Russell Dickerson was part of a star-studded friend group in college.

The “Happen To Me” superstar caught up with Bobby Bones on a new episode of The BobbyCast, and reminisced on his college days with Florida Georgia Line’s Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley, plus their neighbor, Chase Rice. Dickerson said in a clip from the podcast: “A friend of a friend was like, ‘hey, you gotta meet these two dudes. They’re writing a bunch of songs, getting a little whatever going.’ I don’t think they were Florida Georgia Line yet. Went over to their apartment, little house, two-level thing. It was, they lived on the top, Chase Rice lived in the basement. And so, it was like, me, Tyler and BK writing all the time. …After class, I was like, I couldn’t wait to get back to the fun house. …I remember when they played (‘Cruise’) for me, I was like, ‘dang.’”

Dickerson’s reflection of his college days with FGL arrives shortly after he and the duo took the stage for their respective sets at CMA Fest in Nashville, Tennessee. The Country Music Association’s four-day event, hailed the longest-running country festival in the world, features hundreds of artists on free daytime stages downtown, plus nightly shows at Nissan Stadium. Dickerson made history when he introduced Fetty Wap to the stage to perform their genre-blending collaboration, in addition to his country hits. Hubbard and Kelley made a surprise reunion as FGL after about four years of pursuing solo projects.

CMA Fest took place from Thursday, June 4, through Sunday, June 7. Fans can relive it during a three-hour televised concert special later this month, featuring performances by Bailey Zimmerman, Blake Shelton, The Band Perry, Brothers Osborne, Carly Pearce, Cody Johnson, Deana Carter, Ella Langley, Fetty Wap, Florida Georgia Line, Gretchen Wilson, HARDY, Jason Aldean, Jelly Roll, Jordan Davis, Keith Urban, Lainey Wilson, Luke Bryan, Michael McDonald, Molly Tuttle, The Red Clay Strays, Ricky Skaggs, Riley Green, Russell Dickerson, Shaboozey, Shay Morgan, Stephen Wilson Jr., Tim McGraw, Tucker Wetmore and Zach Top. Award-winning country star Riley Green and Good Morning America’s Lara Spencer will co-host the televised event. CMA Fest will air on ABC at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT on Thursday, June 25. The show will be available to stream the following day on Hulu.

Throughout their conversation, Dickerson also spoke with Bobby Bones about “the point in his career when he honestly thought it might all be over, and how things turned from doubt into momentum.” The singer-songwriter also spoke about his genre-blending collaborations with Fetty Wap and the Jonas Brothers, balancing touring with family life, and more. Find the full episode on iHeartRadio, or watch on Netflix.

Brooke Taylor

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