Any die-hard country music lover (and entertainment-obsessed fan, in general) knows: There’s nothing quite like backstage, meet-and-greet access. On Saturday, April 25, genre-bending country-pop-and-soul artist Teddy Swims surprised T-Mobile Magenta Status Stagecoach festivalgoers at the Club Magenta Mane Stage viewing suite ahead of his performance later that evening.
In addition to offering T-Mobile Magenta Pass holders the ultimate covered retreat from the massive festival crowds, complete with a bar, lounge seating, charging stations, photo activations, and a Rancher Hat Bar custom cowboy hat and lasso bar, T-Mobile brought Teddy on board for an airbrush tattoo shop pop-up featuring designs inspired by his own body art. While many fans were happy to simply sit, sip, and take in the tunes in a far less crowded area of the festival grounds throughout the weekend, the lucky group randomly selected to be present for Teddy’s pop-in couldn’t contain their excitement.
Before Teddy’s Club Magenta Takeover on Saturday, the 33-year-old singer sat down with a group of journalists to shed light on his career thus far, his thoughts on the current face of country music, and life in general.
“Ernest—Ernest is the face of country music; I think he’s the greatest there is right now,” Teddy revealed during the Club Magenta media Q&A. “Him, and Charlie Handsome, and Rocky Block [I would say] are the best writers in the world… they’re everything.”
The way Teddy sees it, the face of country music, the sound, and the audience are all changing. As Lainey Wilson so perfectly sings, “Country’s Cool Again.” “It’s for everybody,” Teddy echoes, noting that the revelation came to him while touring in Europe and seeing just how many people were fans of the genre now.
While Teddy is still making his way in country music, he’s covered enough songs (he even sang a few lines of Shania Twain’s “Forever And For Always” during our sit-down) and found success with his “Somethin’ ‘Bout A Woman” collab with Thomas Rhett, that he feels right at home making his foray into country.
His current goal? To navigate a career and live a life that his now 10-month-old son will grow up to respect. “I’m really happy; I’m in a good place; I got a 10-month-old—he just turned 10 months old yesterday—and he’s the sweetest kid in the world, so trying to make everything not about being a dad is the hard part because no one wants to hear just nothing but dad tunes, you know, but he’s the f---ing man,” he explained, while admitting that he hopes his son will think he’s cool one day.
We’ll collectively cross our fingers and toes for more captivating Teddy Swims originals and country collabs!
