Braxton Keith Reveals the Touring Tricks He’s Learned from Luke Bryan and Cody Johnson Ahead of His Own Headlining Trek (Exclusive)

Braxton Keith is ready for the spotlight. Fresh off the May release of his major label debut, Real Damn Deal, the country singer is gearing up to hit the road.

Before he landed his own headlining trek, Keith cut his teeth opening for the likes of Riley Green, Luke Bryan, and Cody Johnson. The whole time, he was an eager student.

“We call it ‘taking class.’ We’ll go and sit out front and watch the set,” Keith told American Songwriter. “We’re just trying to see what they’re doing different, what the lights look like, how the transitions in between songs sound. For stage presence, what are they doing? How does he carry himself through a song? Even down to, like, when he’s walking across the stage, is he walking in time? What is everybody doing?”

Keith said that he hopes he’ll be able to take those lessons and become “a better perform on stage.”

“I’m trying to grasp every angle of real performances that you can see. Luke Bryan, Cody Johnson, those guys put on real performances,” he said. “You’re just trying to find every little trick that you can and learn something from those guys.”

The time for learning has now passed, as Keith is set to kick off his Real Damn Deal Tour on July 25 in Silver Spring, Maryland.

“It’s gonna be some honkin’ and tonkin’, I’ll tell you what,” Keith promised of his shows. “It’ll be fun. We’re testing out some new markets. We’ve got a whole, brand new set, so, especially with the album just coming out, it’s awesome. We’re excited to be touring around. We are excited to be coming to a local honky town.”

Braxton Keith Discusses His Album and Tour

As for what fans can expect to hear when they attend one of Keith’s shows, that’ll be a concert that as “country as could possibly be from top to bottom.”

On his LP, Keith sought to “capture a bunch of different moments from different eras and different writers,” something he hopes fans will feel from the audience.

“We explored as many avenues as we could with this record,” he said. “I didn’t want everything to sound the same. I wanted it to sound like we can do a lot of different stuff.”

He managed to accomplish that feat with the Jerry Reed-esque “I Own This Bar,” with “Mrs. Green,” which takes its storytelling cues from the likes of Marty Robbins, and with the Chris Stapleton-inspired “That’s How Heart Gets Broken,” which Keith described as a “good ol’ dancing tune.”

When it comes to playing the songs live, Keith said he gravitates towards “the fast, upbeat” tracks like “I Own This Bar” and “I Ain’t Trying,” the former of which he said “goes the hardest at shows.”

However, he’s found that the audience has a special place in their hearts for the power ballad “White Walls.”

“The fans really do like the power ballads at the shows, which is cool,” he said. “You get a good strong vocal behind it, and they love singing it with you… It’s interesting to me how some of the fans gravitate towards some of the slower songs.”

As Keith gears up to hit the road, he hasn’t pressed pause on creating music. Rather, he promised that new songs are on the way.

“It’s a new chapter of life,” he said. “I can’t wait for everyone to hear these new songs we’re putting out.”

Photos by Ben Humphrey

The post Braxton Keith Reveals the Touring Tricks He’s Learned from Luke Bryan and Cody Johnson Ahead of His Own Headlining Trek (Exclusive) appeared first on American Songwriter.