It’s been nearly a year since Dustin Lynch released “Thinking ‘Bout You,” his collab with MacKenzie Porter, but fans haven’t been able to fully experience it until now. “We’re getting to see the response grow as the song grows and becomes more familiar,” Dustin tells HollywoodLife while talking about touring, new music, and partnership with Dickel Bourbon. “While we toured a little bit in ‘21, the song really started to blow up for us at the end of the year, when we were already done touring,” he says. “Just having to live vicariously through Mackenzie and being out on the road with her show, I was just stalking her Instagram feed so I could watch crowds singing this big ol’ hit.”
“But, now we’re out and back at it,” says Dustin, who is currently on tour and has performances lined up for the rest of the summer. Fans will get a chance to hear this chart-topping hit performed live and sing it back to Dustin onstage. “It’s definitely the biggest moment loudest moment of our show right now,” he tells HollywoodLife. “Just because fans are loving on that song, and it continues to change our lives.”
“Thinking ‘Bout You” has had quite a life. First recorded for Dustin’s 2020 album, Tullahoma, a version featuring MacKenzie Porter was recorded and released in May 2021. It became Dustin’s eighth number one song on the Billboard Country Airplay chart. The song sat at No. 1 for six consecutive weeks and spent a record-breaking 28 weeks in the top ten, according to Billboard. It reached No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100, a personal best for Dustin. The Porter version was included on Dustin’s 2022 album, Blue In The Sky.
One way that Dustin has been celebrating this new success has been with George Dickel, the whisky produced in Lynch’s hometown of Tullahoma, Tennessee. As a longtime George Dickel partner, Dustin has recently shared a few cocktails with George Dickel’s new award-winning Dickel Bourbon.
0.75 oz Peach Syrup*
1 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
(Courtesy of Dickel)
*Peach Simple Syrup: 4 medium peaches, sliced and cored, 3 cups refined sugar, 1 cup water. Cook all ingredients in a medium-sized pot over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved and the peaches are soft. Strain through a fine mash strainer, bottle and store in the refrigerator. (Courtesy of Dickel)
“I mean, the Cascade Hollowed Distillery, I grew up on the top of the hill [near it] about a mile away,” Dustin tells HollywoodLife. “So a partnership with George Dickel is something that just feels natural. I grew up smelling this place my whole life, from all the sour mash,” he adds. “One thing that goes great with country music is great whiskey and a great bourbon, so it just made it made sense for us to link arms and have some fun together.”
There’s a lot more fun on the horizon for Dustin. Along with his tours and toasting with Dickel Burbon, the country music star shares that he’s “getting back to the swing of writing” his next batch of music. “It really never stops,” he tells HollywoodLife. “If I’m not recording songs, I’m always thinking about ‘where do I go next?’” Dustin added that he’s got some new music recorded during the Blue In The Sky sessions that he plans on releasing throughout the year. Dustin is also brewing up “what hooks I want to write [with] the kind of the message I want to write about on this next chapter. We’ll start recording music probably this summer for whatever the next album decides to be.”