The Cadillac Three, Travis Tritt + Chris Janson Team Up for ‘Hard Out Here for a Country Boy’ [LISTEN]
To put a little more drive in their interpretation of country music, the Cadillac Three teamed with one of their inspirations, Travis Tritt, as well as contemporary party-starter Chris Janson for a new collaboration. Readers can press play above to hear "Hard Out Here for a Country Boy."
The Cadillac Three singer and guitarist Jaren Johnston co-wrote "Hard Out Here for a Country Boy" with his bandmate Neil Mason and Jeremy Stover, the writer of Justin Moore's "Small Town USA." The three penned the song, Johnston recalls, while TC3 were on the road with Tritt and the Charlie Daniels Band.
"[Tritt] was on the bus when we were playing through some songs and, with his big signature twang, belted out the line," Johnston shares -- and, thus, a collaboration was born. "I grew up listening to Travis, and he’s a big reason I sing the way I do -- that gritty twang thing. We knew he had to be on the song."
As for Janson's involvement: Mason explains that he "heard the song playing in the background during a call with Jaren." Adds the drummer, "It was cool that he quickly wanted to be a part of it and cut the vocal the next day.”
"Hard Out Here for a Country Boy" previews Country Fuzz, the Cadillac Three's forthcoming new album, due out on Feb. 7. "This song was kind of a jumping off point for the record and one of the first we cut," Mason adds in a press release. The Cadillac Three describe describe the rest of the album as a real hodgepodge of classic and contemporary sounds.
"When I think of Southern rock, I think of Lynyrd Skynyrd. When I think of country, I think Garth Brooks," Johnston says in a release. "This record and this band are all of that. But it's also ZZ Top and Jerry Reed. It's Medeski Martin & Wood and Prince. There's no better way to describe who we are than Country Fuzz."
WATCH: The Cadillac Three Rock "Hard Out Here for a Country Boy" Live
LOOK: Country Stars With Their Famous Friends