Cole Swindell - Shay's Spotlight Artist of the Week

A couple of years ago you might not have recognized the name Cole Swindell like you do today because he was the man behind the songs. Swindell only had a publishing deal as a songwriter; but today he's making his way to super stardom with hits like 'Chillin' It' and 'I Hope You Get Lonely Tonight'. There's more to Cole Swindell than meets the eye.

Cole has recently been nominated for the ACM's New Artist of the Year award and he's in some pretty tough company; Thomas Rhett, Chase Rice, Tyler Farr, Brett Eldredge and more.

Cole started out as many artists have (Trisha Yearwood, Martina McBride) selling merchandise for other artists. Cole sold merch for Luke Bryan but he would watch and learn from every show, absorbing as much as he could. He would write songs on the side and eventually he earned a publishing deal. That lead to working with other big name writers but still performing in small venues on his own. Finally, it all came together for Cole and he got his own record deal with Warner Bros. Records.

Cole's songwriting is so popular that he's had songs recorded by Luke Bryan, Scotty McCreery, Thomas Rhett, Florida Georgia Line, Chris Young and more.

Here's a little trivia for you. Cole and Luke Bryan have more in common than just music. They both attended Georgia Southern University, although a few years apart, and were members of the same fraternity. They were both members of Sigma Chi.