An Exclusive Look at ERNEST and Delaney Royer's Stunning Nashville Farm

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ERNEST is an artist on the rise, and with his certified platinum hit, "Flower Shops," and an upcoming world tour, he's poised to have a huge year. His voice may be fairly new to some country radio listeners, but his words are not. He's the songwriter behind dozens of country hits (including Florida Georgia Line's "I Love My Country" and Sam Hunt's "Breaking Up was Easy in the 90s"), and he's breaking out with the release of his deluxe album, FLOWER SHOPS (THE ALBUM): Two Dozen Roses. But despite his recent success, the Nashville native stays seriously grounded, thanks to the life he's cultivated with his wife of six years, Delaney Royer, and their son, Ryman.

Delaney's Country Dream

One look at Delaney's Instagram, and it's clear that the couple is living the country dream. Delaney has carved out an idyllic garden, complete with a picturesque greenhouse and chicken coop. While her space looks well-established, she actually just began a few years ago during the pandemic. What started as a few pots of tomatoes and potatoes has grown exponentially.

"When he was stuck at home with me and we actually had time to kill, we decided to just go all out, and we dug up a 20 by 40 garden," Delaney tells Country Living. ERNEST went to Home Depot and rented a tiller: "It was pouring down rain, and it was the most manual labor I've ever done in my life, but by God I tilled up a garden."

Although she spent some of her childhood on a farm, Delaney is mostly self-taught. "My 10-year-old self is my inspiration through all of this, and then YouTube is my teacher," she says. Delaney also credits The Biggest Little Farm, a documentary about a couple who trades city life for 200 acres of farmland, "at least five times." Delaney and ERNEST now have three Australian shepherds ("two was a lot, a third was too much," ERNEST jokes) and, her latest passion, eight chickens. Delaney says, "I knew chickens could help me decompose all these tomatoes and break apart the bugs in the soil."

ERNEST draws inspiration from the space, too: "I do believe in genuine songwriting and the natural aspect of it, but when it comes to country living, she's actually about the agriculture of it," he says. "She has a great rapport with tomatoes and peppers."

The couple just bought a home on 5 acres, which means even more room for Ryman to roam, plus an expanded garden with an orchard, bees, and possibly a few goats. They joke that, with the current price of milk, a dairy cow isn’t out of the question.

Delaney’s love for animals and nature translated into a passion for photography when she was a teenager, and she soon swapped animals for people. She’s responsible for the visuals for ERNEST’s album, as well as other country music celebs (Morgan Wallen, Kelsea Ballerini, Chris Lane, Little Big Town, and Dan + Shay, to name a few). "She knew the country world before I did," ERNEST says.

Road Life

Up next, ERNEST is joining Morgan Wallen on his "One Night at a Time" world tour. It’s one of the most sought-after tickets of 2023, with dates spanning the globe from Australia to Canada and 20+ states across the U.S. Unlike previous tours, ERNEST will have his own bus this time, so he’ll get to bring a bit of home with him.

"I’ll get to personalize it a little more this year and have some pictures and probably some real plants. I’ll be able to make it more homey," he says. Ryman will have his own spot for times when he and Delaney join him. They do so as often as is possible with a busy toddler, looking for stops with zoos or parks so they can get outside.

Telling the "Flower Shops" Story

The deluxe album is filled with 24 songs, and ERNEST sings about love and heartbreak, but there’s always plenty of hope. "It's all been real at one point or another. I've created my own self-inflicted heartache, because—while I do have a great life and a happy relationship—I have caused problems for myself in my life." Delaney explains that some of the sad songs were written during some darker times, when Ryman was an infant and they were both sleep-deprived. "As a songwriter, I would do myself disservice by not writing what's real in my life at all times in one way or the other," ERNEST explains.

ERNEST’s style of music serves as a counterpoint to countless party songs that are popular on country radio today. "I love writing sad songs; I think they're healthy to write and they're healthy to listen to. I’m able to hurt and let other people hurt," he says. "I’m the hurt doctor."

The whole album has a throwback vibe. In ERNEST's words: "Some albums live in a boombox. This album lives in a jukebox." But there are some more upbeat tracks ("This Fire," "Drunk With My Friends") that he expects to be hits on tour.

"When my career is over with, I feel like every album will be a broad stroke of where I've been in whatever that quarter of my life was. So, for Flower Shops, I had as much fun making it as it hurt making it. And I think that it goes through to the listener."

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