Scotty McCreery‘s priorities have shifted in the best possible way, now that he’s a father. The 29-year-old no longer feels the need to say yes to everything that is asked of him, a freedom he finds both liberating and necessary.

“The power of saying ‘no’ to some things is becoming a big thing for me,” McCreery told Us Weekly, ‘Hey man, you’re a father now.’ I wanna be there for my kid and we’re still busy, I’m still working my tail off, but we’re not saying ‘yes’ to everything like I used to always do. I gotta have time with my kid, I gotta have time with my family. So, that has changed a lot.”

McCreery is also carving out time for his wife, Gabi, although he admits their favorite times are together at home with their baby boy.

“I feel like our times are crazy right now in all the best ways,” boasts the singer. “The last four or five months have been incredible just watching our little boy grow. We’ve had one [date] since having Avery. The grandparents came over and watched him while we went out to eat and, it was just nice. We love to eat and love to drink a nice glass of wine. I think we were both enjoying the time away, but we’re also wanting to get back to Avery.”

Avery, who just turned five months old, is getting accustomed to life on the road, as McCreery continues his headlining Damn Strait Tour. He will also join  Brooks & Dunn next month on their REBOOT 2023 Tour.

 

“One of the bunks is now a crib ­­­— where he can’t roll out,” McCreery explains. “We try to bring all his stuff from home out there on the road too, his toys and his mats, so, he kind of has those same smells and sounds and sights that he gets in his nursery too. I love the road, but I do get to miss home. I get to miss him, the wife, so, this is selfishly, it’s huge for me and hopefully for them too, that we all get to hang together and have a year together on the road.”

The American Idol alum also predicts that Avery might be picking up on some of his father’s talents as well, even at such a young age.

“I hum to him nonstop. I can’t stop singing, he seems like he’s trying to go along with me,” McCreery says. “Maybe at some point, down the road, he can join Daddy for a duet, I see a little music in him, for sure.”

McCreery’s 2023 is packed full of tour dates, but he already knows a time is coming when his tour schedule will be significantly less full than it is now.

“I’m already thinking down the road — at this point, he’s growing up and he’s changing so much, but there’s only so much I can do at this point,” McCreery on the Daddy vs. Doctor podcast. “Mama’s kind of handling most of the stuff going on right now. But once he gets a little older, I think I’ll probably be cutting the 100 shows a year in half, so I can be there at the ball games, coaching third base, so I can do all those things. So we’ll see. But it’s definitely a balance, and I’m still brand-new, so I haven’t gotten it figured out by any means, but I guess we’ll live and learn.”

Find music and tour dates at ScottyMcCreery.com.

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