Progressive Country Singer Bryan Andrews Doesn’t Care If Nashville Likes Him: ‘I Knew There Was Going to Be Highs and Lows In Doing This’
Categoria: Musica
"The Older I Get" singer-songwriter is forging his own path in country music.
Por Billboard | 13/08/2026
Country artist Bryan Andrews hails from a one stoplight town in Carroll County, Missouri with no buildings higher than two stories — but his music has taken him around the country, deeply influencing his world views. Those views, which often lean to the progressive left, are expressed in his music in such songs as “Yeehaw,” “Are We Great Yet” and “The Older I Get,” all featured on his aptly-titled July EP, Independence Day . They have also resonated deeply with his more than 3.8 million TikTok and 1.5 million Instagram followers. Standout track “The Older I Get,” which takes on big pharma, the Epstein files, ICE and un-Christ-like behavior by so-called Christians, reached No. 3 on Billboard ’s Country Digital Song Sales chart last year. Between its release and the new EP, Andrews popularity — and and notoriety — has only increased. Come November, Andrews’ will embark on his headlining Taking My Flag Back tour, his biggest outing yet that not coincidentally, kicks off on Election Day, Nov. 5, in Washington, D.C. The WME-booked artist capped tickets at $28, with a certain percentage going to a charity to be named shortly. During a recent trip to Los Angeles, Andrews — who is also a former welder — talked to Billboard about his career and how he manages being an outspoken liberal in a format known for its conservative bent. You wrote EP track “Yeehaw,’’ a hardcore song calling conservatives sheep for not standing up to ICE, with Laura Veltz, one of Nashville’s top songwriters. How did that come about? We had just started writing together right when I was wanting to do that mixtape. We had written a couple other songs too that are great and, hopefully, we’ll get to put them out someday. I wrote “Yeehaw” with her [and] Lou Ridley, who’s going on tour with me, and the producer Steve Rusch. That’s one of my favorite rooms I’ve ever been in. Every time I’m in Nashville, we always try to put that room back together, Are there writers who don’t want to write with you in Nashville because of your political views? I’m sure there are. I’ve never been explicitly told, “I’m not writing with him.” I think most of that stuff goes through management anyway, so if that did ever occur my team wouldn’t tell me about it probably. But there’s definitely people out there that I would never even reach out to write with. Do you want to name names? No. We just see the world differently and that is what it is. If they don’t want to write with me, I don’t hold it against anybody. Even if they agree with me, but don’t want to align themselves with me or whatever I’m doing, then I won’t hold it against them. You live your life the way you want to. You call yourself a protest singer and have mentioned some of the artists that you grew up listening to that you also consider protest singers, including N.W.A., Tupac and Rage Against the Machine. Have you ev