Dylan Scott proves night after night that a great concert is more than just performing a setlist of top hits with flashy laser shows and explosive pyrotechnics. For those who’ve never seen the platinum-selling country artist live, the entertainment continues to flow even when the music briefly stops.
If Scott’s taking a break from singing, chances are he’s found someone in the crowd to engage with—he may even play musical matchmaker. It’s an instinctively inviting trait the Louisiana-born singer uses to deepen fan connection. And as he says, the more beer that flows, the better the chances for that moment becoming much more memorable.
“When you can find the drunkest person in the crowd and start talking to them, you can get some crazy conversations going,” he say. “[One time] I found the drunkest guy in the room—and he was single—and I found him a girlfriend that night,” he says proudly. “And she was probably the drunkest female in the room. It was perfect: a match made in heaven. They loved each other.”
Engaging with fans both onstage and online is just one facet of Scott’s rising popularity in country music. Yet, beyond the extra entertainment, the music remains the focus. Scott’s third album, Easy Does It, drops this Friday, marking a new chapter in his artistic evolution.
“It’s really a continuation of everything I’ve been doing,” Scott says. “The lyrics and sound are a little more mature, but it’s still the same concept. The love songs are there, some breakup songs, and life songs. I’m a little older than when I put out my first and second albums, so you want to stay consistent.”
Dylan Scott boasts six No. 1 hits, including 2016’s triple-platinum smash “My Girl.” This year, he has already scored back-to-back No. 1 singles—“Boys Back Home” and the platinum-certified “This Town’s Been Too Good to Us.”
He’s already accumulated four billion career streams, including a billion last year alone—a milestone that still blows him away.
“That’s wild to me,” he says. “I wish a billion streams was a billion dollars—that’d be pretty awesome. But honestly, I feel like we’re just getting started. It’s just now kind of hitting, even though we’ve been doing this for 12 years.”
This year, however, fans have noticed a lighter Scott—about 15 pounds lighter—during his recently concluded Country Till I Die tour.
This lighter version of the longtime gym rat is the result of a decision to temporarily scale back on training to give his body some much-needed rest. These days there isn’t much down time to take advantage of. Between singing, family, farm life, and even entrepreneurship—Scott also is CEO running a trash-hauling business, The Trash Guys, something had to drop from Scott’s schedule.
“I’ve been working out religiously since I was 18 years old,” he says. “Last year, I wasn’t as committed—not necessarily to the workout program, but just burnt out. So, I decided to slow down for a minute and take a break from the gym.”
As he prepares to take the stage for the summer festival season, followed by his Easy Does It fall tour, Scott’s slowly working his way back to a consistent gym routine, but isn’t in a hurry to move heavy weight just yet or gain any of his weight back.
“I just started working my way up, and after a couple of weeks, I started feeling good,” he says. “I started to throw some weight around and now I’m just back to my regular workouts.”
Dylan Scott Is Leaning Out and Loving It—Sort Of
Dropping nearly 15 pounds after reducing his training was not Scott’s intended goal. Instead it became an unexpected result of his body-shaping experiment. At age 34, and with an overloaded daily schedule, he felt this was the perfect time to see how his metabolism would respond.
“I just wanted to see what my body would do,” he says. “Would I gain weight? What happened instead was I lost weight. And I was fine with it.”
The drop in weight had its disadvantages. Finding a form-fitting T-shirt to show off his biceps onstage became a fresh challenge.
“I’m almost filling out the sleeves of a large, but not quite like I was,” he explains. “The medium makes me look like I’m wearing a Baby Gap shirt—and I don’t want to walk out of the house looking like that guy.”
Leaning out required no major change in diet, Scott says. He admits to rarely counting his macros at all. But by following an 80-20 eating plan—clean eating 80% of the time—followed by his active lifestyle was partly responsible for his weight loss. And because his high-energy performances aid in the calorie burning, he allows himself a cheat meal every as routinely as possible—like the post-concert pizzas delivered backstage.
“Instead of indulging in like, six or seven pieces of pizza, I may have like two pieces,” he says. “I feel like the older I’m getting, I’m not staying as hungry as I used to be.”
The result of not training he says, admittedly, left him less shredded these days, he’s somewhat satisfied with his appearance. For now.
“Do I have just the chiseled six-pack like when I was really eating clean? No,” he says. “But it’s still there, and in my mind, I’m okay with it.”
Slowly but Surely Regaining His Form
Dylan Scott is slowly making his way back to the gym—he couldn’t stay away forever. “Never did I think I would’ve taken a seven-month hiatus, but I did,” he says.
His break from the barbells has taught him a valuable lesson: Less can be more.
“Maybe instead of going five days a week, I’ll go back to three days a week,” he says. “I’m still getting the results I want, still feel good, and I’ve been enjoying it that way. So, we’ll see what happens.”
For now, getting a workout in when you can fit it in is Scott’s muscle mantra. It works for now, considering his days are consumed with everything from continuous touring, taking his kids to gymnastics classes and Little League games—and keeping routine tabs on The Trash Guys. Scott recently found himself in Las Vegas, not for a performance, but to take part in a Waste Expo convention.
“Never did I see myself doing that, not one bit,” he says. “But it’s been very enjoyable. I love the music and touring. But it really is cool to have something else to get your mind off of it for a minute and think about another business and watch it grow.”
Growth in the weightroom for Scott these days no longer involve 1RMs. Scott, whose bench press was around 350 pounds in his training prime, tries to stick with a bodybuilding-style, single-body-part training split—chest on Monday, back on Tuesday, or simply when he can fit it in his schedule. It’s not to say, he won’t recommit to a full-time training schedule, but for now, short and consistent session work best.
“I didn’t jump back in with super heavy weights or crazy long workouts,” he says. “Instead, I started slow, lifted lighter weights, took my time, and maybe did 30-minute workouts instead of 45 to 60 minutes. I did that for about a week or so. After a couple of weeks, I started feeling good.”
Giving Fans More than just a Setlist Each Night
Although Dylan Scott’s Easy Does It tour doesn’t kick off until the fall, summer fans have plenty of chances to catch his live performances at various festivals. If you find yourself in the front rows, you might become part of one of Scott’s signature spontaneous interviews. “It’s never forced,” he says. “If the energy’s not there, it’s on to the next song.”
Scott understands that while his setlist is similar night to night, these unique fan interactions keep the experience fresh for everyone. Sometimes, it’s as simple as chatting with couples whose loved ones are overseas. He’s even Facetimed them from the stage, creating genuinely emotional moments for both the couple and the audience. He’ll also surprise fans by barging in on their video calls with friends at home, often beamed onto giant venue screens, making the moment unforgettable.
“I try to find something happening in the crowd where we can talk about it and make it a moment,” Scott explains. “I’ll scope the crowd, look for something going on that lets me make it different than just singing songs back to back. I just try to make it fun.”
Scott also loves lighthearted, playful interactions, especially with the most enthusiastic—or oftentimes inebriated—fans. After lively shows, some fans may DM him to apologize for their drunken antics. “Sometimes they’ll say, ‘Man, I’m sorry I was so drunk, but that was super cool. I appreciate that,’” he shares. “It’s a cool way to connect and entertain beyond just singing song after song.”
However, social media isn’t always kind. Oftentimes hackers have tried to impersonate him, resulting in angry messages from jealous husbands. “I’ve had grown men in their 60s DM me saying, ‘Hey, dude, you gotta quit talking to my wife,’” he says. “I’m like, ‘Bro, I promise you, I’m not talking to your wife.’”
Scott’s fanbase continues to grow. He headlined his largest venues during his last tour. And with Easy Does It now available, his following is sure to grow larger. But even at the height of his popularity, Scott admits tinge of guilt when he can’t deliver an entirely different show each night to those fans who show up night after night.
“It’s crazy but awesome that they would do that,” he says. “There was a couple recently who said it was their third show in a row. I was like, ‘You might be hearing the same songs, but I’ll try to make the show as different as possible.’ And they were like, ‘We don’t care. We love it.’”
