Why Brett Eldredge Has Hardly Toured in 2023

I recently had the chance to sit down with Brett Eldredge to talk about life, music and what the country music star has been up to all year.

Eldredge was in great spirits and happy to discuss what has been going on in his 2023.

I asked him if he was working on new music, and if he has been playing shows this year. He hasn't — he explained that he has only played four shows so far this year, and they were overseas.

"I've really been spending time reflecting on my life," he says. "I've been touring for over 10 years straight, and I wanted to take some time to breathe and be around family and friends and grow relationships."

Eldredge says he's growing his relationship with himself, too. The country star has expressed to me on multiple occasions his desire to seek help with mental health and how he limits his screen time to block out any negativity, so he won't focus on the wrong things.

"Through the time off, I've been writing a lot of music for fun. It's obviously going to be for a project, but I've learned that instead of trying to write something that has to fit into a box or whatever, I'm just having fun writing," he says. "And it's allowed me to go to some deeper places that I'm not sure I would have been able to if I had not taken this time. Some different sounds that people haven't fully heard from me yet, and I'm ready to expand with all this music and it's really coming together."

Another thing that's coming together for Eldredge is Christmas, even though it's only August. Over the years, the singer has become "Mr. Christmas" in the country community, recording holiday songs of his own in addition to Christmas classics.

This year, he teamed up with Lowe's to offer a dream Christmas backyard setup, to bring the spirit of the holiday season to the home of one lucky Nashville fan. That included decking out the backyard, complete with trees, garlands, inflatables and more, and surprising the winner's family and friends with an intimate acoustic performance. A great time was had by all.

Eldredge says it's still undecided if he's going to have new Christmas music coming out this year.