Drew Baldridge Makes His Mark With Debut Album
Drew Baldridge is making his mark on country music with the release of his debut album, "Dirt On Us."
Five years ago this month, Drew Baldridge packed up his bags and hit the road for Nashville to follow his dreams of becoming a Country music singer/songwriter. Since then, he’s built up a solid fan base and given his career all he’s got. The result is the Illinois native’s recently-released debut album, Dirt On Us.
Released earlier this month, Dirt On Us, features 13 tracks, including Baldridge’s current single, “Dance With Ya.” The album introduces fans to Drew and his unique sound, which he likes to call “funktry,” his mix of Country with a little bit of funk.
“But it also has some parts on there of how I grew up, where I come from,” Baldridge recently explained to Sounds Like Nashville. “I came from a town of 600 people in southern Illinois, called Patoka. I graduated with 22 kids.”
His small town upbringing inspired songs like “Tractors Don’t Roll,” about how small farm towns shut down on Sundays, and the title track, “Dirt On Us,” a song written about his longtime friendship with a group of guys from his hometown.
The single, “Dance With Ya,” is making its way up the charts now and is a song that Baldridge set out to write simply because he wanted to have something to dance to.
“I was studying some of my favorite artists of all time, James Brown, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, and I realized in a lot of their music they all had a special musical moment where they could do a dance,” he recalled. “They could have fun and feel the groove. When I wrote ‘Dance With Ya,’ I came in to my writers and just kind of told them ‘hey guys, I want to write a song, a country song, that has a musical hook.'”
That’s exactly what they did, and it works. Fans can’t get enough of the song during Baldridge’s live shows.
After releasing his album and making his debut at the Grand Ole Opry this month, the singer is ready to take his show back on the road. Fans can catch Drew at fairs and festivals across the country all summer long.
For more with Drew Baldridge, check out the video above.
