CARLTON FLETCHER: Luke and Cole … yeah, I knew them when

“It may be lonely at the top, but it’s a bit — at the bottom.”

— Jamey Johnson

“Hey, Fletch, you want to come do a story and take some pictures of our show at the Cab Stand Saturday?”

That was my introduction to Luke Bryan. When he made that call, he was one of any number of local groups and artists looking for attention — any kind of attention — in an effort to build a following.

Now Luke Bryan is, of course, one of the biggest stars in country music. He plays sold-out shows for adoring fans all over the country, and he is a constant presence on country radio.

Talk about a hometown boy doing good.

I had the opportunity at a recent gathering to give an accounting of my own “relationship” with Bryan over the years. It’s kind of funny, kind of ironic, and maybe a little bit sad.

After I started covering Bryan regularly at local shows, we built something of a rapport. It was enough of a relationship that he called me to tell me he was going to Nashville to have a go at making a living doing what he loved. It was one of my favorite interviews.

I next heard from Bryan when he sold his first song, and then again when he signed a recording contract. As a matter of fact, Bryan brought his band to Albany to perform on the day after he signed his contract, and I spent most of his show onstage with him and his band, taking photos and gathering information for another feature story.

i got a call from Nashville a short time after that, again from the budding country star as he prepared to release his debut album. I told him we’d give him front-page coverage for the event, and we did.

The same thing happened when he released his second album: Another call, another interview, another front page story.

Bryan’s career, by that time, had started its meteoric climb to the stratosphere, and when I heard he was getting ready to release a third album, I called his PR folks to set up an interview. They found a time but made it clear I had only a short window in which to get my questions. I understood and met their demands.

By the time album No. 4 was set for release, I got an email from Bryan’s PR folks. There would be no interview, they told me, but they did send me a number of quotes about the album and a digital copy for a review.

Album No. 5? You guessed it. I called to see if Bryan would be available for an interview or if quotes would be provided. This is what I was told: “The doctor told Luke he needed to rest his voice to get ready for his next tour so he’s not going to be available for any interviews.”

Like the rest of the world, people in southwest Georgia love their native son/country mega-superstar, and I’ve been asked on a number of occasions why I don’t do stories about Luke like I used to. I just smile.

See, I’ve reached out to Bryan’s PR folks on a number of occasions — including in advance of the benefit show he, Phillip Phillips, Cole Swindell and Dallas Davidson put on at the Exchange Club Fairgrounds. The response has been the same … nothing.

(Just to reinforce this tale about the way these things work, Swindell also called me on a number of occasions and asked me to write stories about his music and about his career up to the time he signed a contract shortly after arriving in Nashville. I was glad to do it; I believe in supporting local folks, and I love all kinds of music. Except for a call asking me to do a story about a show he was performing in the area shortly after he signed his contract, I haven’t even been able to get either he or his marketing folks to respond to interview requests.)

Am I bitter? Not at all. Do I resent maybe a little bit that neither these two hometown boys nor their representatives think a person who tried in his own way to help them get their careers started will even respond to an interview request? No, I really don’t.

See, that’s the way life goes. When you have to claw your way, against all odds, to the top, you have to work like hell to stay there. And that work just doesn’t have room for anything that can’t bring dramatic return. So these guys do what they do. And I do what I do. And that’s the way of the world.