I love me some Florida Georgia Line.

See, about six months ago I came down with a serious case of country-music-itis – which means I’ve become very familiar with phrases like “dixie cups,” “tan lines,” and Story Warren on Sirius Radio’s The Highway.

And I’ve fallen in sweet southern love with the guilty pleasure music of the duo known as Florida Georgia Line, who, admittedly, is like the Nickelback of country music.

So the other day, I’m on my 17th listen of their new song, “Dirt.”  (Yep, you got that right, it’s called “Dirt.”)

If you ask my trusty sidekick and uber-capable assistant Kayla, she’ll tell you I’ve been blastin’ it after hours, and singing along . . . and gettin’ all the words wrong (actually she wouldn’t tell you that, which is what makes her such a capable assistant).

For listen #18, I decided to shake it up a bit and decided to see if there was an official video.

Interestingly enough, there wasn’t a video.

There were two videos.

One was a typical country mini-movie music video, with a woman who died too soon, a pick-up truck and a corn field.

The other was a lyric video.

That’s right, boot-scootin’ friends – FGL (that’s what their fans like me call ’em) produced two videos: one with a story, and one with some cool cinematic shots and an artistic version of “follow the bouncin’ ball” lyrics.  This way, you can learn the actual words from the song, and your sidekick assistant won’t laugh at you when you sing ’em at the top of your lungs in your office.

It was like this video was made for me!  (Who knew that the lyric was “Elm shade red rust clay you grew up on?”  And all this time I thought it was “Home made bed you threw up on!”)

Of course, it wasn’t made just for me.  It was made for me and the other millions of fans out there, who wanted deeper engagement with a product.

When an audience falls in love with something . . . and I’m talking deep, word-of-mouth-spreadin’-love, just consuming it, isn’t enough.  They want to devour it.  And every single bit of it.  Like those super carnivores out there who eat every part of a pig because they don’t believe in wasting even an entrail.

FGL knows that to keep their super fans engaged, and satisfied, they can’t just serve up a standard dish of content.  They have to give ’em more.  Much more.

And the same is true for you.

Do you have fans?

Give ’em the story of how your show got together.  Give ’em the personal history of your creative team.  Like, did you know that I met Stafford Arima, Director of Altar Boyz, when he was the Resident Director of Ragtime New York and I was the Associate Company Manager?  Give ’em details.

But don’t stop there.  Don’t just give them lyrics, give ’em sheet music so they can sing the tunes.  Imagine if your songs are done by college kids all over the country.  Or at auditions.  Give ’em backstage photos and video.

Drown ’em in content so they don’t even have a chance to listen to anyone else.  I mean, Jason Aldean who?

Your best fans have the power to bring you more fans.  But only if they are stuffed.

I know I risk getting mocked for listening to Florida George Line.  Especially when I admit that to a bunch of smart theater fans like yourselves.

But I’m ok with it.  Because by listening to them, I also learned a lot too.

Oh, and I couldn’t leave this post without giving you a little “Dirt”.

Watch the traditional video here.

And the lyric video here.

And make sure your office door is shut when you sing along.

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