It’s a cold but sunny January morning in Music City and Bailey Zimmerman arrives at the JW Marriott Nashville with his two Golden Retrievers, Marley May and Pie, in tow. Pie, still a playful puppy, stays on a leash, while Marley May, so well-behaved, walks beside him, following his every command. As we ride the elevator up to the suite, Bailey settles in for the Country Now Pupdate, where he shares stories about his beloved dogs, his newly announced headlining tour, and his highly anticipated new album.
Meet Marley May and Pie
When asked to give a formal introduction to his two dogs, Bailey lights up. It’s obvious that he loves his role as a “dog dad.”
“I got her right when I first moved to Nashville. I had a girlfriend at the time, but don’t have that girlfriend anymore. But I ended up keeping Marley out of the deal, which was amazing. And I’ve had her since I moved to Nashville in 2021,” Bailey shares.
He got the idea to expand his pup family when Marley began traveling with him and needed a companion on the bus.
“I had been thinking about getting a friend for her…I saw [Pie] and I was like, ‘Gosh… I just have to have her. She’s so pretty.’”
Bailey was instantly hooked when Pie gently rested her head on his shoulder the moment they met while outside a truck show in rural Tennessee. In that moment, he knew she was coming home with him.
Watch The Pupdate
Sadly, Pie was “really sick” as a puppy and was diagnosed with parvo shortly after Bailey took her home. He did everything in his power to save her life, including several trips to the emergency room.
“I didn’t know if she was going to live,” he recalls of Pie’s first few days at home.
Now, Pie is thriving, and Marley—whom Bailey calls his “best friend”—has finally warmed up to her.
Soon, the adorable pups will be joining the superstar on the road for his headlining New To Country Tour, and the many major festivals he’s appearing at this summer. This upcoming trek marks Bailey’s biggest tour yet.
“I was honestly nervous,” he admits about announcing the tour.
This trek includes some of the biggest venues Bailey has headlined to date, with 16 amphitheaters on the books. Several stops sold out within minutes of the on-sale, leaving the “Holy Smokes” singer virtually speechless.
“You never know what’s going to happen. And I was just super nervous about it. And then to see it happening on the computer and everybody wanting to come see me again this year was like, ‘Dude, let’s freaking go, baby,” he shouts with a smile.
“Living In A Dream”
“It gives you a lot of confidence…It was a really good feeling,” he adds. “Selling out Red Rocks? Whoa. That was crazy. I definitely didn’t expect that one to go so fast. But then they texted me, they’re like, ‘Dude, you sold out Red Rocks.’ And I’m like, ‘Bucket list. What even is life? We’re living in a dream.’”
The singer/songwriter has quite literally been living in a dream for the past few years. He relocated to Nashville from a small town in Illinois and became essentially an overnight sensation in early 2022 with his breakout hit, “Fall In Love.” Now certified 4x-Platinum, this was the start of a string of massive hits for Bailey Zimmerman, including the six-week chart-topping mega-hit “Rock And A Hard Place” and “Religiously,” the title track of his record-breaking debut album.
Now, he’s turning heads with tracks like the emotional “Holding On,” the rowdy cut “New To Country,” and the chart-climbing single, “Holy Smokes.”
“Holy Smokes” Is Climbing The Charts
“From the moment that I heard it on demo from Michael Tyler, man, I was hooked,” Bailey says of “Holy Smokes.” “It just takes me right back to…I fell in love for the first time in my Chevy when I was 16 with a girl, and it was a feeling I’d never felt. And that kind of brought me right back to being there.”
Bailey received an overwhelmingly positive response to the song from the moment he started teasing it. Even his close friend and former tourmate, Morgan Wallen, gave it his stamp of approval.
“Morgan texted me about it. I’ll never forget, Morgan texted me like, “Dude, ‘Holy Smokes,’ this is badass man.”
Bailey says he could tell the song was resonating with people because fans were immediately singing it back to him when he played it live.
“It just came out and it was so crazy. And then show after show after show, everybody’s been singing it,” he marvels.
New Album
These songs are expected to be included on Bailey’s yet-to-be-announced new album, which has come with a few challenges. After putting everything he had into Religiously, the 25-year-old admits he felt like he had “nothing in the tank” for another project, and at one point he had a bit of anxiety surrounding his next album.
“At first I wasn’t too nervous, but then all of a sudden, I just was overcome with nervousness and a lot of, I don’t know, anxiety,” he explains.
Balancing writing and recording songs for a new album proved to be difficult last year as he was in the midst of his sold-out, 30+ city international headline trek, RELIGIOUSLY. THE TOUR, while also serving as direct support for artists like Luke Bryan and Morgan Wallen.
He thought to himself, “I’ve got to write songs, but I’m also touring all week, every week. Oh man, how can I do this?”
The answer, according to Bailey, was simple: Time.
“It’s going to be two years since I put my last record out before I put a new one out. That’s the reason I waited…I’ve just always felt like if you put something out that you don’t really, really love, top to bottom, you’re always going to regret not taking the time because that’s all we have is time,” he offers. “So why would I not take the time to really make sure I love this next record, make sure I love the songs that I’m putting out?”
Taking time between these two albums has allowed Bailey to hone in on what he wants to say and to be intentional with every song.
“I feel like when I first got to town, I didn’t really know nothing. I just loved writing songs and I was just kind of putting my feelings out there. And now, I feel like I’m paying more attention to what I’m saying. I want the album to be an artistic project,” he says. “The title encompasses every single song. None of the songs feel the same….I want this album to be something that people go, ‘Dude, do you remember that freaking album you put out? That was crazy!’”
While a release date for Bailey Zimmerman’s new album has yet to be announced, he promises it will be worth the wait.
“I just want people to really relate to and love it. And I know if I don’t put my 100 into it, I’ll always regret it.”
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The post Bailey Zimmerman Talks ‘New To Country’ Tour, Teases New Music, & More All While Hanging Out With His Adorable Golden Retrievers appeared first on Country Now.
