How Luke Bryan keeps that 'special magic' with fans as he closes out second Nashville decade

A phone call with The Tennessean interrupts Luke Bryan on a rare day off during a tour cycle that finds him selling out Bridgestone Arena for the sixth consecutive time in a decade on Aug. 12.

As one would expect when conversing with the 30-time chart-topping mainstream country music favorite, he's caught in the middle of "fixin' to head out to the lake for some fishing."

It would be expected if he said that he had also engaged in some hunting earlier in the day.

After all, "Huntin', Fishin' and Lovin' Every Day" was the title of Bryan's 14th No. 1 single, released in 2015.

"I'm just trying to [embody] who and what I am -- not some fictitious version of my artistry and life," Bryan says.

He recalls circling Interstate 440 when he arrived in Nashville 16 years ago. The city's skyline and the downtown area were still sparkling with relatively new structures like the decade-old AT&T building and Bridgestone Arena (then known as the Gaylord Entertainment Center). The Country Music Hall of Fame was also roughly a half-decade into occupying its current 5th Avenue South location.

"I couldn't help but drive around on the highway while dreaming of conquering the music business and imagining how big my desire to be a sucker for the fun of the country music industry could take me."

Six levels and 30,000 square feet later, Bryan's joined those structures as a Lower Broadway destination point. His 32 Bridge bar and restaurant showcase how far he's come.

The performer's journey has found him to be as intrinsically linked to Music City's tourism, travel and pop cultural boom as hot chicken, Nashville Predators and Tennessee Titans playoff runs and downtown construction.

"I don't take it for granted," Bryan continues.

"One of the reasons so many country music fans are partying on Broadway is because the experience they're having there matches the authentic experience they're having with my music that matches my life. That's amazing."

Five years into his run in Music City, he stood side-stage as a lifelong Garth Brooks fan opening for Tim McGraw. The moment allowed him to begin to craft the elements of what has evolved into a superstar career built upon the development of a feel and vibe that he was always meant to be entertaining thousands of fans nightly.

"Once you've got it, you have to learn how to carry yourself as a superstar -- that involves working daily to keep the twinkle of enjoyment in your eye for being a part of the [music] business."

The creative process behind Bryan's latest single, "But I've Got A Beer in My Hand," provides a bird's eye view into how he continues to weave a "twinkle" of enjoyment into his work.

"This one feels like one that's an easy sell to the crowd -- sure, there are a lot of songs about beer out there, but this one has a fun, relatable story about getting over a heartbreak and I can visualize people dancing and singing along to it. As soon as I heard it, it naturally made me smile. I figure if a song does that for me, then it'd do the same for my fans," Bryan adds.

"At this point, my fans and I are extensions of each other -- regular people who might have a streak of luck [every so often]."

Bryan's closing out his second Nashville decade and preparing to enter his third.

As this era highlights him as the CMA Awards co-host (alongside NFL Hall of Famer Peyton Manning) or a brand pitchman, a legacy is developing around the type of entertainment songs in his catalog inspire.

Alongside his downtown Nashville bar, he's also a regular resident at Las Vegas' Resorts World Hotel, plus the host of January's Crash My Playa vacation destination festival in Quintana Roo, Mexico and supporting farming families nationwide via his Farm Tour events.

Whether he's awkwardly shimmying while proclaiming his love of "Country Girls" who like to "shake it" for the birds, bees, catfish, crickets, critters and squirrels, rolling out in a lifted pickup truck on 35-inch tires for "[his] kind of night," or "praying in a deer stand" on a Sunday morning, Bryan's a generation-defining salesman of country music's positive virtues.

"There's a certain charisma and ability to enjoy the spotlight while championing country music and its lifestyles that makes people engage with my songs. The day I stop having fun doing all of this is the day I'll retire."

Bringing country music to American Idol

Regarding country music's future, he excitedly discusses his nearly decade-long work as a judge on ABC's American Idol.

Two of the program's three judges -- Lionel Richie and Bryan -- have notable country roots, while another, Katy Perry, has a history that includes work in country-adjacent Christian music.

Moreover, in the past five years, Chayce Beckham's career was kick-started by winning the show, while artists Gabby Barrett and Huntergirl have excelled as program finalists.

A century after its genesis, Bryan feels like programs like Idol placing an even brighter spotlight on country music hasn't caused the genre to turn from requiring its best artists to be authentically relatable personalities.

When pushed as to what it takes for an artist to emerge past the show to sustainable Nashville stardom, he pauses and makes a simple yet complex point.

"They've gotta have that special magic. You're born with that and the creators of Idol have always done well to find kids who have that 'it factor.' We can work with them when the season is on the air -- which we do. But when the lights are off and the world's eyeballs aren't looking at them, those kids have to work their butts off to make it happen."

He's humbled by his longevity when asked how he views a career that's allowed him an average of two No. 1 singles yearly for 15 years.

"The beauty and blessings of having a long career are that I've matured from being a young artist playing party songs at college bars to taking the creative journey and morphing into an artist who can still have fun while being a master of my merit and remaining honest to myself."

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Ahead of Nashville show, Luke Bryan opens up on country, American Idol