Interview: Tyler Hubbard

Tyler Hubbard: “Write what you know and know what you write.”

The Florida Georgia Line man opens up on his new solo album ‘Strong’ and explores themes of loss and remembrance

A multi-Platinum hit-maker with 21 No 1s to his name, Tyler Hubbard is no stranger to writing chart-topping songs, but with his upcoming album Strong, Hubbard is hoping his fans will get to know him better as a solo artist. Previously the “Georgia” half of the country-duo Florida Georgia Line, Hubbard’s release of Strong marks his second album as a solo artist. The album follows the success of his self-titled debut album, which was released in January 2023 and has received over one billion global streams. After selling out his Canadian headlining tour, Hubbard is currently on the road playing both solo shows and as the opener for Kane Brown’s upcoming international In The Air Tour. 

Hubbard spoke with Songwriting Magazine about the writing process being Strong, including why he likes to bring co-writers out with him on tour, the reasons he finds writing alone significant, and his hopes for the album’s impact on listeners… 

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First off, how do you see the evolution of your songwriting style reflected in the lyrics of Strong?

“Oh, good question. You know, as a songwriter, I’m always trying to evolve and get better. It feels like Strong was one of those songs that, when I hear, I’m proud of it. It takes me to the room that day when I was writing with Josh Miller and Matt Dragstrem. It felt like a song that was super real and authentic to me. I think the word ‘strong’, which actually became the title track of the whole album, feels like it has a lot of depth to it. That word in general has a lot of heart behind it.

“Specifically with this song, it’s fun to sing and think about the strength in relationships and how valuable that is; whether it’s my wife, my children, the fans, my friends. Relationships that matter to me and relationships that I invest in, I try to make them strong. I think that’s something that happens over time. It’s something that takes effort and intentionality and it’s really fun to do that with the relationships that matter to me the most. So that’s kind of the heart behind that one. It was just a fun day of writing in Nashville with two of the best songwriters there are and getting to pour out my heart into this song.”

I want to talk about the one song that you wrote alone, which is the personal and introspective ‘73 Beetle. Can you tell us how that song came to you?

“It’s actually a couple years ago now. But, as you know, a lot of times I’ll be missing my dad. This car is sort of a reminder for me of him and one of the more special things that I have that he and I worked on for a lot of years. He passed away when I was 20, so we literally worked on it until then. It’s a special car and I wanted to write a song about it. I never really knew if it would get released or be on any projects, but I felt like it was important to put it on this project as kind of a cousin to Miss My Daddy on the first project.

“So it’s just something I wrote by myself; something that’s really personal and a true story and something that I hope people can relate to. I’m sure people that have dealt with loss have something that reminds them of the people that they love or the people that they lost. For me, it’s that car, and I wanted to share a little bit more of my heart to that song.”

So speaking about how ‘73 Beetle connects to Miss My Daddy, not only are you talking about your dad, but it’s also the second to last song on the album just like Miss My Daddy was. Prior to that release, you said that you hoped the song could be healing and therapeutic to listeners. Did the positive reaction to Miss My Daddy inspire you to put ‘73 Beetle on this album? 

“I heard a lot of people say how that song touched them and really struck a chord like no other song on the project. Especially for me now as a solo artist, I’m connecting with my fans on a personal level, it’s important to have a song or two that is very personal and very real and very raw and authentic and vulnerable.

Tyler Hubbard: “I really love bringing writers out on the road.”

“It’s not always easy to talk about loss and where my heart is at, where my head’s at, when it comes to missing my dad. It’s something that’s fairly constant. But at the same time, at this point, I find a lot of joy in the memories. So it’s fun to talk about and sing about and just kind of share with the world. Like you said, it was very healing for me. So my hope is that it continues to be healing for others and I hope they love it.”

I know some artists make it a point to include at least one solo write on their album. Did you purposely do that? Is this something you want to continue to do more of?

“As a songwriter, it’s important I try to make it a goal to at least write a song or two a year that’s just by myself. I’m super grateful to live in Nashville and be surrounded by so many great songwriters and get to co-write as a regular thing, but there’s something about trying to write a song by yourself. It keeps you sharp. It reminds me that I can still do it. And I think it’s important.

“So yeah, that’s what this song was for me. And like I said, I wrote it as kind of part of my story and really didn’t know if it would ever be shared with the world, but I’m excited to share it with the world. It’s a fun challenge to dig deep, get vulnerable and write something from the heart and sit around by yourself and try to express that through a song.”

When working with your co-writers, did you find any song easiest to write with them on this album, that came naturally and you wrote in one session? 

“All the songs were written in one session, now that I think about it. But, I would say Strong comes to mind. I wrote that pretty quickly with Josh Miller and Matt Dragstrem. And that was an easy write. I think Josh had the idea and we ran with it.

“Some days are a lot easier than others. Some days you’d beat your head against the wall trying to finish the song. But, a lot of these songs that I ended up recording kind of fell out fairly quickly. I think 11 out of 13 songs were written on the road on my tour bus last year. I really love bringing writers out on the road; bringing the live aspect to what I do, or to the songwriting part of what I do.

“I’m definitely all about digging in and if it takes two or three days to write a song and then I’m totally down to put in the time. But, fortunately, just getting to work with such great writers and very efficient approaches, it’s really fun how you can almost pull something out of thin air by the end of the day and have a great demo. It really paints a picture of what this song could be.”

As a songwriter, did you learn anything from making Strong or pick up anything from your co-writers process?

“I think the thing that separates this album from the last album is getting to channel energy from the live show and from the fans; actually, really writing this album for the fans. It’s been interesting because when I think about it, last year was the first time I got to meet my fans, see them at a show, see what they’re connecting with, see what songs they’re really resonating with, and take that. Then, also, look at the set and see what holes are missing and see what I’d really like to add to the set.

Tyler Hubbard: “As a songwriter, it’s important I try to make it a goal to at least write a song or two a year that’s just by myself.” Photo: Jimmy Fontaine

“I feel like this is the first album that I’ve made for the fans and I guess, reverse-engineered, if you will. It wasn’t written and then I tried to figure out how to put it into a set. It was kind of, ‘Let’s write some songs that would be fun to play live and that my fans would resonate with.’ So a lot of the songs you can just tell they’re songs that are going to be really fun to sing live. Then some songs that are really heartfelt and got a little meat on the bone.”

Is there any song that you haven’t sung live yet that you’re really excited to sing live?

“I’m excited to play Take Me Back as kind of a mid-tempo and just something that I want to see the fans reaction to and see if they’re really connecting with. I think that’s gonna be a lot of fun.

“I think Strong is gonna be a lot of fun to play. I haven’t played Park yet and that’s a rocker so that’ll be fun. Night Like That will be a lot of fun. So yeah, I’m excited to get back on the road, really dive in, and start playing a lot of these.”

Are there any specific messages or insights about you as an artist that you hope listeners take away from this album?

“Hmm, good question. I really hope that the fans just know me on a deeper level through this album. I hope that they resonate with my stories and my songs. I hope they feel like they can connect even more and are excited to come hang out at a show. And I hope they feel joy and happiness. I think that my music makes me happy. It feels like happy, fun country songs and I just hope that it can bring joy to people and make them smile, make them have a good time and also make them feel any and all the emotions.”

Based on what you learned from writing this album, what advice would you give aspiring songwriters?

“I usually tell songwriters that are asking for advice, ‘Write what you know and know what you write’. For me, I feel like that’s what I try to channel –  songs that I love, songs that I can connect with and relate to, and songs that are about life and things that I know about and things that I love. So that’s what I stick to. I think that that kind of reflects in the music; authenticity and vulnerability and all those things that, as a writer, you have to dip into and really try to pull from to connect with other people.”

And my last question for you is, how do you envision your songwriting evolving in the future?

“I’ll just continue to evolve, you know. I love writing all kinds of music. I love writing rock songs and hip-hop songs. I love country music, obviously, Christian songs, worship songs…

“So for me, it’s a constant evolution and it’s sort of a mixture. Also, I grew up listening to everything so it’s kind of a hybrid, if you will, of all my influences. So that’s always the goal as a writer, just continue to evolve. Continue to find cool and unique ways to say the same thing you said before and that everyone else has said. That’s ultimately the goal and just trying to write the best songs I can.”

Tyler Hubbard’s new album Strong is out on 12 April via EMI Nashville and Tyler is currently touring the US. For music, tickets and more head to tylerhubbardofficial.com

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