Dustin Lynch Teases His "Once-in-a-Lifetime" Red Rocks Performance

There isn't much in the country-music world that singer-songwriter Dustin Lynch hasn't done. In six albums since 2012 (the most recent was 2023's Killed the Cowboy), he's collected gold, platinum and multi-platinum certifications for his singles, which include ten Billboard Country #1s. He's also won honors from the American Country Awards, the Academy of Country Music and CMT. His eclectic taste and love of a good time also extends well beyond Nashville, making him a sought-after emcee and musician for such events as Luke Bryan's Crash My Playa festival.

Lately, he's been stretching his talents even further, whether it's in a duet with his friend and rapper Jelly Roll, deejaying everywhere from Miami to Aspen and even by landing the first Las Vegas residency for a country musician. This week, he's reaching another career milestone with his first Red Rocks show, which happens on Wednesday, April 16. It's been a dream since he was in high school in Tullahoma, Tennessee, where he fell in love with the legendary venue from afar.

We caught up with Lynch to discuss his career ahead of his show:

Westword: You were supposed to be at Red Rocks in November 2024, but you hit some bad weather, right?

Dustin Lynch: Yeah. ... The last thing we'd ever want to do is have to reschedule or cancel a show...[but] we already had crew members on the ground in Denver and realized, "Uh-oh, this storm is gonna dump a bunch of snow and probably be in our face."... So we pulled the plug, and it ended up the weather came down. I had a buddy that was out there and he was like, "Yeah it was a good call, we can't really drive anywhere."

For a big show like this, are you a meticulous set planner or do you play it kind of loose?

I've been dreaming of this night since I was a kid, man, literally. ... If you'd asked me five years ago, ten years ago, twenty years ago, I would have said, "I want to play at Red Rocks." So it's finally happening. We just wrapped up rehearsals; I'm really proud of this show. ... We've got some really fun, cool, kind of once-in-a-lifetime moments planned, and I'm going to have a lot of friends and family there. ... I'm already kind of coaching myself for the emotions. It's going to be an emotional walk onto the stage, and I can't wait to soak it all in, you know, it being the venue that kind of inspired me to start a band and kind of dream up this crazy dream.

How did you find out about Red Rocks?

My favorite band [when I was younger] was Incubus, and they filmed a DVD there called Live at Red Rocks. Man, I probably watched that thing a hundred times. My original band in high school [and I] would watch that DVD and just dream, "...maybe one of these days," [and] here it is. I'm blessed to have those guys flying out with their wives. They're going to come and join us, so they'll be in the crowd, and it's just going to be really special.

Will you be playing songs from Killed the Cowboy?

Being at this point in my career, most of the show is going to be hit songs. It's wild — when you start looking at the setlist, you go, "Man, it's tough to get new music in here." But we are playing a few off the new album, which is great...songs that aren't singles and some of our favorites, and we have some fun cover songs up our sleeves. So it will be a mix...and it's going to be an interactive night. That's what's so cool about Red Rocks: [the fans are] right there. There's not really that much separation from the band to the walk-up steps, so we can get up there and have fun with a lot of folks.
Speaking of the hits, you had your 10th #1 single,"Chevrolet," on that album, which is a duet with fellow Tennessean and rapper Jelly Roll. It's an interesting pairing of your styles and your voices. How did you two meet?

It's kind of cool and pretty organic how it came about. [It started with] recognizing how well Jelly was connecting with his fanbase during the lockdown months. We were trying to figure out, "How do we connect? How do we do shows?" He was interacting with his fans, and I pointed it out to my producer. And I had no idea that my producer, way back in the day, was making all of Jelly Roll's beats, and they hadn't really connected in a while.

He was like, "I should really talk to Jelly."... So they reconnected and started talking about doing a country album, and "Chevrolet" was presented to us, and we just thought, "You know what, that second verse could be kind of cool with some soul and some grit on it." And we were just hoping to make it a cool song that maybe "Chevrolet" would pick up and then have a commercial, which they did, of course. ... It was a really fun process all the way around. And since that happened, Jelly Roll's career just sky-rocketed, so we're kind of basking in that afterglow with it.

"Chevrolet" is a riff on the Mentor Williams-penned tune "Drift Away", made famous by Dobie Gray. Were you fans of that? Did you both grow up with that track?

Oh, absolutely, yeah. It's a classic. You know, I was scared to say yes, to do this song. We were presented with the opportunity to remake such a classic melody with the new lyrics, and I didn't know how it was going to be taken by the public. So it kind of helped having Jelly on it. It was like, "If this gets shot out of the sky...at least I got a homie with me." But what an honor, to carry on such a classic melody. And I realized very quickly once we released the song, that our younger fanbase — including even my sister — isn't familiar with the original song. ... It's cool to keep that alive.

You have another really big first coming up: you're doing the first Las Vegas residency for a country musician, with Wynn Nightlife. How did that get started?

It's pretty thrilling, I've got to say. I didn't see it coming. ... I got asked to do an after-party for PBR at [Wynn's] XS NightClub, which is not known for country music (laughs), but maybe now it is! ... They just wanted me to get up and do a couple songs and I was like, "Man, if I'm going to play this legendary stage, my favorite club in the world, the sexiest club in the world...I want to put a proper show together, just see how it goes over, and at least have fun on one night. If it bombs, it bombs." And we put together this awesome show, that's gone on to open so many doors and kind of opened my mind to a new genre of music. And now we're collabing, writing, and recording what will be my first-ever project in that dance space. That will be coming out later this year.

To get asked to be a resident, for them to roll on the dice on us, as the first country artist in that group of incredible talent — what an honor. It's just amazing. I take so much pride in that, and we're having so much fun, especially getting to collab a bit, which is cool. It's fun making music, but whenever you get to collab with different artists, it introduces you to so many different new people in your life: it's just fun. That's what life's about, at least for me; it's about making great memories and the best art you can, and seeing what doors open and seeing where it takes you. So far, it's taken us to a lot of good spots.
You're writing some new music for those, but you're deejaying, too?

Yeah, so our club set is me performing most of the time, but I'm also behind the decks. I have a couple guys with me...[and] we'll all three jump back and DJ a little bit. It's a good mix; it's really intense because it's not the typical "play a song, talk a little, play a song" — it's a constant flow of music. But it's a cool flow to get in, we can go anywhere, just reading the crowd. That's the beautiful thing about a DJ set, you can kind of read the room and say, let's go here, let's go there.

What's something you played in a set where you weren't sure how it would go over, but people loved it?

It's really the mash-ups that we've done...being able to go from John Denver into GloRilla or something like that. You have these pairings that you don't ever expect to go to. ... It's really kind of changed my brain in just the makeup of how I think about music. ... It just started in October, so it's still brand new to us.

Anything else you wanted to mention?

I'm stoked for Red Rocks, man. It's going to be a special night.

Dustin Lynch with Sister Hazel is 7 p.m., Wednesday, April 16, at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, 18300 West Alameda Parkway, Morrison. Tickets are $62 to $625 at axs.com.