What Makes Luke Bryan Country: 'I Was Raised With Manners And A Work Ethic'

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – APRIL 02: Singer Luke Bryan attends Cabela’s & Academy of Country Music Celebrity Archery Tournament during the 4th ACM Party for a Cause Festival at at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds on April 2, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Isaac Brekken/Getty Images for ACM)

Isaac Brekken/Getty Images

Luke Bryan sits on top of the Country Aircheck / Mediabase charts once again as his “What Makes You Country” scores the top spot this week.

Bryan co-wrote the tune with his buddies Dallas Davidson and Ashley Gorley, and he says it describes exactly how he grew up in Georgia.

“I think that what makes me country is where I was raised, Leesburg, Georgia, how I was brought up saying ‘Yes sir,’ ‘No sir,’ ‘Yes, ma’am,’ ‘No, ma’am,’ hopefully with manners and raised with a work ethic and raised in the outdoors fishing and hunting and playing sports,” says Luke. “I would say definitely it starts with my small-town upbringing and how we were raised; church on Sundays as much as we could, but [also] just enjoying life and living life in a small town.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by

Luke is nominated for Entertainer of the Year and Single of the Year for “Most People Are Good” at the 54th Annual ACM Awards, airing live from Las Vegas April 7th at 8pm ET on CBS.

-Nancy Brooks

Luke Bryan

Nancy Brooks // Country Writer, Beasley Media GroupEditor

Nancy Brooks has been working in the country music industry for almost 30 years. She has interviewed pretty much any country star you can think of. In the late 1990s, she started working with Dolly Parton. And yes, Nancy reports that Parton is as sweet as you would think. She loves her life in country music and has been backstage at every CMA Awards show since the late 1990s. Many of her stories are from her one-on-one interviews. She was there at the beginning of the incredible careers of many music superstars today, including Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, and Blake Shelton, and has interviewed them multiple times throughout the years.