\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tBailey Zimmerman, \u201cDifferent Night Same Rodeo\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy Photo<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tIllinois native Zimmerman, whose career launched after he first put up truck videos on TikTok, then transitioned to releasing videos of himself performing his own songs, has earned nominations from the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association, and earned two top 10 hits on the Hot 100, the aforementioned \u201cAll The Way\u201d and the unaccompanied \u201cRock and a Hard Place.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tWhere his debut album fashioned a moody, 2000s rock-oriented brand of country, his new album leans into shades of R&B, as well as brighter banjo- and fiddle-fueled country tracks such as \u201cNew To Country\u201d and even feather-light touches of church piano sounds on the Diplo collab \u201cAshes.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI\u2019ve been such a fan of his music,\u201d Zimmerman says of Diplo. \u201cOne day, he just showed up at my house, and I was like, \u2018I wanna show you some songs.\u2019 It was so random. \u2018They said Diplo\u2019s on his way over.\u2019 The song felt so fun and hype. Though it talks about, like, this girl has this guy she\u2019s not really into and she keeps coming back to me. It kinda insinuates cheating a little bit, but I didn\u2019t think of it like that, I just thought, \u2018It\u2019s so fun.\u2019 It kind of talks about some deep stuff, but it\u2019s meant to be light-hearted.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe Kid LAROI collab \u201cLost\u201d came after the two musicians spent the night on the town in Nashville after LAROI had played a private show in Music City.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cHe\u2019s like, \u2018I want to have dinner with Bailey,’\u201d Zimmerman recalls. \u201cI\u2019ve listened to his songs since like 2016 and had just started. We got to dinner and I was nervous \u2014 so [we] got there and he was the nicest guy ever. We get along [about] everything, and all of just what we believe in and life and our careers \u2014 it was like the Spiderman thing where I was pointing at myself. We had a wild night in Nashville, went out to Morgan\u2019s [Wallen\u2019s Nashville bar] \u2014 I took him to Loser\u2019s, and the next morning he pushed his flight back because he wanted to have breakfast. On the way there, he was like, \u2018Last night, you played me a song. Can you play that again?\u2019 and I had played him \u2018Lost.\u2019 He kept asking to hear it, so I asked him to get on the song.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThough he\u2019s recently rolled out the collabs with BigXThaPlug, Combs and Diplo, Zimmerman says he\u2019s judicious when it comes to collaborating. \u201cMy main thing about collaborations is I really want to be friends, and it\u2019s not just this forced industry thing,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \n\tSome of Zimmerman\u2019s songs, such as \u201cReligiously\u201d and the new album\u2019s \u201cHoly Smokes,\u201d dabble in spiritual references \u2014 but he also delves deeper into emotionally raw moments of doubt and struggle, such as on \u201cHell or High Water.\u201d Zimmerman says the new project follows a personal time marked by worry, and reliance on unhealthy vices, but he\u2019s seen a personal spiritual renewal in his own life.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cGod saved me from drinking and smoking all the time and all these little things that kept getting in my way,\u201d Zimmerman says. \u201cThe uncertainty and me worrying\u2026 I\u2019ve worried about this album, this tour. I\u2019ve been so nervous about everything, but when I pray about it, it\u2019s gone. [My faith] has just grown stronger over the past few years.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Bailey](\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/bailey-zimmerman-different-night-same-rodeo-cover-2025-billboard-1800.jpg?w=300\")
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