Florida Georgia Line: ‘We Still Feel Like the New Guys’

Florida Georgia Line is currently one of the biggest names in country music, but group members Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley are making sure not to let their success keep them standing still.

“It never gets stale or complacent because we still feel like the new guys, in a sense of that excitement and what it means,” Hubbard told PEOPLE ahead of CMA Songwriters Series in Los Angeles last week. “We love country music, period, we love country radio, we love our fans and it’s cool when all of that works.”

“It’s such an exciting level that we’re at and we’re just super grateful, super thankful,” he added. “It’s a hell of a ride.”

Since releasing their debut single, “Cruise,” in 2012, Hubbard and Kelley have released three studio albums, scored over a dozen No. 1 hits, headlined multiple tours and are currently preparing for a Las Vegas residency, meaning they certainly aren’t the new guys on the scene any longer.

They currently hold the longest-running song on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs Chart — their duet with Bebe Rexha, “Meant to Be” — and recently became the only act in country music history to notch a cumulative 100 weeks at the top of the list.

“[Our songs] all have different lives and we sit around and choose what’s going to be the next single with our small, little team, and you send them out and pray for the best,” Hubbard shared. “Radio play and streaming success really births new and more inspiration for us when we do get back to writing and recording even more – it just brings a new excitement and new season of songwriting.”

The duo is currently preparing to release their fourth album, which will follow 2016’s Dig Your Roots. So far they have released four songs from the project, including lead single “Simple.”

“We’ve been working on this album for over a year now, so we’ve really, really been digging in and trying to pick the best songs possible,” Hubbard revealed. “We’ve probably spent more time on this album than any album yet, so we truly feel like this is probably our strongest album to date. We’re just really excited for the world to hear it.”

“We’ve got some really cool collaborations, some really cool songs that are different for us that kind of continued to evolve, but also some songs that go back to the original FGL — some good ol’ country party songs — and just a lot of great content, messages and songs that we’ve poured our heart into,” he added, noting that the project will be “an album full of hits!”

Photo Credit: Getty / Rich Fury / AMA2018