From Fan To Tourmate: Mae Estes’ Full-Circle Moment With Luke Bryan

Sixteen years ago, Mae Estes was just a lucky fan who scored a meet and greet with Luke Bryan before his concert. Now, she’s performing on the same stage with the country music superstar and experiencing a true “full circle” moment.

Luke Bryan is currently in the midst of his 2025 summer headline run dubbed A Country Song Came On Tour. The trek launched in May and welcomed a slew of rising talent as openers, including Mae Estes. This week, she took to social media to reflect on this dream-come-true opportunity and took fans in time to share when her journey with Bryan really began.

The heartfelt post featured a slideshow that mostly included recent photos captured during a show at the Xfinity Theatre in Hartford, CT when Bryan invited Estes to the stage during his set to perform together. But, two of the photos were taken back in 2009 when the songstress had the pleasure of unexpectedly meaning Bryan for the first time.

“Y’all already know I’m sappy and that “full circle” is the name of the game round here sooo…Check out these pics from 2009 when @lukebryan played in Little Rock and some random lady walked up to me and my sister in our lawn chairs out front and asked if we wanted to meet Luke. She gave us meet and greet passes and we got this pic,” she explained while recalling that unforgettable night.

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A post shared by Mae Estes (@maeestes)

Almost 20 years later, she’s soaking in the moment and feeling grateful that her love for Luke Bryan and performing led her here. Estes also thanked her team and Bryan’s for turning this dream into reality.

“Thanks to my team and Luke’s for this unreal experience and @mackenzieryanphoto for these pics. We’ll see y’all this weekend in WV, Nashville, then VA!”

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A post shared by Mae Estes (@maeestes)

With Estes joining the last few dates of the tour, fans still have the chance to see her perform her growing catalog live. Most recently she captured the hearts of her audience with the new track, “Mountain of a Man.”

The upbeat song, penned by Jon Decious, Lauren McLamb, Liz Rose and Paul Sikes, serves as a gritty breakup anthem that hones in on the pain of loving someone that makes moving on feel impossible. Despite the character knowing exactly what she was getting into, the blue-collar cowboy’s charm still held her captivated.

“Damn that mountain of a man/ Tumbleweed, wild horse, seventeen hand/ Daddy fighting mad, Mama don’t understand/ Why I’m rock-bottom rolling with a Rolling Rock can/ Got so drunk that I got sober/ High as I got, I never got over that mountain of a man/ (How do you get over a) Mountain of a man,” she delivers on the chorus.

Anchored by Estes’ signature neotraditional style and rich layers of fiddle, pedal steel, and dobro, the track drives home the truth, highlighting what feels too good to be true often is.

“This tune reminds me of an old Patty Loveless song. It’s so much fun and I feel really lucky that the songwriters let me record it,” Estes shared with her label.

The tune has also become a staple in her live shows as she’s made it a tradition to pick out an honorary “mountain of a man” in the crowd.

“I think lots of summertime memories will be made with this one blaring in the background,” she added.

“Mountain Of A Man” follows the release of the “Mr. Fix It” in May. TikTok helped launch “Mr. Fix It” into the spotlight earlier this year, with the first video earning 800K+ views and thousands of comments. The song soon inspired a trend on the platform as fans created their own videos honoring the “Mr. Fix It” in their lives.

Mae Estes plans to keep the momentum going with more new music dropping later this year.