Cole Swindell performed a heartfelt version of his latest single, "You Should Be Here," at the 2016 American Country Countdown Awards.

Sporting an all-black baseball cap, a deep blue shirt tucked into black jeans and black boots, the vocalist and songwriter generally kept things moody: He paced around a darkened stage surrounded by sparse white spotlights, and his voice cracked with appropriate anguish as the crowd waved arms adorned with light-up bracelets.

Still, Swindell didn't take things too seriously. As he sang lines such as "taking too many pictures on your phone," he pointed at members of the audience and smiled. And at the end of the song, the title track to his forthcoming second album, he gestured to the heavens in a subtle bit of honor.

2016 American Country Countdown Awards Red Carpet Pictures

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