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ABC/Image Group LA  With his first #1, "Yours," already under his belt, and the follow-up single, "Blue Tacoma," rapidly approaching the top ten, Russell Dickerson's career is definitely on the rise. Add to that a high-profile opening spot on the ...

How to be a country star: Russell Dickerson’s getting a crash course from his pals Thomas Rhett and FGL

ABC/Image Group LA 

With his first #1, “Yours,” already under his belt, and the follow-up single, “Blue Tacoma,” rapidly approaching the top ten, Russell Dickerson‘s career is definitely on the rise. Add to that a high-profile opening spot on the Summer Plays On Tour with Lady Antebellum and Darius Rucker, and the relative newcomer is dealing with a unique set of challenges.

Luckily, the graduate of Nashville’s Belmont University has his pals Thomas Rhett and Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley of Florida Georgia Line to lean on — and learn from.

“It’s not like, ‘Hey, sit down, let me give you some advice’…” Russell explains. “I just kinda watch them, and how they handle hiring people or firing people, or how they have learned to be as efficient as possible on the road.”

“You know, like sleep schedules,” he continues. “Do you get up at 11 a.m. or do you get up at 6 a.m.? When do you work out? When do you write songs? How do you do this? Because I’m having to figure a lot of that out.”

A big task on Russell’s plate right now is crafting his sophomore album.

“Writing album two — like, how? I don’t know,” he admits. “And so, it’s really cool to watch Tyler and them. They bring a whole bus out with writers, or TR will bring out writers just on his bus.”

“Just kinda learning from that, and trying to figure out how to do this,” Russell adds. “So yes, lots of valuable advice.”

This week, Russell, Darius and Lady A take their Summer Plays On trek to Mountain View and Sacramento, California; Brownsville, Oregon; and Auburn, Washington.

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