Just over two years ago, in the heart of Kentucky, US, Aden Wood, Ryan Laslie, Jacob Ty Young, Colby Clark, Dustin “Catfish” Fuqua, and Dwight McGlynn were just a group of friends/musicians chasing a life-long dream. Fast forward to 2025, and the band have graced some of the biggest stages in country music including the Opry, two dates at BST Hyde Park supporting Zach Bryan and more. Ole 60 are proving that the journey from a small-town in the US to national recognition doesn’t have to be long if the music hits but it does require hard work and Ole 60 are certainly hard-working.

The band have seen much success since the release of their breakout single Smoke and a Light. The track has connected with so many fans that it topped charts across various streaming platforms and brought a wider audience to their music.

At BST Hyde Park, the band took to the stage in front of thousands of adoring fans and you could see by the reaction of the band, that they were quite emotional from hearing all of the people singing along to every song passionately. As Ole 60 launched into the closer Smoke and a Light, the audiences reaction was electric, showing that Ole 60’s music isn’t just being heard; it’s being felt.

Having released 2 EP’s and various singles since they formed, the band are currently working on some new music. Asking whether it would be a full album, lead singer Jacob explains:

“I don’t know if we’re calling it an album yet, but we’ve got quite a few songs that we’ve banked up right now we’re working on some more. So hopefully there will be an album by the end of the year, but we’re not completely sure what it is yet”

We asked how the new music — and potentially a new album — might come together, particularly in terms of its bookends. At Building Our Own Nashville, we’re album listeners at heart. We love it when an album tells a story and draws us back in for repeated listens. Jacob pauses thoughtfully before responding:

“When we’re recording these songs, it’s kind of in the back of our heads, you know what? What should be the intro, what should be the outro? What song should be where? Because it’s a story, you know, and it’s not like a front to back story, but it’s a story of emotions and of feelings and different stories. So it has definitely been a challenge trying to piece it together, but it’s, it’s going well, and we’re excited about it”

If you ever get the opportunity to see Ole 60 live, take it! Their music translates beautifully live and asking them if they have the live setting in mind when writing they said:

“Yeah, I think that our biggest thing is the live show. That’s, that’s our favorite part of it, and I think a lot of our fans favorite part of it. So we’re definitely, when we’re recording, trying to figure out, you know, what could we do different live here that would make this cooler? How could we make this song flow into this song live? Do some transitions, longer guitar solos. I think that’s live music. You know, that’s why you go to a show. Some people go to hear the songs that they listen to, but, I mean, I think that the live experience is a completely different thing where you get to, you get to see the artists do what they want to do with their songs, you know. And that’s, that’s the cool part.”

Some new music that has been released already is their single Nancy Avenue which was released in May. Of the song Jacob says;

“So there’s a little town in Kentucky called Lewisport, and it’s in Hancock County, which is where me and Ryan are from, and my parents. So my dad grew up on Nancy Avenue in Lewisport, and then my parents had their first house on Nancy Avenue in Lewisport, and I grew up running around that area. I didn’t grow up there, but I had a lot of buddies that grew up around there, so we’re just always out in those streets. And I wrote a song with Dwight, just about being young and the place that you did all your running around, and you miss it, you know?”

In response to asking if he ever goes back there, he replied:

“Yeah, yeah, I go back all the time, Lewisport, Hawesville, just around the county, and we went up and recorded a bunch of stuff on Nancy Avenue. And it was a lot of fun. It’s like, a small town, it’s like a mile.

Ryan: “There’s one stoplight in Lewisport and two in Hawesville. And that’s, that’s where we’re from. So we got three in the whole county.”

Small towns in the US have always fascinated me — there are so many songs about them, about people keeping to themselves and the tight-knit communities they form. I mentioned to Ole 60 that, despite living in what would technically be considered a small town in the UK, I barely know everyone on my street. Some days, I could swear I’ve never even seen my neighbour before. To that, Ryan explained that in American small towns, people really do know everyone.

“Our small little town, like, every car you pass you are like, “Oh, that’s so and so” “that’s, you know”, because you all go to school together, You’re all working together, you know? So everybody’s just, there’s a lot of community.”

London, of course, is a world away from the small towns of Kentucky—and for Ole 60, this trip marked their very first time in the UK. When I asked the band what they’d been up to since arriving two days earlier, they shared;

“We went and saw Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, rode the London Eye, did some tourist stuff. We’ve kind of had our own adventures, just walking, hiking.”

Although I have lived in the UK my whole life, I haven’t yet been on the London Eye. Asking them about their experience Jacob laughs;

“I mean, it’s, it comes out to, like, almost $2 a minute you’re up there. So maybe it was cool once you got to the top. But it’s a long ride.”

Talking with the band, it was immediately clear how close they are—not just as musicians, but as genuine friends. Curious about how it all began, I asked how the band came together. Jacob smiled and said:

“So me and Ryan over there (points to Ryan on the sofa), we knew each other the longest. We’re all from about 15 minutes from each other. I started playing with Ryan, and then Aiden got with us on social media and asked if we needed a drummer, and we did. So he’s our drummer, Colby the bass player, met at a Read Southall concert in Indiana, and then catfish joined later spring of last year. He was in another band where we’re from, in Kentucky, and then Dwight was recommended to us through another pedal steel player and he sent him our way. We’ve been playing with him ever since.”

Appreciating the story but also curious to why Dustin has the nickname Catfish, Jacob laughs;

“So in high school, he had a tattoo of a koi fish on his arm, and his high school football coach started calling him catfish because he thought it was a catfish. It was a koi fish. So now catfish haha”

Just before we said our goodbyes, I had to ask about a moment that holds a special place in the heart of every country artist—their debut at the Grand Ole Opry. How did they prepare? Were outfits something they spent time on?

Aiden said “For that show. We got a stylist help us out. I mean, we’re just regular dudes, you know? We don’t really know how to dress super nice.”

Ryan followed with “Up until that point, we were all still blue collar. Like, one thing we had was work clothes.

Aiden – That was our first set (show) back after being off. So there’s a lot of pressure of like, “okay, this set is like, what’s going to kick off the year, you know?” So it was, it was stressful, stressful, yeah, but it was awesome.”

Quickly asking if they had any plans to come back to the UK soon they said with a grin;

“We would love to. Yeah, I think they’re getting it together right now, so we’ll see if we get to come back next year. I hope so. It’s been a lot of fun”

Hopefully we will see Ole 60 come back for C2C Festival and for them to play the main stage in the O2 arena. We need their energy. We need that. It would be amazing.

Listen to/Stream Ole 60 here

Read our review from their set at BST Hyde Park supporting Zach Bryan here