Florida Georgia Line building legacy with genreless approach
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Country duo Florida Georgia Line has built its career one hit song at a time thanks to key collaborations, while also taking quiet steps to establish a lasting songwriting legacy in Nashville.
Since blasting into the music scene in 2012 with “Cruise,” featuring Nelly, the duo of Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley is once again commanding the charts with Bebe Rexha on their co- written smash “Meant to Be.” The pop crossover hit is already three- times platinum and surpassed the number of weeks that “Cruise” spent atop the Billboard Hot Country chart. “Meant To Be” has been at the top for 28 weeks now, marking the longest time for a song by a woman to reign at No. 1, but it’s still behind the all- time country chart leader “Body Like a Backroad” by Sam Hunt at 34 weeks.
But aside from the unprecedented chart success, the duo has been investing a lot of time building up their publishing company, Tree Vibez, and its roster of more than a half- dozen writers, producers and artists.
In the Hillsboro Village neighborhood of Nashville, Hubbard and Kelley talked about the importance of songwriting inside their Tree Vibez headquarters. The front of the building is a clothing store that Kelley and his wife, Brittney, own, but the rest of the building has sunlit rooms filled with guitars, including a studio, an office and small balconies that look out onto leafy magnolia trees and the nearby campus of Belmont University, where they met as students.
“We’ve been on a hot streak lately,” Hubbard said. “I feel like all our writers are inspired. I don’t know if it’s this building. There’s such a cool energy here and I think that comes through and translates through the songs.”
Florida Georgia Line is arguably the biggest duo in country music since Brooks & Dunn, and their genreless approach to country music has gained them both plenty of fans and haters. They have three of the five longest- leading songs atop Billboard’s Hot Country chart, including “Cruise,” “H. O. L. Y.” and now “Meant To Be.”
“They tend to write the songs that make the whole world sing,” said Craig Wiseman, writer and owner of Big Loud, the publishing, management and record company that initially signed the duo.
They’ve collaborated with artists like The Chainsmokers, Hailee Steinfeld and the Backstreet Boys and have teased new work with Jason Derulo and Jason Aldean that will be on their upcoming fourth album.
“Meant to Be” came out of an improbable last- minute co- write in Los Angeles set up by their respective managers. Hubbard said they were at a loss for ideas as they headed over to the studio when his wife, Hayley, offered some advice.
“We were all talking about what’s this going to be like and who is Bebe Rexha anyway?” Hubbard said. “My wife says, ‘ You know what, you’ve already written a great song today. If it’s meant to be, it’ll be. Don’t worry about it.’”
Within hours, the three took that line and made it the chorus of the song. Although initially marketed as a pop song, it quickly crossed over to country markets.
The pair has survived being initially painted as bro- country partiers after their first album, “Here’s to the Good Times.” Each successive album has allowed them to reshape their image as they write about their faith and families. Both are married, and Hubbard is a new father. Their newest single, “Simple,” is yet another reinvention with a more stripped down, folk- rock sound.
After being honored as trailblazers by Billboard magazine recently, Kelley said they’ve been successful by not following a traditional path in country music.
“I think a trailblazer is someone that finds a different piece of real estate that they can own in the country music industry in a sense,” said Kelley, “We found our piece of real estate and owned it.”