An LSU student just signed with big country label. Now he’ll tour with his uncle Tim McGraw.

The fans and the music come first.

That’s the best advice rising country singer-songwriter Timothy Wayne recalls his uncle giving him — advice that stands among many career nuggets the LSU sophomore has taken to heart after securing his first major record deal.

Who’s Wayne’s wise uncle? Country superstar and Louisiana native Tim McGraw. McGraw is not only mentoring his nephew, he’s taking him on the road.

Wayne will be one of the opening acts for six dates on McGraw’s “Standing Room Only Tour,” performing in Philadelphia on June 20; Baltimore on June 21; Raleigh, North Carolina, on June 22; Phoenix on June 27; Los Angeles on June 28; and Sacramento, California, on June 29.

“I’m the baby act,” the personable Wayne said last week on campus at LSU, explaining that in those cities he’ll take the stage first, followed by main opener, CMA award winner Carly Pearce, and then, Uncle Tim.

Baby act or no, this is Wayne’s first tour of any kind. He’s planning to soak in the experience.

“There’s a lot of places that the road can take you that you probably would’ve never gone if you weren’t on the road. And experience, especially in this job, but in life as a whole, is really, really, really important,” Wayne said. “So I’m most excited for the experiences I’m going to have on this tour and the memories I’m going to make as well.” 

Before the tour, Wayne will go home for a visit to his native Franklin, Tennessee — and a gig at nearby Nashville’s multi-day CMA fest.

When Wayne returns to LSU in the fall to continue pursuing his history degree, he will have plenty of material for his “How I Spent My Summer Vacation” paper. Between his studies, his involvement with Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and his songwriting, he will also handle his new relationship with Universal Music Group Nashville. 

“To be honest, I really wasn’t looking for one (record deal). I was at the point in my life where college had pretty much taken everything over. I was writing a lot. I was playing a few shows, but I wasn’t really looking to expand beyond that quite yet,” he said. “I stepped in for some friends at the Bluebird Cafe (well-known Nashville spot for aspiring acts) and did a couple of songs and a video made its way to UMG — and things kind of just blossomed from there.

Troy Scott, a close family friend who works at the Nashville-based record company, also lent an ear to Wayne’s music.

“Then everything kind of ended up where it’s at now, which I’m extremely blessed and grateful to be having these experiences,” Wayne added.

The label expects to release new music from Wayne as soon as next month, although the singer was hesitant to disclose any details about specific songs he’s working on.

“It’s funny, one of my biggest mentors, Bryce Mauldin (27, a singer-songwriter whose first break came on social media) told me, ‘Always come to the writing room with an idea in your head’ — as far as experiences go, that’s where your ideas come from,” Wayne said. “So, a good thing about college is that (there are) plenty of experiences to write music about.”

Wayne says he doesn’t go into a writing session with one particular idea in mind.

Instead, he takes a soulful approach.

“Usually you search your soul and you soul-search your heart and your head,” he said. “You try to figure out which one should lead the day.”

His musical influences range from country veterans like Randy Travis, Dirks Bentley and Allen Jackson, to contemporary greats like Chris Stapleton. But he can’t leave out “Ol’ Blue Eyes,” Frank Sinatra.

“My interest in Frank Sinatra did not evolve until I was about 13, when I really started diving into Frank Sinatra, ‘the Rat Pack’ and Tony Bennett,” he said.” I started listening to all those guys and fell in love with them.”

Cool and collected, as if he’s been doing media interviews for years, Wayne is indeed an old soul, his mother, Sandy Howard, confirmed.

“I always say he was 40 the day he was born,” Howard explained. “We’re a musical family, and Timothy’s very much into history, so that kind of plays in to his love of music. He’s looking at the history of music when he’s listening to it. … He just kind of has this thing with his uncle where they toss old music back and forth.”

Howard runs her own company, Sandy Howard Consulting, and is her son’s manager. She handles brand partnerships for both her famous brother and her son.

Howard has summer plans as well, revolving around the “Standing Room Only Tour.”

“I’ll be at every one of them (her son’s tour appearances),” she said. “I mean, I’ve got my big brother and my child going to be on the same shows. It’s gonna be a family affair, for sure.”