Tyler Hubbard, the Georgia half of the dearly departed “bro country” kings Florida Georgia Line, made his Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon solo debut on Monday, performing “Dancin’ in the Country” from his newly released self-titled debut album. “You ready to get your dance on tonight?” Hubbard asked the audience, before lighting into his upbeat jam backed by a five-piece band.
Being the sole center of the attention is somewhat new to Hubbard, who shared the spotlight opposite Brian Kelley in FGL since 2010. Last fall, he opened for Keith Urban as a solo artist, an experience that he says was eye-opening.
“When I came out onstage, it was humbling,” Hubbard told Rolling Stone in a recent interview. “There were people at the Keith shows who were connecting the dots during the show. I’d watch it firsthand. The first three or four songs, I was seeing some people going, ‘Where do I know this guy from?’ It was a reminder that it may be a year or even longer until all the lights have turned on for everyone.”
Hubbard explained that the decision to split the chart-dominating duo into two separate solo acts was initiated by his bandmate Kelley. “I told BK I want you to do what you need to do to make you happy, and I’ll figure out what I’m doing after that,” he said. “But I wasn’t willing to continue making FGL records and go sign another FGL deal if we were going to do solo stuff. I didn’t have the capacity for both.”
Jaren Johnston, one of Hubbard’s close collaborators, pointed out that the singer has found an opportunity to put more of himself into his music than he was able to before. “They were writing ‘Cruise’ and ‘Round Here’ and all these hits, but there wasn’t as much heart as in what he’s writing these days,” Johnston told Rolling Stone. “He’s thinking about it more and he cares more.”
Still, even on songs like “Dancin’ in the Country,” there’s an element of Florida Georgia Line’s hit-making that Hubbard couldn’t shake if he wanted to. “I am still half of FGL,” he said. Hubbard will headline the Bowery Ballroom in New York on Tuesday night.