Country singer Cole Swindell will open for Luke Bryan at the Schottenstein Center Jan. 17.  Credit: Courtesy of MaryCatherine Rebrovick

Country singer Cole Swindell is set to open for Luke Bryan at the Schottenstein Center Jan. 16.
Credit: Courtesy of Mary Catherine Rebrovick

By “Chillin’ It,” Cole Swindell has finally received his first break as a professional musician.

Columbus is the first stop on Luke Bryan’s That’s My Kind of Night tour, which features opening artist Swindell.

“It feels like all the hard work and all the long nights of trying to write songs and get better in this business is finally worth it,” the singer-songwriter said.

Luke Bryan, Lee Brice and Swindell are set to perform at the Schottenstein Center Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

While this is Swindell’s first time touring as a performer, he is no stranger to it — or Luke Bryan.

Swindell said he previously worked as the “merch guy” for Bryan, and he wrote several of Bryan’s songs.

Swindell said he tries to write songs that make the audience dance along, gain an emotional reaction and “make the crowd react.”

Though he both writes and performs songs, Georgia-native Swindell “definitely”  prefers performing, he said.

But the two are hard to compare, he said. While he couldn’t go out and perform if he didn’t love it, he said he also loves writing and really enjoys finding the perfect lyrics.

Swindell’s skillset in writing and performing came together for his first single, “Chillin’ It,” released Oct. 29 on iTunes.

“I liked it, but I think my boyfriend liked it more,” Kate Thompson, a fourth-year in English, said of the song. “It seemed like more a guy song.”

Swindell said he plans to perform the single and other songs at the concert from his self-titled album, which is scheduled to release Feb. 18.

Tickets for Thursday’s concert start at $26.75.