Brett Eldredge on Headlining The Long Way Tour: 'This is What You Live For'

Brett Eldredge is kicking off his headlining The Long Way Tour on Thursday, April 5, bringing along Devin Dawson as his opening act. The Illinois native hopes to pass on to Dawson some of the lessons he's learned opening for artists like Keith Urban, Luke Bryan, Blake Shelton and more.

"You learn so many things," Eldredge tells The Boot of his turn as an opener. "I've never learned the same thing from every artist, and I've toured for a variety of different artists. I think what I learned the most is how I set the environment to just make it a fun experience in life for not only me as an artist but for everyone around me, including the crowd, including my crew, including the people that open for me, the people that I tour with."

"Everybody, they just treated me so well," Eldredge continues, "and I want to give that opportunity to other artists that are coming up, and treat them well, and have them feel like this isn't a job."

The 32-year-old has learned since his freshman Bring You Back album was released in 2013 to not take his job nor his life too seriously.

"This is play," explains Eldredge. "This is playing music. This is having fun. This is what you live for. Sometimes, you get caught up in traveling to some places. But [I love to] get on the stage and I feel that crowd, and I get to see the fans that are excited to see something they've never seen, or they come back because they loved that feeling the first time they got it and they've got to get it again."

Eldredge knows exactly how he wants to make use of his extended time on stage during his The Long Way Tour.

"I want to take the most of my time and deliver the most me set that I possibly can," Eldredge tells PopCulture.com. "I moved to Nashville singing with just a guitar on at stage and songwriter places. I love those moments. So I still get those moments in the shows. And then I want to expand; I still want to do that in the direct support ... I don't want to be a lagging section of the show, ever."

A list of all of the dates on Eldredge's The Long Way Tour can be found on his website.

Photo Credit: Instagram/BrettEldredge