Tyler Hubbard spoke about going solo after spending more than a decade in Florida Georgia Line. The interview comes at the heels of Hubbard’s sophomore solo album, which arrived on Friday (April 12).
Hubbard spoke with Southern Living Editor-in-Chief Sid Evans on the latest episode of the Biscuits & Jam podcast on Tuesday (April 16). Throughout the conversation, the Georgia-born singer-songwriter spoke about what he learned from spending a dozen years in the hit-making duo with Brian Kelley, the next chapter of his career, inspiration from his family — including wife Hayley Hubbard and their three children, Olivia, Luca and Atlas — and more. Hubbard and Kelley announced they would take a “break” from Florida Georgia Line in 2022. They’ve both pursued solo projects since then.
The “5 Foot 9” star said “there's a lot of experience that happens in 12 years. So I'm really grateful to be able to have an opportunity to take everything I learned over the first go around, if you will, and kinda reapply it into the second go around with a more mature perspective and a great support team, great management. Now I have three kids and a wife. When we started it was just me and BK and the band, and we didn't have anything to lose. We really started from ground zero the first time, and although I have sorta started in a sense from ground zero, I still have the experience, I still have the catalog and the history.”
Hubbard also said on Biscuits & Jam, when speaking about pursuing his solo career after Florida Georgia Line, “that it's hard to do it within the confines of being in a partnership because the other partner can't relate to that or doesn't understand it. Not that we couldn't have done that regardless… you know, BK could've said, ‘Hey, let's write about your story, and let's share this song.’ That could've probably happened, but I think it would've struck a little bit of a different cord being in the dynamic of a band as opposed to one individual person who's gone through the story and is sharing from the heart."
Hubbard said he still has “a little bit of a fan base” from his Florida Georgia Line fans, and he’s “rebuilding” a new one as he releases his solo work. He said “there's people that have never heard of Tyler Hubbard that love FGL, and there's people that love Tyler Hubbard… there's kids that love my music and don't even really know ‘Cruise.’” Hubbard said he enjoys “being a solo artist where I can get super personal and super real and raw with my story and with some of my songs,” including with his family.
"I get to come home to beautiful healthy kids and a beautiful wife, and it's just a good reminder of why I'm doing it and what really matters, and I'm pulling inspiration from the life I'm getting to live and the blessings around me, and so it's almost sweeter the second time around to be honest,” Hubbard said. “The first time was great. I'll never forget it and never take it for granted, but it's really been sweet the second go around and getting to do it the way I'm doing it."
Hubbard’s new 13-track album, Strong, arrived in time to kick off the weekend. the projct includes “Wish You Would,” “A Lot With A Little,” “Back Then Right Now,” “Vegas” and other highlights. It follows his self-titled debut last year. Hubbard said via his record label that Strong is about “self-discovery: and “opening yourself up and you’re being vulnerable. …I also just hope brings people joy. I think there’s a lot of fun on this album. I think there’s a lot of joy in my heart, in my spirit, for my life and for my family, and I hope that it overflows into my music and I hope people hear the album or come to a live show, I hope they leave feeling kind of filled up with joy and just made a good memory that they can take with them.”
In the next chapter of his career, Hubbard is “really taking my time,” he told Evans. “I’m enjoying the process. I'm really grateful not only to be doing it again, because of the pandemic and the thing that took it all away for a while, but now just this new season, getting to reconnect with the fans in a more personal way and just… I don't know, man. I just feel a little older, a little bit wiser and a whole lotta gratitude in my heart.”