There are many artists who have been working hard in Nashville and at their craft for several years, becoming almost synonymous with the country genre. Today, our spotlight shines on a group that has been creating music for almost a decade, while still finding a way to remain true to themselves and reinvent their sound at the same time. We chatted with the lead singer, Brandon Lancaster of LANCO to get the inside scoop about what’s to come on their sophomore album and everything leading up to this moment.

“I grew up outside of Nashville in Smyrna, Tennessee. It’s about 45 minutes outside of the city, and if you’re 45 minutes outside of Nashville, you’re like on a different planet,” shared the singer.  “I grew up on a two-lane road, out in the country and experienced that life, that small-town life. Then I was close enough to Nashville that I was exposed to songwriting and music and The Bluebird Cafe, and these kind of things at an early age, so I knew that world existed, and I loved it and admired it.”

Lancaster has been immersed in music for most of his life, starting with learning guitar at a young age and even attempting to write his own songs in high school. Similarly, the other band members, Chandler Baldwin, Jared Hampton, Tripp Howell, and Eric Steedly also had an early passion for music.

“I knew I wanted to do that for a long time, even if it was just for fun or a dream, but then I met the guys in college just through songwriter buddies. I was going to school in East Tennessee, and met Tripp at a music festival, and then met the other guys, they went to MTSU, when I moved back to Nashville. We had similar friends in the music community, got together, and started jamming, and writing songs, and that’s kind of where it all started, as far as the inception of the band.”

The Turning Point:

LANCO officially formed in 2013, but it wasn’t until five years later that the group released their debut album, Hallelujah Nights featuring fan-favorite tracks, “Greatest Love Story” and “Born to Love You.” “Sometimes it feels like we’re just getting started and trying to figure it out, and then other times, I can’t even remember a life before LANCO. At this point, we’re family, and it feels like we’re literally brothers,” shared Lancaster.

For LANCO staying true to their country roots was inevitable, but creating a blend and sound that was all their own and remaining authentic was equally as important. “The inception of LANCO was country music, because we’re originally from Tennessee and Georgia,” began Lancaster. “When you grow up in Tennessee and Georgia small towns, you’re around a lot of country music, and we lived those lives. A lot of the stories that country music is telling, we experienced firsthand. So when we were starting, we wanted to be in that genre, and that’s our home base. Even instrumentally, the banjos, the mandolin, the guitars, its more country instruments we wanted to be influenced by and use. At the same time, it’s also the 21st century, we’re influenced by a lot of different music and a lot of different things.”

LANCO is a compilation of many different influences spanning genres, including artists like Brad Paisley, more folky-stuff, Bob Dylan, and rock bands like The Killers. However, the song-writing part of things is just as important if not more important to the LANCO band members.

“From the songwriting angle, it’s a big thing for us, we tour and play shows and we try to meet as many fans as we can, but we know there’s a lot of fans that listen, and the best way they can get to know us is through our lyrics and our songwriting. We try to communicate to our fans where we are in life through our songwriting, and then musically, we’re always trying to challenge each other.”

Today:

Flash forward to day, LANCO is finally about to release their sophomore album, We’re Gonna Make It featuring fourteen songs including, “Low Class Lovers” and “We Grew Up Together.” The record officially drops this Friday, January 17th.

“The music is the way we communicate with fans, and if you’re a LANCO fan and you’ve been on the journey with us, or if you just joined the party, whatever it is, you’ll definitely get to hear where we’ve been, what we’ve been up to, who we are now. We’ve grown up a bit. We’re not old men yet, but we’ve grown up a little bit. You can hear that in the music. You can hear it in the story-telling. We’ve gone through some hardships and that’s in the record, and we’ve also celebrated, and had a lot of fun, and are very excited and happy to be living life to the fullest, and that’s in the record as well.”

The album is packed with moments that are relatable, heartwarming, heartbreaking, and truly memorable. LANCO has truly outdone themselves, offering fans an intimate glimpse into their unique journeys and life milestones. While each track on the album holds its own, a standout is “We Grew Up Together,” which Lancaster considers one of his personal favorites.

“‘We Grew Up Together’ is the last song we wrote for the album, but it’s really a milestone for us. Since the first album, we’ve all started families, so it’s the first song that’s truly dedicated to that,” shared the singer. He also mentioned another favorite, saying, “The other one I’ll always be a sucker for is ‘Low Class Lovers.’ That was the first song we released from this album, and it’s one I’ve always held onto. It’s really the staple of the album.”

“‘Low Class Lovers’ pays tribute to the main characters from our song ‘Greatest Love Story,'” the singer explained. “It’s like the starting point, if this were a movie, ‘Low Class Lovers’ would be the opening scene five years later, with the rest of the album exploring what happens after that. The whole project really grew out of that concept for me.”

Connect:

To keep up with LANCO, follow them on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook.

LANCO’s music is available everywhere you buy or stream music. Take a listen below and check out more new recently released tunes on our ‘New Country Music’ playlist. Be sure to give the playlist a follow for your weekly new country music fix.