'Summer Forever' is a state of mind for Billy Currington
The sounds of summer love and heartbreak will be in the air this Saturday with the arrival of Billy Currington's "Summer Forever" tour at the Macon Coliseum.
"All my songs are about some kind of love," said the Georgia native. "It might be love of a person or your home or a good game, but the love is always there."
"Summer Forever" is Currington's sixth studio album and his first headlining tour.
"I want to make people laugh, smile and sing along," Currington said. "I want them to leave feeling like they've had the time of their life, even if it's just for an hour and a half show."
Songs like the No. 1 single "Don't It" and "Drinkin' Town with a Football Problem" are heel-stomping summer ballads with a hint of small-town nostalgia.
Currington lives in Nashville most of the year and, although he often misses his family back in Georgia, he has found new ways to stay connected to his seaside roots.
The Savannah native says he feels most at home these days on the water, surfing.
"Being on the waves is the most peaceful feeling in the world," Currington said. "There is nothing else like it. I've been to beaches all over the world, but Hawaii has the most amazing beaches."
A perk of headlining his own tour is picking his own opening act. Currington said Kelsea Ballerini was an obvious choice.
"She's got something going that's strong," Currington said. "I call it 'the dust'; it's star power is what it is."
Ballerini's 2014 hit "Love Me Like You Mean It" topped the Billboard Country Airplay chart and made her the first solo female artist in nine years to hit No. 1 with her debut country single.
But the 22-year-old farm girl from Tennessee says she tries to stay grounded.
"I'm still trying to introduce myself every time that I do a show right now," Ballerini said. "I hope that for the 30 or 40 minutes that I play for people, that they walk away and are like, 'hey, I totally know her.' "
In April, Currington's tour will make a stop in his hometown at the Savannah Civic Center, a venue significant to the young artist.
"My mama took me to my very first concert I ever saw. It was Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton at the Savannah Civic Center," he said. "That concert started me on this path to do what Kenny Rogers was doing."
The path was not a straight one. It took eight long years of odd jobs in Nashville -- hustling in a pawn shop, pouring concrete, working as a personal trainer -- for Currington to finally get a deal.
"I don't regret a minute of it," he said. "I'd tell anyone looking to break into this line of work: move where it's at. If you want to write country, move to Nashville; if you want to do pop, move to New York. Whatever it is you want to do, be in the place where it's happening."
Billy Currington
When: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 27
Where: Macon Coliseum, 200 Coliseum Drive
Cost: $30.50, $40.50
Information: 478-751-9232; www.maconcentreplex.com
This story was originally published February 25, 2016 at 5:24 PM with the headline "'Summer Forever' is a state of mind for Billy Currington ."