Campus Programming and Relations brought three well-known country artists to campus on April 1 for the event of the year.
It was a homelike atmosphere and the artists John and TJ Osborne, who are in fact brothers, took it upon themselves to make it comfortable. John and TJ are from Deale, Maryland and were born into a family of musicians.
“In our family it was like learning to ride a bike, you just learned to play guitar,” TJ said.
The two moved to Nashville and went their separate ways to develop individual music careers but merged to form the Brothers Osborne. They work well as brothers and their favorite part of being on the road is getting to see their fans.
“A lot of fans are different in various parts of the country so when you get there you get very pure and real feedback,” TJ said.
The Brothers Osborne use their fans’ feedback during shows to test out what is or isn’t working with many of their new and upcoming songs.
The most difficult part about traveling for the brothers is being away from home. They often miss their pets and family back home. “Some days it’s great to be on the road and other days you are just genuinely exhausted,” John said.
The brothers may find it hard to be away from home for so long, but they said that being with the fans and hearing their positive feedback makes it worth it.
The two enjoyed Platteville, discussing how they have been all over Wisconsin and how amazed they are at the hospitality shown here. John even went to the local bike shop and needed a fix last minute and they fixed it up for free.
“We love coming up here, people up here are huge music fans and we don’t play a lot of cover songs, we play original material. Some places that simply doesn’t work but here they just like and appreciate good music,” TJ said.
One of their newest singles is called “Stay a Little Longer.” The brothers enjoyed writing this song because they wrote it to be different from most love songs on the radio today. They thought it would be great to write a love song in-between the happy falling in love stage and the break-up.
“There are a lot of songs about being in love and it being all peachy and there are songs that talk about having your heart broken, but there isn’t anything in between, where you question is it happening is it not happening. We wanted a song that really personified that,” TJ said.
They wanted their lyrics and music to evoke emotions in the fans.
The Brothers Osborne have worked with Dustin Lynch before and were excited to get the chance to work with him again.
The tour bus atmosphere was similar to that of the Brothers Osborne. The most notable difference was that Lynch is already recognized in the industry, whereas the Brothers Osborne are still establishing themselves.
Dustin Lynch is from Tennessee and moved to Nashville in 2003 to pursue his career in music. Lynch did not know anyone in the industry upon arrival.
“I just had a burning desire to write songs, I knew I loved performing on stage because I performed with three of my buddies back home,” Lynch said.
Lynch loves traveling through the country; it is his favorite part about his profession. Lynch also said he loves hearing the fans sing back to him. He loves the connection with fans when he is on stage and explains that is what keeps him going after doing over 250 shows a year.
“It’s always new faces and that connection is something you get only at live concerts. It’s cool to see the songs we’ve written and worked hard on take life on stage and share it together with the fans,” Lynch said.
Lynch explained that one of the hardest parts is being away from family and friends. They come to his concerts but he ultimately dislikes missing out on birthdays and other similar events.
“It’s also really tough to have a hobby. I love being outdoors, hunting and fishing, but I don’t have enough time to get those things done. Our days off we try and take advantage of that time,” Lynch said.
Another thing Lynch enjoys in his free time is being surrounded by blue water; he loves snorkeling and surfing. Anything tropical is a reset button for Lynch.
Lynch enjoyed seeing fans when he rolled up into Platteville partying on the roofs and lawns. It made him excited for the show to see that people were planning on having a good time that night.
“Everyone that has been helping us out whether they are students or not on campus has been really great and hospitable to us,” Lynch said.
The two bands had great things to say about one another and go way back said Lynch. Both were excited to share the Platteville crowd with each other.