ‘Cheers.’ So, the fact (that) we were able to take that little thought and build a fun, up-tempo, high-energy song around it that still, to this day, when I play it and you kick off the guitar lick and the energy of it. That part of my career, I was really trying to find out who I was really as an artist, still then.”