Yesterday after an early morning at Good Morning America, Gary, Joe Don, and Jay of Rascal Flatts were the very first artists to perform at NASH FM. 94.7’s brand new home, the Radio.com stage for an exclusive Up Close & Country performance.

Radio personality and DJ, Katie Neal welcomed the trio to the stage and after a few laughs, Jay DeMarcus joined Gary and Joe Don joking around that he was in the bathroom when they were announced. The band interacted with the small studio audience of lucky winners throughout the 5 song set, asking them to sing along and thanking them for coming.

They kicked things off with their most recent number one, “Yours If You Want It” backed by their full band of incredible musicians. Right off the bat their signature sound and harmonies were shining through, proving that their two-decade career of making country hits is long from being over. Next up they sang their current single “Back To Life” which was actually co-written by Dan + Shay’s, Shay Mooney. “Because he loves Gary’s voice so much, and listened to Gary growing up, he writes really well for Gary and what Gary is drawn to melody wise, so it was just kind of a no brainer,” Jay DeMarcus explained about cutting the track. The duo joined Rascal Flatts last year on their ‘Back To Us’ tour and they took time to recognize how incredible it was to watch their careers explode, ultimately watching them win two Grammy awards. We caught that show at Northwell Health at Jones Beach, check out a full recap here.

They discussed with Katie Neal about the decision to put their next full-length album on hold and release one single at a time. “This way if we do a single at a time, or 3 or 4 at a time, they all get and deserve the respect to be heard, I think,” lead singer Gary LeVox explained. “We’ve left so many great songs, that will probably never see the light of day on albums and now the way that things have changed, we have the opportunity that everybody will get to hear them.”

They talked about their Summer Playlist Tour and how it becomes harder and harder each year to pick songs for the setlist because there are those staple songs that fans expect to hear each year. They also chatted about the great list of openers including Lee Brice and Billy Currington on select dates. “Well, it’s called the Summer Playlist Tour so we just wanted it to be as many different varieties of people as we could to kind of make it a huge party,” Jay DeMarcus said.

Throwing it back to one of their classic songs, they performed “Fast Cars and Freedom”, a definite fan favorite. They ended the Up Close & Country performance with two of their biggest and most popular hits, “What Hurts the Most” and their iconic cover of “Life Is A Highway”. After performing they generously took time to meet each and every single fan present at the studio. Rascal Flatts The Summer Playlist Tour kicks off in May and goes through the entire summer. Click here for a full list of dates.

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