Country rocker Tanner Usrey has a few more dates left on his Bad Love tour, but he has mixed feelings about the upcoming end.

“I don’t know, man. I’m a road dog,” he said Tuesday. “(But) it’ll be good to have some time off, for sure.”

The tour, which runs through Nov. 7 in Bloomington, Indiana, includes a Nov. 5 stop at Spirit Hall in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood.

Usrey, who released his sophomore album “These Days” in July, plans to play video games like “Battlefield 6” and “Age of Empires” in his time off, as well as doing some hunting and playing with his dogs.

The message of his album, which was released by Atlantic Records?

“Just take every day as a win,” he said. “That’s what the title track’s about: make it to the next day, and come see a show.”

In a call from Milwaukee, Usrey spoke with TribLive about his “These Days” album, producer Dave Cobb and more. Find a transcript of the conversation, edited for clarity and length, below.

On this album, you got a little bit more vulnerable, so was that tough to do, talking about mental health struggles and subjects like that?

I don’t know if it was tough. I’ve always written what’s real to me and hopefully real to everybody else.

When you were making this album, did you feel like you were taking a swing for the fences, like you were really trying to put everything you had into this one?

Oh, absolutely. This is my favorite group of songs that I’ve ever released. I just wanted a record and I wanted to say, hey, this is the sound I’ve always been going for, and this is Tanner Usrey. This is how Tanner Usrey is supposed to sound.

Did it feel like more of an album compared to “Crossing Lines,” which was more singles? Does this feel more cohesively put together?

Yeah, I think so. “Crossing Lines” had 13 songs on it, and we released a bunch of singles. But I feel like this one is more cohesive, for sure. I think it all flows together really well.

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Where do you see the growth and the evolution from “Crossing Lines” to “These Days,” even though it’s only been a few years between the two?

Oh man, I think my voice has gotten stronger. I think the musicianship. I think that Dave Cobb helped a lot with guitar parts and producing-wise, but I think my voice has gotten stronger, I feel like, and I’m more confident in it.

Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell) produced the album, so how else did he help to influence the making of this record?

Top to bottom, he’s a genius. He just has that way of capturing voices, and that’s kind of why I went to him.

Were you able to pick his brain a lot about stuff like that?

Oh, for sure. Honestly, this is the first time I’ve done it fully live, recorded fully live, but that also helped too. It’d be like, do three takes and he’s like, oh hey, by the way, that was your take. I was like, oh, I don’t have to go back and do it 15 times? Because he’s real big about capturing the moment of the song.

Is there an example of something that he did, like where you brought in a song and he’s like, no, just change this and it worked out the right way?

He pretty much restructured “Better Weather,” (laughs) and it just worked out.

“If You Call Me Again” is one of the latest singles, so what’s the story behind that song?

I wrote it with Andrew (Nix) and Matt (Coleman) from the Red Clay Strays. We wanted to write a song for a while and they were like, I have this idea for a song about wanting to answer when that person calls you, and just went from there.

From the album, what have been your favorite songs to play live so far?

I’d have to say “Don’t Let Go” and “Gasoline and Adderall.”

We’re getting near the end of the year here, so what do you think 2026 is going to hold for you?

Hopefully I’m about to start getting back to writing again and releasing new music and more touring.

Mike Palm is a TribLive digital producer who also writes music reviews and features. A Westmoreland County native, he joined the Trib in 2001, where he spent years on the sports copy desk, including serving as night sports editor. He has been with the multimedia staff since 2013. He can be reached at mpalm@triblive.com.