Russell Dickerson has released his single ‘Yours,’ and let’s just say it has become an instant hit! It has been considered The Knot’s “Best Wedding Song of 2016” and is a sure fire connector to girls and guys everywhere. He had an interview with NECM to talk about the single and touring opportunities!
So let’s get right to the question I’m sure everyone that hears the song wants to know; does Russell have a significant other behind this song? The answer is yes! The song was written about Mrs. Dickerson. Russell explains that “she is the inspiration behind the song. I wrote it with a few of my college friends who had actually seen our entire relationship top to bottom, from the beginning, and it’s just a sum up of our story.” Now you can only imagine as to why it landed on The Knot’s “Best Wedding Song of 2016!”
As far being nominated under that category, Russell never intended for that to happen. “As we were writing the song it never even crossed our minds. It wasn’t like ‘oh, what would a bride like to hear walking down the aisle?’” he said laughing. “We just wrote a super honest song and I think that’s why it has connected so well. I’m actually married, and I wrote a song about being married.” He then later informed NECM that he gets invited to a wedding almost everyday and he has a message to those fans; “if you’re reading this, we love you guys! I would love to make it to every single one of these weddings!”
The video for ‘Yours’ isn’t your traditional lovey-dovey music video that you would imagine it to be. It actually has some really cool fun facts behind it that Russell gave insight on!
1.) Russell’s wife created the idea for the video! “She is the visual person behind all this. She does all my Instagram, all the live pictures and everything. And she liked the idea of me walking towards her singing the song.”
2.) Russell’s wife also shot and edited the video! “She produced the whole thing! It was a very minimal setup but it was so impactful.”
3.) The storm that you see in the video is 100% real! “It was like an act of God with the storm rollin’ in. The rain is 100% real, the lightning is 100% real. Her and God were behind this video, that’s what I say.”
4.) The girl that is briefly featured in the video is his wife. “Yes, that babe is in fact my wife!”
The EP and title track were named ‘Yours’ because of how it felt to Dickerson. “It was the leading track and it just felt right to roll with the momentum that we had from it.” For the track, Russell played the guitar solo. He is a multi-instrumental artist, but the only one he played on the record was the guitar. However, on the demo he played pretty much everything except the drums.
Dickerson credits satellite radio to his success. “Thanks to XM radio and Spotify, those are the two platforms that have jump started and really gotten this thing off the ground for me. We’re hitting 30 million streams on these streaming sources and we sold over 100,000 copies of ‘Yours’ and that’s thanks to Sirius.” He says that there is a certain kind of responsibility that comes to having your song played on radio and that you have to be prepared to handle all the success that follow. When asked how the success from this single has affected him, he responded with; “It made me feel more confident as a songwriter and artist. I’ve been writing songs for five years and I’ve had some cuts here and there. The fact that a song connects on such a huge level, it’s gratifying for sure.”
As for the touring part of the conversation; Russell is set to play the Tortuga Music Festival in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in April and he could not contain his excitement when talking about Tortuga. “I’ve heard so many crazy things about Tortuga and I cannot freaking wait!!” He said with the help of ‘Yours,’ he was able to get access to the festival. Before the single came out Russell said that they played maybe one festival a year. “I’m so pumped that we have a song that’s working and giving us the ability to have awesome slots so people can come see me.”
Russell is set to tour with Thomas Rhett starting in February 2017 on the Home Team Tour. With being able to get on a big tour like the Home Team Tour so early into the success of ‘Yours,’ Russell was stunned. “I had no record deal, and I had a song that was doing so well. So now did I not only have a song that was taking off bigger than artists with a deal, I also got asked to go on the Thomas Rhett tour,” he said before adding in a little chuckle. “I really respect Thomas for not only picking me, but for picking an artist that didn’t have a deal and he saw that and believed in me, stood by me and he fought for that. So I really appreciate him doing that for sure.”
Aside from touring with Thomas Rhett and at Tortuga, Russell has been doing a little bit of solo touring as well. The Yours Tour began this fall and was his very first headlining tour. “It’s been an incredible turnout. Usually we’re opening up for Billy Currington, Canaan Smith, or whoever. But this time they bought their tickets to see me and that’s what I’ve been working towards the entire time.”
But of all the venues, Russell has gotten to play this year, none were as overwhelming as his Grand Ole Opry debut this past summer. He gushed, humbly, “Oh my gosh, that was one of the most emotional moments of my career. I cried. I’ve cried twice in my career and my first time was performing at the Grand Ole Opry when they called my name to come stand out in the circle where almost every country legend has played and built a career.” The second time Russell cried was when he got a record deal.
Russell had one last message to get out to his fans before the end of our interview: “Tell them I love them. Thank you for the support. I literally couldn’t do this without them. All I have is my fans and they are what keeps me going.”
You can get the single ‘Yours’ and the EP now. Be sure to check out the Home Team Tour in 2017 with Russell and Thomas Rhett, and maybe even fly down to warmer weather and take a peek at the Tortuga Music Festival, too!