‘American Idol’ Judge Luke Bryan Drops Content Series with Fendt
FilmMagic for CMT Reading Time: 3 minutes
Luke Bryan is a very busy guy right now. With a docuseries coming out on August 6, and a tour beginning on Sept. 9, this American Idol judge has also released a YouTube content series, Rise Before Sunrise.
On July 7, Bryan posted promotional trailer for Rise Before Sunrise on both his Instagram and Twitter. And, fans are… interested, to say the least.
“A new content series where @fendt.global and I are waking up with the farmers during the summer growing season,” said Bryan when promoting the series on his Instagram. “You’ll hear my unfiltered thoughts on music, my fans and farming all from the cab of my Fendt® tractor.”
This Georgia native is excited to bring fans along with him on his Fendt tractor in this upcoming series. Right now, there are three episodes of Rise Before Sunrise posted on Fendt’s YouTube channel.
Each episode is about a minute and contains the same title sequence of Bryan getting into his tractor and turning the lights on. Bryan is also seen wearing the same clothing in the title sequence as he is in all of the videos. Maybe that is just a coincidence since this series was just released, but it kind of seems like these videos were all shot in the same day.
Bryan Joins with German Company Fendt
Fendt defined the Rise Before Sunrise series as “Luke waking up with farmers to keep them company as he reconnects with his farming roots. Hear his unfiltered thoughts on music, fans and farming, all from the cab of his Fendt® tractor.”
These videos have a 10 second title sequence and a 14 second outro, leaving around 36 seconds (sometimes longer) for Bryan to talk.
“So is this the first installment? A minute long? So am I not seeing the correct link?” said a fan on the post.
The trailer is literally longer than the first episode of the series at one minute and four seconds whereas the first episode is 56 seconds.
I understand being unfiltered, and it being early in the morning, but how can this be described as keeping farmers company? Are they supposed to replay this video repeatedly while they do their daily tasks? Should this even be considered a series since the videos are so short?
Although fans have showed some support for Bryan’s new series, there are also some fans who aren’t agreeing to this collaboration. Fendt is a german tractor manufacturer who has teamed up with Bryan to create this content series, and Bryan’s summer tour.
“I adore you and your music but you couldn’t support an American made tractor???” commented a fan on Instagram.
The American equivalent to Fendt is John Deere. John Deere is a giant name in the farming community because it was created in America, and is still mostly made in America.
Some fans are upset that Bryan looked elsewhere for a sponsor considering his background in farming. Although tractor brands are like car brands, most farmers will choose John Deere over competitors. The partnership is especially weird since Bryan recently paired with Jockey. Writing:
“When you wear @jockey, you support American workers. #LinkInStory
#ThereIsOnlyOneJockey #Jockey#MadeInAmerica
#JockeyxLuke“
Blake Shelton Farming Competition
The trailer of Rise Before Sunrise includes snippets from the first episode, titled “Luke Bryan vs. Blake Shelton.” Within this video he mentions how he’s a better farmer than Blake Shelton.
Some fans commented expressing an interest in Shelton entering the unfiltered series. They mentioned things like a farming contest, but one fan reminded everyone that “Blakey has other priorities right now.” Referencing Shelton’s recent marriage Gwen Stefani.
This series shoots to keep farmers company, but falls short of that with extremely short running times and fan dissatisfaction. Hopefully both Bryan and Fendt will take fan comments into consideration when publishing more in the series.
