Luke Bryan Joins Usha Vance To Read A Children’s Book And Share About Heroes And Inspirations
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Recently, country artist Luke Bryan got to test out what it would be like to be White House press secretary, but it turns out that he was at the White House for more than just a few laughs.
On Monday, Sept. 21, Second Lady Usha Vance released the 16th episode of her ongoing Storytime With the Second Lady video series, and the special guest was Luke Bryan.
Here, Luke opened up about being a storyteller as a country musician, and he also shared the surprising way in which his writing chops were first tested as a young man.
He also read a book about Spider Man.
Watch Luke Bryan Share About Being A Storyteller And Read A Book With Usha Vance
“One of the wonderful things I think about being a country musician is that you’re also a storyteller,” Second Lady Usha Vance said. “So many of the songs tell stories, they really set the scene, and it’s a lot like writing books.”
Responding, Luke Bryan said, “Well, with writing country music songs, the best way to get the ideas is to get out there and live your life. Cherish every day. Appreciate, like, the sun going down, and get inspired and then you can really build your story with a song.”
He added, “Through the years some of my best songs have happened from just a little thing that a stranger said on the street to me.”
Giving an example, he said that a friend texted him about his Chocolate Labrador, and that text has become the basis for a song he’s currently writing.
“So are you telling us we might hear about your Chocolate Lab in a song someday?” asked Usha.
Luke replied, “You will definitely, probably, hear about my mischievous Chocolate Lab — Choc, is his name — we’re in the works writing that song, now.”
He added:
“Songs can pop up in many different forms, so you’ve just got to be ready to capitalize on the idea.”
Asked about if he wrote songs as a kid, Luke said, “My first introduction into writing songs was, a lot of times, for my church youth group.”
Luke grew up attending a Southern Baptist church, and he told Fox News Digital about the impact of that upbringing on his life earlier this year, saying, “I was a Baptist church kid singing in the church choir. When you spend that time in church, and you understand your faith and your beliefs … it’s what you gotta really lean on to get through this challenging life … It’s been really in my head about being solid in your faith for many, many years.”
Continuing his response to Usha, Luke shared how he used to take popular country songs and modify the lyrics or the messaging to make them church appropriate.
Usha then shared that one of her children has picked up an interest in reciting poetry, saying that he’s been putting tunes to the poetry and singing it to the youngest of her four children, Alec, who was born in July.
Sharing some general advice for budding writers, Luke said:
“One of the best analogies, when you’re writing a song, is you go in and write and nothing’s there, and then when you’r done, something is created and born, so I think anytime you can dive into a writing, creative process — whether it’s songs, or books, or little stories, or even on a camping trip making up little ghost stories around a campfire … — stuff like that’s fun to really allow kids to express creativity.”
Before reading a book, Luke was asked what books he enjoyed as a kid, and he cited the works of Shel Silverstein, who famously wrote the collection of poems Where the Sidewalk Ends; and he also said he enjoyed reading The Hardy Boys books.
From there, Luke Bryan then read Spidey and His Amazing Friends: The Lost Web Shooter!, reading it with a smile as he encountered words he typically doesn’t get to sing about… he even gave some commentary along the way.
Afterward, Usha asked Luke about any real life heroes in his life, and Luke gave a shoutout to his high school drama teacher who he said helped bring him out of his shell.
Watch Luke Bryan and Usha Vance discuss storytelling and writing songs before enjoying reading a children’s book, here:
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