Scotty McCreery is so grateful to be a father. The singer and his wife, Gabi, welcomed their first child, son Avery, into the world last October, changing, quite literally, everything for McCreery.

“It’s been just the coolest thing I’ve ever done,” McCreery tells Everything Nash. “It’s been the best. I feel like your priorities change, everything changes. You’re no longer thinking about, ‘What are my plans today?’ It’s like, ‘No, what are we doing with Avery? What does he need to be going on?’ And if we’re gonna go somewhere, we’re bringing him. Everything shifts, but it’s all for the better. And just getting to watch him grow and kind of come into his self and get his own little personality, it’s just so rewarding, and so cool to watch as a dad.”

McCreery spent a lot of 2023 on tour, both headlining his own shows and serving as the opening act on Brooks & Dunn‘s REBOOT 2023 Tour. The American Idol alum brought his son and wife on the road with him as much as possible, wanting to soak up all the family time he could, even away from home.

 

“It was a learning curve,” McCreery acknowledges. “Bringing him out there, it was the best. I wasn’t having to miss him or Gabi; they were there with me. But just all the little things that a baby needs throughout the day, and then my schedule, and whether I’m doing meet and greets or interviews, or just when I hit the stage, it’s all still thinking about Avery throughout that.

“So, even coming off stage, typically you’re sweaty, and you grab a cold beer, and everybody’s on a high. And now it’s like, ‘Okay, I get off stage, go to the bus, warm a bottle, turn the lights off, get him in his nighttime gown, and go from there,'” he adds. “So it’s a lot different, but I love it.”

In addition to plenty of fall tour dates, with Avery and Gabi joining him on the road, McCreery is also putting the finishing touches on his new album. The record includes his Top 40 single, “Cab In A Solo,” the first indication of what fans can expect from his next record.

“I’m pumped about this thing,” McCreery says.. “It’s a little different for me, a touch. I feel like a lot of my other records were very autobiographical. This one has a couple of those songs. There’s a song for Avery. There’s a song for Gabi. But we’re kind of going in some different directions on this record. Some heartbreak, and some breakup songs. Some honky-tonking songs, and stuff I really haven’t done before on records.

“But I grew up loving those kinds of songs, so we just kind of let the guitar take us to where it wanted to when we were writing these songs, and this is where we ended up,” he adds.

Find all of McCreery’s music and upcoming shows at ScottyMcCreery.com.

Read ‘Scotty McCreery: 11 Things to Know About the Country Music Star’ here.