Ryan Hurd is coming off the biggest year of his career — and this year looks to continue that momentum in more ways than one.The country singer’s 2019 breakout hit “To a T” hit the Top 20 and was certified Gold earlier this year, and last fall he announced that he’s expecting his first child with wife and fellow country star Maren Morris, this spring.With a baby on the way, Hurd has been touring his September EP, “Platonic,” all over the country on a sold-out headlining tour and. After taking a short break to welcome their baby into the world, Hurd and Morris will take their newborn on the road this summer for RSVP: The Tour.Ahead of one of his sold-out shows at Gramercy Theatre in New York City earlier this month, before much of public life ground to a halt in the United States, In The Know’s Gibson Johns caught up with Ryan Hurd to talk about how touring has evolved for him as his career continues to take off, prepping for fatherhood, having admiration for Katy Perry and why the timing “couldn’t be better” for his first child.Check out our interview with Ryan Hurd below:You’re playing two sold-out shows at the Gramercy Theatre in New York City. I feel like country concerts here have a different energy. Does it feel different performing here than in other places?It’s interesting, because I’ve asked people who come for meet-and-greets where they’re from, and a lot of them come in from hours away in Jersey or Long Island or Connecticut … it isn’t easy to get here, but seeing anything in New York City makes it more special. The coolest part about our genre is that it’s grown so much in the last 10 years. The biggest shows are in the biggest markets. There are massive festivals in the middle of nowhere, but because there are so many country music fans, our biggest markets are still New York and Chicago.It must feel pretty special that these shows can attract so many people.The coolest part is that there’s so much to do in New York, so to sell out a room like this on a Thursday night means that people have been circling this on their calendar. That’s the thing — they could be doing anything, and they’re coming to see you; it’s not as though you’re the only game in town. We love to tour in the North when it’s wintertime, because we don’t like competing with Lake Michigan in the summer, but still, you can do anything here, and I’m really blessed that we’ve worked hard enough to have a fan base up here.These shows are part of the Platonic Tour, and you’re bringing songs from the “Platonic” EP on the road for the first time. What has it been like performing your newest material live? It’s been unexpected to see the reaction to these songs that we just put out, because we didn’t have any radio push — it’s literally just people who are fans and demanding it. There are no tricks or marketing behind it, and I don’t mean to throw anybody under the bus saying that there was no marketing, but what it is is that we’ve developed a fan base where we can’t really give them enough music. There are hardcore people who have been here a couple of years. A lot of people who are fans of me found me because of Maren [Morris], but it’s been cool to talk to people who say that they’ve been a fan of me since I came out. Some people even tell me that they listen to me and then discover Maren, which is not a lot of them [Laughs] — but I’ve had a couple of people say that. It’s cool to have cultivated my own thing. I know that that’s a lot of people’s first thought, that I’m her husband and I’m totally fine with that, but it’s fun to have a tour like this and music that stands on its own two feet that really connects with our shared fan base.Which songs from “Platonic” have been connecting the most with fans in a live setting?“Platonic,” the title track?Yeah, I love that song the most. That’s my favorite. We start with it, and it sets a tone. I’m not salty about the fact that it didn’t go to radio, because we were still working “To A T,” which was on the radio for, like, 53 weeks, so [“Platonic”] just kind of got blocked, which sucks. I understand the way that timing works, but it’s cool to see it live and give it that moment. I just think it bangs, bro! I’m really proud of that song.
Source : aol.com/entertainment
Source : aol.com/entertainment