Drew Baldridge relocated to Nashville from Illinois at 18 determined to chase his country-music dream. Growing up on a small family farm, raised with the sounds of Alabama, Brooks & Dunn and John Anderson alongside his grandpa, he began writing and performing locally in talent contests before moving full-time into music. Early on, he released several EPs and his debut studio album ‘Dirt on Us' (2016), with modest radio success via singles like ‘Dance With Ya.' When his original label shut down in 2019, Baldridge didn’t give up—he founded his own label, Lyric Ridge Records, and gradually built momentum, writing songs that connected with fans through sincerity and storytelling.
Across 2023-24, Drew achieved a watershed moment with ‘She’s Somebody’s Daughter,' the independently released single that became the first self-funded debut to hit No.1 on Country radio, achieved RIAA Gold status, and racked up over a billion streams and impressions. His follow-up ‘Tough People' has also resonated deeply and hit number one in the UK—not just as a song, but as a statement of resilience, written in times of struggle and designed to reflect both pain and hope. As he prepares for his first full-band tour across the UK this December, there’s a sense that Drew isn’t just bringing songs — he’s bringing stories, authenticity and a connection that’s been earned the hard way. We caught up with him to talk all about it.
Thanks for giving up your time to speak to me today, Drew, I know what a busy guy you are at the moment.
Man, we're crazy right now! I'm riding in the back of the bus right now about an hour and half away from home!
You're out on the road with Cody Johnson right now aren't you?
Yeah we did some dates with Cody and last night I was supporting Tyler Hubbard and out doing some of our own stuff too!
And there are UK shows in December that we are getting excited about too! Will you be coming over with your family for those shows or will it be just you and the band?
I don't know yet. Right now, for sure, it will be me and the band which I'm super excited for – our first ever full band shows in the UK! I've never done that before. If my wife and little boy can get over there too we'll try and pull that off but it looks like we are over there for a good ten or eleven days as we have seven shows in that time so it's going to be a little hectic!
Being able to play the C2C festival earlier in the year was such a blessing and now to be able to bring the band back over and grow our story in the UK and EU is incredible.
It was great seeing you at C2C in the main arena but I really enjoyed your set in the Indigo when you got to play more songs to your own crowd. What memories did we leave you with from that trip?
Oh man, tons of memories. First off, how much y'all love country music. I was worried that I was going to be coming over there as an outcast but you guys knew my music and were just so kind to me. When that's the case it makes me wanna come back and give more – when you guys give the energy I wanna give it right back to you!
Playing at the Indigo and getting to play the arena with just me and my guitar was awesome but getting to come back with the full band will amplify the show even more.
Before we see you you are heading out to Australia and New Zealand next month! Does it blow your mind to know that that is even a possibility after all those years of struggle?
Oh my gosh, it's crazy to think that just this year alone we've been out on tour with Cody Johnson, Bailey Zimmerman and now Jelly Roll for those shows! That's wild to think about. If you'd have told me that two years ago I'd have told you you were plum crazy! It's a lesson about not giving up on things if you feel like you have something special – trust your gut – that's what we did to get ‘She's Somebody's Daughter' to number one and ‘Tough People' to number one in the UK.
Over the last three months we've put out three new songs and coming up in the next month we're going to drop another one with a second due before we head over to the UK in December, maybe even three! We're excited, man.
We first spoke when ‘She's Somebody's Daughter' was, maybe in the twenties at Country radio so it was fascinating watching that story unfold for you. It opened so many doors for you – which of those open door opportunities surprised you or blew your mind the most?
I think just the touring opportunities. More than anything, being told that Cody wants you out on tour, Bailey wants you out on tour and now we are going to Australia with Jelly Roll! We've toured in five different countries this year, which has really surprised me. Also getting to replace the van with a proper bus has been amazing and that would have never happened without that success.
I saw you on social media recently responding to some criticism from a platform called Country Music Alley who had accused you of sounding cocky. Anyone who knows you knows that you are about as far away from cocky as it's possible to be but they must have touched a nerve for you to respond.
Yeah, it gave me some checks and balances. Maybe I was sounding like that? I always thought that I was being thankful and trying to tell the crowd that I appreciated them for helping me to get where I am now but if that came off any other way than I apologise. I was reading the comments from people who were at the show and they said it wasn't at all how they took it, which made me happier.
I don't want people to think that way of me. When I see people give a representation of me that isn't true and I'm gonna call it out. I don't think I was being cocky but if I was I'm gonna check myself and say sorry I sounded that way but deep down I don't think I was so I'm also going to stand up for myself.
You mentioned new music – I really love ‘Get Me Gone' with Emily Ann Roberts. I see she's just landed her own record deal. Why did you choose Emily to collaborate with you on that track?
I just love her voice. I came across her on social media and listened to her music. I shot her a message in Instagram to say that I thought she was awesome and that we should do something together. She hit me right back. What we did in the studio was really great – she was actually at the show with Cody Johnson we've just done so I got to jump up on stage and sing with her. She's a star who is going to do a lot of great things in Country music.
You've also released ‘Scars' which is another collaboration. Talk to me about that song – it seems to have a christian-leaning element to it if I'm not mistaken?
Yeah, there's a Christian band called I AM THEY who reached out and asked if I wanted to be involved in a cross over between Christian music and Country music. It was always my wife's favourite song of theirs and I loved the song. We actually put that track together over a year ago but we've only just had the time to get round to focusing on it. That song is so much my story – the scars of my road through Country music having been in Nashville for 13 or 14 years and what I've learned about my journey in that time.
How close are you getting to be able to announce the album?
I'm hoping that the album will be out in the spring of 2026. That's the goal. We got a lot of music already recorded and some plans to record a little more coming up soon. When we have enough for a full album we can start to plan out the release, which I'm really excited to be able to do and then tour that project all over!!
Can you share with us what themes you've been writing about?
Our most recent single was ‘Deserve Her.' That song is kinda in the same space as ‘She's Somebody's Daughter' but a little deeper, you know? It's kinda like, ‘Boys, you gotta treat her right and deserve her love.' You've gotta put effort into a relationship which is something most guys have to learn! I'm excited about this song – treat her right, you can't just want her, you have to deserve her.
We have another single coming out this month about hunting. I grew up on a farm and deer hunting was a really big part of my life and I think that song will be really special too. Then we got another song called ‘Rebel' that will be coming out in October – that song is a big message in which the hook of the song says, ‘If the whole wide world wants to dance with the devil, I guess you could call me a rebel.' so the message there is a clear one about being a good rebel. Honestly, I think that being a good person and maybe even loving Jesus can make you something of a rebel these days.
How do you balance the serious songs you have against the fun, live songs that are just there to get people moving and give them a good time?
Yeah, what I've learned is that serious songs are what people expect from me. It's what they want to stream – I still have fun songs like ‘Imma' and ‘Honky Tonk Town' and ‘Born Country' and we play them live and they go over well but the songs that really matter are the emotional ones like ‘Tough People' or ‘Deserve Her' or another song we have called ‘Can She Have This Dance' – those are the songs that really move people. The fun songs are great and we still play them but you are going to feel something coming to one of our shows! That's why you are there!
You are now playing arenas with the likes of Jelly Roll and Cody Johnson. What challenges has that given you and the band and what are you learning about yourself in these arena shows?
It's crazy because I don't feel like there has been much of a challenge. I've been in Nashville for over a decade preparing for this moment and shows like these. I've learned a lot from watching Cody about how he talks to and engages his crowd – and it re-confirmed to me that I can do this, I can play an arena and not fold or get lost within the space. I love it, I love being in the arenas and the ampitheaters – I feel like my music connects more in those spaces where it's dark and the spotlight is on us and we can tell our story a little bit better to a whole bunch of people.
Drew Baldridge's UK and EU December tour dates:
- Tuesday, December 2 – TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht, the Netherlands
- Wednesday, December 3 – Luxor, Cologne, Germany
- Friday, December 5 – Mama Roux’s, Birmingham, UK
- Saturday, December 6 – Club Academy, Manchester, UK
- Sunday, December 7 – Òran Mór, Glasgow, UK
- Tuesday, December 9 – Scala, London, UK
