Dustin Lynch Met His Girlfriend Kelli Seymour by Sliding Into Her Instagram DMs

Dustin Lynch didn’t let his hectic schedule or long distance stop him from sparking a romance with his current girlfriend.

Based out of Nashville, the “Small Town Boy” crooner, 34, said he and Kelli Seymour were “worlds apart” when he first introduced himself to the California model — via her direct messages.

“I slid into her DMs on Instagram,” he confessed on The Sam Alex Show, admitting he “wishes” he could say they shared a less 21st-century meet-cute.

Unable to recall his exact first message to Seymour (“Probably just ‘hey,'” he guessed), Lynch said the two were able to make an in-person meetup happen after some time spent texting and video-chatting with each other.

“I was touring really heavily at the time … and it seemed like there was some chemistry there, so I was trying to figure out when I could go out and meet her for the first time,” he said. “My schedule just wasn’t allowing me that time to go do that, and so I invited her out to a show in California.”

Having their first face-to-face interaction at one of his concerts, Lynch said, was a “nice, neutral playing field” for both of them — especially if their online chemistry didn’t translate IRL.

“You know, if she would’ve ended up being a whack-job or a weirdo I could’ve been like: ‘Have a nice night. Enjoy the show. Bye,'” he said with a laugh.

Fortunately, that wasn’t the case.

“We ended up hitting it off and keeping in touch and seeing each other not long after, and still are. It’s been great,” Lynch said. “We’re able to make it work and not be away from each other too long of a time.”

It seems Lynch may have finally found his other half, after, in May 2018, he told PEOPLE he was “longing to find that person.”

“I think finding that special someone is something we’re all hurtin’ to do,” he said at the time. “[The inspiration behind my song “Good Girl” is] just knowing that that person is out there somewhere for me.”

Lynch and Seymour made their red carpet debut at the Country Music Association Awards on Nov. 13, where the singer said they were able to enjoy the show as avid fans.

“We had a blast, we really did,” he told the radio show. “Gettin fancy and dressing up, for me, is rare … ‘course we go out hard for the carpet. We had a lot of fun.”