Mark Bennett: Dylan Schneider brings lots of experience into homecoming concert at The Mill tonight

Sep. 16—The 21st year of life tends to be consequential for most people.

Dylan Schneider feels 21 "is a great age to be." That milestone year "makes me excited for the future," he added.

It hasn't been uneventful or simple, though.

When the country music artist, who grew up near Prairieton, spoke in a summertime interview, he'd gotten through a bout of COVID-19. Schneider also had navigated the shift to a new music label, BBR Music Group, whose roster also includes notables such as Jason Aldean and Billy Ray Cyrus. And, Schneider had spent months idled from recording and performing — along with the rest of Music City — because of the pandemic.

It was quite a change from 2019, when Schneider served as the opening act for the popular country duo Florida Georgia Line's 16-city summer stadium tour.

Schneider continued writing and honing new songs with his steady collaborators, though. Now, he's got new music for his legion of loyal fans, and will return to the live music stage tonight in his hometown. Schneider will open for headliner Granger Smith — a fellow country singer from the BBR stable of artists — for a 7 p.m. concert at The Mill, which is located, fittingly, on Prairieton Road in Terre Haute.

It's the first time Schneider has played in Terre Haute since a performance at the St. Benedict Church Community Festival in 2017. Schneider also is impressed by The Mill, which opened in June, and watched country artist Riley Green's concert there that month.

"I love the vibe and the energy," Schneider said. "It's just good for our hometown to have a place like that and people coming out.

"To be on a stage like this, it's going to be super cool," he added.

It's the latest step in Schneider's career path, which dates back farther than it seems. It's been six years since Schneider seized the moment in Hulman Center, introducing himself to Terre Haute country fans during a concert there by Paris, Illinois native Brett Eldredge. In the crowd that night as a fan, Schneider held aloft a sign reading, "I'm 16 tomorrow! I want to sing with you!" Eldredge called him up onstage, handed Schneider the mic and watched the kid hit every note and word of the song "Tell Me Where to Park."

Schneider then returned to his seat to cheers and high-fives, a harbinger of his future.

He'd even paid some dues getting to that opportunity. As a 14-year-old, Schneider played his guitar and sang at pizzerias and restaurants around the Wabash Valley. At 15, he won the Vigo County Fair's "Voice of the Valley" talent competition. At 16, fueled by his well-received, impromptu Hulman Center debut, Schneider started posting videos of himself singing cover songs and a few originals on social media. His clips drew more than one million views on Spotify, and he amassed 600,000 Facebook followers, as a Terre Haute South Vigo High School student.

By 17, he'd completed high school by earning his GED, started touring Nashville and Memphis, signed a songwriting contract, released two extended-play albums and gotten labeled "country music's next rising star" by Billboard Magazine.

Schneider experienced a dark day in music history, as well. He and his band performed at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017, just six hours before a lone gunman killed 60 people in the crowd and injured more than 400 more. Schneider was in that crowd that night and made a harrowing escape to safety.

Indeed, he's encountered much for a 21-year-old.

"It's definitely been interesting looking back on the past few years," he said.

The latest twist has been, of course, the pandemic. When COVID-19 hit and Nashville venues and studios shut down in 2020, Schneider came back to Vigo County.

"Down here [in Nashville], nobody was really getting into the songwriting rooms," he recalled. "So, I spent a lot of time with family up there [in Terre Haute], and it was super good."

Unfortunately, he also contracted COVID-19 during that time. "It wasn't too bad, for me, and we quarantined well," Schneider said. "And, nobody else in the family got it."

He also kept writing songs. Those efforts led to a resumption of songwriting sessions with his collaborators, such as Gabe Foust, James McNair and producer Mark Holman at a cabin in Nashville. "It gave us a chance to dial it in with certain songs," Schneider said. "We had a little bit more time."

Thus, Schneider has two new singles out this summer, giving him fresh material for gigs in 13 cities this fall as the opening act for the country band Lanco's Honky Tonk Hippies Tour.

Schneider's "Lost in a Small Town," as he puts it, "is a song about young love and how growing up can tear those things apart." Schneider also released "21 And Over" this month. That song puts its lost-love heartache theme in a coming-of-age context. Through adult eyes, Schneider sings, "One minute you're 18 and couldn't be closer, next thing you know, you're 21 and over."

Given that view, his career could just be getting started.

Mark Bennett can be reached at 812-231-4377 or mark.bennett@tribstar.com.