Country Music Star Dustin Lynch on Turning 30, Dating, and Why He Won’t Get Tattoos

It’s the end of a long day of interviews and Dustin Lynch has heard rumors that other country superstars (Brett Eldredge, Jake Owen) have staged some hilarious photos with copies of Glamour. Always wanting to go bigger and better, Lynch wants to see what his peers have done before him. The verdict? It’s time to show ’em who’s boss. That confident attitude has clearly served him well. Whether it’s convincingly wearing his signature cowboy hat or entertaining stadium-size crowds on Luke Bryan’s Kick the Dust Up Tour, Lynch is making quite the name for himself—both in front of the camera and behind the mike.

Glamour: Dustin! It’s so great to meet you. How’s your day going so far?

Dustin Lynch: Good, I haven’t had anything thrown at me yet, so that’s good!

Glamour: Someone threw a beer can at you at a concert last year and you had to get stitches, right?

Dustin: Yeah, I even have a scar from it under my eye. It sucked, but oh well. It was my grandma’s birthday that we celebrated that night, so it’s my tattoo for that. I’m an optimist. [Laughs]

Glamour: Do you have any actual tattoos?

Dustin: No. I’m tattoo-less. I don’t mind. I mean, I’m kind of a fan of tattoos, but I’m scared of the lifetime commitment. I feel like I would wake up six months later and want something different. Like why is there a grasshopper on my arm? I mean, Blake Shelton has ladybugs. What the hell was he thinking there? Now he has to put up with that the rest of his life. [Laughs]

Glamour: At what point did you get the country bug?

Dustin: I think I was really young. Garth Brooks and George Strait, and then you had Kenny Chesney come along and Tim McGraw—I remember those guys really being a big part of my growing up. Watching Kenny play in Tennessee to a sold-out crowd was very life-changing for me. I remember having butterflies watching it and thinking, What would it be like to be the dude up there? I think that was a very inspiring moment for me.

Glamour: When did you think you could actually make a living at this?

Dustin: I don’t know if I have decided that! [Laughs] No, but that’s what’s fun about music. You never know what’s coming next. It’s always about the unknown and the song that isn’t written or recorded yet. Those songs shape lives. I think that’s what keeps it exciting.

Glamour: In “Where It’s At (Yep, Yep)” was the “yep, yep” a catchphrase of yours that you used regularly in the past?

Dustin: It was, but it wasn’t something I noticed or anyone around me noticed until it was in the song, and then it was, “You say this all the time!” So it fit, but I didn’t realize it at the time. Now it’s awkward when I say, “Yep yep.” I feel like I’m quoting my own song, but whatever. [Laughs]

Glamour: So if I said, “You want to grab a burger?” then you’d probably answer, “Yep, yep?”

Dustin: Yep, yep! I wouldn’t sing it, but yeah.

Glamour: Your grandparents just celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. What have they taught you about love and relationships?

Dustin: They are high-school sweethearts, so that’s cool. My first single, “Cowboys & Angels,” was written about their kind of story. It’s cool that I get to sing that song when I’m onstage and it reminds me of them. I have called my granddad over a breakup one time when I was I having a tough time. She actually said, “It’s the music or me,” so that was an easy decision, but I started missing her a lot, so I called him. It’s good to have a counselor in the family!

Glamour: What is the dating status right now? Do you have time for it?

Dustin: I do have time for it, but nothing serious. I’m too busy to settle down and have kids being on the road 300 days a year. I don’t want to do that to them or myself. I’m just chilling out and enjoying playing music.

Glamour: What’s some necessities you look for in a girl aside from being a kind person?

Dustin: I love people that make me laugh and are goofballs and super laid-back. That goes beyond someone I’m interested to date—just people I hang out with. I love to laugh and love idiots like me. People that don’t take themselves seriously. That’s it. If I have a good time laughing with you, we’re going to get along just fine.

Glamour: Cowboy hats are your signature style, so how many do you own?

Dustin: Maybe 10 or 12 of these floating around. There’s only so much room in the closet. I have one for stage shows and live shows, so each one has its place. Once summer rolls around, this one will start smelling like hockey pads so we’ll have to get rid of it and get a new one out there.

Glamour: “Hell of a Night” continues to do so well on the charts. What would constitute your hell of a night?

Dustin: That depends on whether it would be realistic or not. Realistically, it would be in Dallas because I have great friends who live here and there’s awesome restaurants here. Joe T. Garcia’s fajitas are the best fajitas you’ll ever have in your life, and then you got Billy Bob’s which is a great place for country two-steppin.’ That would be pretty realistic. For the unrealistic version, I’d need a couple jets to visit a bunch of different cities in the same night. I’d end up with a sunrise in the Bahamas. We’d have dinner at Joe T. Garcia’s here in Dallas, then fly to Vegas and win some money, then probably go to Santa Cruz, California, and drive the coast. Then jet back and end up in the Bahamas being pirates when the sun rose.

Glamour: Speaking of traveling, you’ll be at New York City’s very first country music festival, FarmBorough, later this week.

Dustin: Yeah, how about that! New York has incredible country fans, and it still shocks me how many avid country music listeners there are there. Long Island as well. It’s going to be fun for sure, and I love that city and the energy it brings. Once we get off stage, there’s endless amounts of food to eat. You get off the stage, get in a cab, and eat a sundae this big. Everything is oversize there.

You can follow Dustin on Facebook, Twitter, and Instragam.

Check out what happened when we got Dustin to give us his signature “Yep, Yep!” at the ACM Awards: