Russell Dickerson is a country music artist whose star appears to just keep rising. He has had three albums make the U.S. Country charts and has had four No. 1 songs, including “Yours,” “Blue Tacoma,” “Every Little Thing,” and Love You Like I Used To. Another hit “God Gave Me a Girl,” reached No. 1 on MediaBase charts.
He’s enjoying success now. His YouTube This is Russ series, which chronicled his life on the road and at home, is a must-watch. However, sometimes he wishes he documented the early days of long miles and low pay all in the pursuit of his country music dream.
“I definitely wish I would have started earlier. It’s just like, man, back in the day was so exhausting. We’re driving a van, we’re going here, we’re going there, we’re making 200 to 500 bucks, like, just enough to get gas to the next one.”
Now Russell Dickerson, along with his family and bandmates, ride in style, thanks to custom tour bus created by a WWE Superstar. “Triple H designed it,” he says. “As soon as we got on it, this bus was fire! It’s as big as my living room. And when you’re on a tour bus, that extra space is so precious. It even had a washer and dryer!”
Now the Union City, TN, native’s name is on the marquis now, as he’s currently wrapping up his North American tour. But before headlining shows, Dickerson got started working as a member of the stage crew for christian artist Chris Tomlin.
“I was the first up, last out,” he says. “I had to help hang lighting, and then once I got the stage, I had to set up a full drum kit, an organ, three other keyboards, four guitar amps, plus change strings on eight guitars. All of this before the show started. it was grueling.”
It’s worth noting that Dickerson isn’t griping about learning the music ropes from the ground up. He enjoyed every minute of it because that time was fueling his own goals and aspirations. Sometimes, however, the country superstar feels the urge to his inner roadie and take on some of the packing responsibilities. Especially when the complaints start flying from the crew.
“I’m like, ‘Boys, y’all got it too plush—I don’t want to hear this crap,'” he says, laughing. “I used to have to triple stack a trailer, and y’all are just pushing cases. I don’t want to hear it.”
Staying Fit on the Road
With huge success comes a certain bit of sacrifice. For this fitness fanatic, it meant having to part with most of your traveling gym equipment—which included a rack, bench, bars, and plates that went with him at each stop on a separate bus—in order to store extra hoodies and hats and T shirts that his fans now demand.
“We lost our space to more merch, which is a great problem to have,” Dickerson says. They’re like, ‘You got your workout equipment and everything, but we need it for merch.’ I was like, we got to pay the bills. We got to make that money. So I will sacrifice my beautiful workout setup for more merch. Now we just got dumbbells.”
Now that he is on the bus and living his dream, he wants to make the most out of it. Part of that means being in shape to put on the best show possible for the fans that paid their hard-earned money to see him. There are gyms all over the country, but that may not always be an option. That is why he has fitness equipment with him on that bus.
“I got my clothes, I got my workout stuff. I got, you know, I got the dumbbells.”
Russell Dickerson will put in work with the equipment he does have, but he isn’t trying to set world records. The goal is to stay in shape for the main reason he is on the road. He uses MAPS Fitness Programs for his workouts, and he enjoys doing them because they serve him very well.
“I’m not trying to gas myself because if you see my live show, I get some good cardio. And we’re jumping, we’re running. We don’t just stand there and sing.”
Dickerson has been active ever since he was a kid but acknowledged that he wasn’t a star athlete in school. Besides having already discovered his love for music, he didn’t reach his current height of six foot, four inches until he was already in college. Fortunately for him, he already knew what he wanted and was investing the time to pursue it.
“I just was way more passionate about music and drums and playing guitar and learning songs on guitar.”
Dickerson also doesn’t allow touring to be an excuse for not eating healthy. He may not have a perfect kitchen setup on the road, but he makes the most out of what he does have—a microwave and a Traeger grill.
“I always keep Mega Fit Meals, and it is so good I always keep it on deck,” he says. “And I got cottage cheese and Celsius in there, and individual Costco chicken packs. Those are amazing.”
When it comes to nutrition, Dickerson is not one for counting calories or macros. By following the guidance of experts like Paul Saladino, Dickerson has found what works best for him and sticks with it. As long as his protein is where he wants it to be, he is good.
“I just really make sure that I have 170 to 190 or more grams of protein per day.”
Russell Dickerson
Structure Equals Consistency
There is a lot of uncertainty that comes with touring and recording, but finding ways to have structure in a schedule can help make everything work so Dickerson can stay on track with everything both with his physical shape and recording. Having to balance touring, training, and business along with writing songs is not easy, but he has a team around him that makes the process less daunting.
“I have a great, a great team that schedules it very intentionally to make sure I get time off the road and time with the family,” he explained. “It kind of comes and goes in seasons. This is a very heavy touring season, then starting in October, it’ll be more writing and more recording.”
As the tours continue and Dickerson’s success continues to grow, he is still learning more about the business and himself. New artists are breaking into his business regularly, and he remembers what it was like for him on that journey. He acknowledged being blessed to receive a lot of great advice, including from the great Tim McGraw, who told him to focus on why he is where he is to begin with, the music.
“He’s like, ‘it is all about the songs.’ You can look like Tim McGraw, but like, you gotta have the songs. And he’s stayed true to that.”
