“Anything Goes” for Florida Georgia Line

August 13, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

No boundaries, no genres, no rules and no problems.

In a nutshell, that’s the mindset Florida Georgia Line – Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard – took during the recording process for its highly anticipated sophomore album, “Anything Goes,” which was released last year.

“There’s definitely some rock influences, hip-hop influences, country music influences in there, especially lyrically,” said Hubbard, calling from Bethel, N.Y. “That’s kind of where our heart is at, just a little bit of everything. We’re just going to continue to step out of the box and try to be ourselves and do the music that we want to do every night on stage.

“That’s the fun part about it – there are no boundaries.”

The singer-guitarist added that “Anything Goes” acts as a catchall for all moods: There are contemplative tunes such as “Angel” and “Like You Ain’t Even Gone,” the laid-back, reggae-tinged “Sun Daze” and the rowdy, bluegrass-influenced title track. So far, audiences have gravitated to the gold-selling album, which boasts three No. 1 singles (“Sun Daze,” “Dirt” and “Sippin’ On Fire”).

This success obviously follows the band’s debut, “Here’s to the Good Times.” The 2012 multiplatinum effort included its massive 2 million-copy-selling debut single, “Cruise,” as well as chart toppers “Get Your Shine On,” “Round Here,” “Stay” and “This is How We Roll [featuring Luke Bryan].”

To say Florida Georgia Line is on an amazing streak would be an understatement. What’s even more of a head scratcher is the fact Florida Georgia Line has completely changed the Music City dynamic.

Sure, the band has its obligatory Nashville influences (Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks, et al.) but the young act also doesn’t shy away from hip-hop. Helping that narrative along was rapper Nelly, whose remix of “Cruise” became a top-10 pop-radio hit a few years back.

Currently, Florida Georgia Line, which comes to Pittsburgh on Tuesday for a show at First Niagara Pavilion, is playing a cover of Garth Brooks’ “Friends in Low Places,” which isn’t really a surprise. However, the band then delves into Dr. Dre’s 2001 Grammy Award-winning single “Forgot About Dre.”

“Yeah, man, it’s pretty funny,” Hubbard said. “We kind of did that as a test to see how many of our fans listen to a little bit of everything like we do. A lot of the country music lovers also grew up on hip-hop and rock, so it’s a lot of the same influences.”

Invariably, these days any mention of Florida Georgia Line is followed by the B-word. You know – bro-country.

That’s why there’s currently a critical backlash to the band, which is being credited with helping create the bro-country zeitgeist. Such divisiveness in the genre can only be compared to the love-hate relationship rock critics and fans have with Nickelback.

Regarding such haters, Hubbard said the multiplatinum band is content pointing to the scoreboard with its seven No. 1 singles and impressive concert ticket sales.

“We don’t really let it bother us,” Hubbard said. “We kind of use it as inspiration. There’s a saying that if people aren’t talking bad about you, you’re not doing something right. So we enjoy it.

“For every one person who is hating, there are 500 people loving it. We don’t really worry about it. People who like to talk negative usually like to talk loud, but we kind of shake it off and keep doing our thing, man.”