Russell Dickerson Turns Co-Host and Storyteller on ‘Backstage Country’

If there’s one thing we love about Russell Dickerson, besides his ability to make us cry, dance, and fall in love all in the span of a three-minute song, it’s that he’s got stories. Not just your average “I wrote this on my couch” kind of story. When he co-hosted Backstage Country with Elaina Smith, Dickerson gave us the juicy, funny, and downright adorable tales behind his hits.  

Smith called “Happen To Me” the song of the summer, saying it has taken on a life of its own. She asked if this was what Dickerson foresaw when he released the song. He admitted, “I mean, it's what I hope with every song. You hope every song is like, ‘Whoa, people just connect with it as deeply as I have, having written it.’ But to be honest, no, I don't think anybody on our team really [thought it].”  

He chuckled, “There was a young gal at our label [who] was like, ‘Yes, this is the one!’ The Gen Z said, ‘Yeah!’ And I feel everybody else was like, ‘Yeah, it's cool. We'll play it live, we'll put it on the set, it'll be fun.’ Even before it was out, there was something happening with this song and the little dance. I was like, ‘I'm just gonna do every stupid dance move that I know how to do and just goof off, be myself, whatever.’ And that's the whole point of it, anybody can do it. It's just being silly with your friends.”  

Smith grew nostalgic and asked the country-pop singer-songwriter about his first number one hit and how it had already been a decade since its release. Dickerson got real about his early struggles: “We had nothing. I had a manager and an agent that would get us on shows and stuff, but  I had no record label, no nothing. And my wife [Kailey] was like, ‘We're going to shoot this music video.’ And I was like, ‘Okay, just test footage.’ We're gonna go find a place and see if it can work. We ended up walking away that day with the video that she just shot out of the back of my SUV. And that is the moment because I guess people just needed a visual to see and feel the song.”   

He added, “I really [try] not to get too spiritual, but I do feel like God showed up in that music video because it was, we had nothing, this was a zero-dollar video, and there's lightning flashing behind my head!”  

For more behind-the-scenes stories, laughs, and a front-row seat to your favorite country stars, don’t miss the weekly shows of Backstage Country with Elaina Smith! And if you can’t get enough of Russell Dickerson (same here), head over to his YouTube page to listen to his songs on repeat.