(Credit: Paul Familetti)
For years, I’ve been hoping to interview an artist at Serendipity, my favorite dessert spot in New York. I’ve been going with friends and family since high school (always ordering the Frozen Hot Chocolate!) When I met Dustin Lynch last November in Nashville and told him I live in New York he said his favorite place to visit is Serendipity. I was speechless for a second because I never thought I’d meet anyone who loved the place just as much as me. When I told him I want to move to Nashville, he suggested I open up Serendipity Nashville and to be honest, it’s not a bad idea.
Nearly a year later, I learned Dustin would be in New York to do press for his new album Where It’s At. I thought Serendipity was the perfect spot to sit down and chat. When I interviewed him on a gondola at The Venetian in Las Vegas during the ACM Awards, he compared one of the songs on his album, “Sing It to Me,” to sexual chocolate so I had a feeling Serendipity would be a fitting location. Below is an excerpt from our chat over Frozen Hot Chocolate.
A self-professed sweets fanatic, Dustin said he first stumbled upon Serendipity years ago when he was on the hunt for cheesecake in New York. His publicist had recommended Serendipity.
“We got here and it was like, ‘Wow!’ Every dessert that came out was bigger than life,” he told me.
So what did he think of his Frozen Hot Chocolate?
“Good grief,” Dustin said, after taking his first sip. “The gym has to happen tonight,” he said grinning, before going in for another sip. “We can run to dinner.”
Since we were sipping frozen chocolate treats in a popular dessert emporium, I had to wonder: Is there one dessert that best describes his album Where It’s At? “I’m going to have to go with Brownie Earthquake Sundae. A little bit of everything I love is in it,” Dustin said.
It’s true, Where It’s At does have ‘a little bit of everything’ in it, from heartfelt ballads like “She Wants a Cowboy” and “Your Daddy’s Boots” to uptempo live numbers including “Where It’s At,” “To the Sky” and the album’s kickoff track, “Hell of a Night.”
Dustin has previously described one song on the new release, “Sing It To Me,” as “sexual chocolate,” so since we were actually indulging in chocolate, I had to bring it up again. Dustin , to his credit, didn’t flinch. With R&B and pop influences, he said “Sing It To Me” is the sexiest song he’s ever written.
“‘Sing It To Me’ is our lovey dovey song on the album,” hesaid. “It’s not even really lovey dovey, it’s about not wanting to get out of bed with someone else in the morning just because it’s perfection.”
Once the interview came to a close and we finished the last sips, we headed outside into the bustling streets and sweltering July heat to say our goodbyes. Maybe it was the sugar high, but on my walk to the subway I couldn’t help but wonder if Dustin was right — that real cowboys do indeed still exist.
Earlier, when he discussed his song “She Wants a Cowboy,” he’d said there are plenty out there. “I think the song, it is digging deeper than simply ‘She Wants a Cowboy,’” he said. “She wants a guy that’s simple, down to earth and honest. She wants a guy that can kick back and peel back the layer of whatever persona you have to put on in everyday life.”
And despite my protests, he did personally pay for our Frozen Hot Chocolates. So maybe I did, in fact, meet my very first real cowboy.
To read the complete interview from Serendipity, visit Radio.com. You can also read our chat on a gondola at The Venetian here.