Last week, Brantley Gilbert shared a video on Instagram of his tour bus engulfed in flames. Thankfully, everyone made it off of the bus in time, and all were safe.
“In all seriousness…. thankful no one was injured…. bus drivers are safe…. I’m safe…. see y’all back on the road soon….” he wrote in a caption to the video.
Based on the way that Gilbert wrote about the video, it made it sound as though he had been on the bus at the time of the fire. But he has since clarified that he was not there when the fire occurred. Speaking to Rare Country, Gilbert said that his two drivers were bringing the bus back to the U.S. after a few Canadian shows when the fire occurred.
While Gilbert and his drivers emerged from the fire unscathed, the bus did not. As Gilbert explained, it was a total loss. “Yeah, the bus is done,” he said.
He then went on to name a number of items that he lost in the fire: guitars, stage clothes, notes, letters, and photographs.
But it was the loss of the bus itself that left Gilbert feeling a bit down. As he explained, his bus was much like another “home” to him where he felt safe and comfortable:
“It’s not so much like, ‘Awww, your bus burned down.’ It’s more like, ‘Man, my house burned down.’ So, it’s been interesting … Anybody that knows me will tell you that I get real attached to my bus. I spend a lot of time on it..It’s kind of like my little sanctuary, so I feel like I kinda lost an old friend a little bit, but we’ll build another one.”
On top of all of that, Gilbert had just finished customizing his bus to make it easier for him to take his wife, Amber, and their baby boy, Barrett, on the road with him. “We had it built with [Barrett] in mind comin’ and we had just finished all the baby aspects of the bus and got it just perfect,” he said.
Knowing Gilbert, he won’t let the loss of his tour bus get him down. He has a busy performance schedule ahead, and his newest single “The Ones That Like Me” is holding strong on the charts. Check out its music video below, which also stars his lovely wife.
While he’s sad to say goodbye to his bus, Gilbert is certainly grateful that no one was harmed in the fire. As he said, they can build another bus!