Coyle Girelli Revisits Songs Written With Legendary Songwriter Mac Davis on ‘Out of This Town,’ Shares “Everyone But Me And You”

The late legendary songwriter Mac Davis once called British-born singer, songwriter, and producer Coyle Girelli the “next Roy Orbison.” It was a mammoth compliment coming from a writer behind Elvis Presley‘s hits “In the Ghetto,” “A Little Less Conversation,” “Memories,” and “Don’t Cry Daddy,” who also wrote songs for and recorded by Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, among others.

Davis also extended his songbook with a collection of solo albums from his 1970 debut Song Painter and his 1972 No. 1 hit “Baby, Don’t Get Hooked on Me,” through his final album, Will Write Songs for Food, in 1994. From 1974 through 1976, Davis hosted The Mac Davis Show and starred in dozens of films, from the late ’70s on through 2017, just three years before he died in 2020 at age 78.

In 2000, Davis was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2006, and continued to stay active, co-writing “Time Flies” with Rivers Cuomo for Weezer‘s 2010 album, Hurley, and also co-penned late Swedish DJ and producer Avicii’s 2013 single “Addicted to You,” and contributed to Bruno Mars’ “Young Girls” that same year.

Within Davis’ trove of songs were some he started co-writing and recording with Girelli before his death in 2020 at age 78. Five years later, Girelli sifted through their collection of demos and revisited some of Davis’ solo classics on his forthcoming Out of This Town, out August 29, via Sun Records.

“The album features a collection of songs that I co-wrote with legend, songwriting master, and my dear friend Mac Davis,” shared Girelli, “as well as some songs of Mac’s that I’m honored that he trusted me to record and bring out into the world.”

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Out of This Town includes duets with KT Tunstall and Jaime Wyatt, along with Cassandra Lewis, who is featured on the single “Everyone But Me and You,” a song Davis wrote decades earlier and sang with Parton on Will Write Songs for Food, and a

Following a single co-written with Davis, “Pretty,” released June 2025, “Everyone But Me and You” is a “heartbreaking song that shares the pain and torment of a relationship falling apart,” says Girelli, and one of his favorites from the album.

“We treated the production of it gently in the studio and allowed the vocals and the words to lead the way, to tell the story,” Girelli tells American Songwriter. “I adore Cassandra’s voice and was so happy the stars aligned for her to duet with me on it. It was a lot of fun hearing our two voices colliding in the studio for the first time.”

Around pings of pedal steel, guitar and more modest instrumentation, Girelli and Lewis’ vocals tenderly intersect, gorgeously harmonize and retell a love story Davis wrote 30 years earlier, uprooting a longing between lovers—I wonder how many people are cherishing this moment / Makin’ love and makin’ dreams come true / I wonder how many lovers are all wrapped up in each other / Everyone but me and you.

When Girelli first sent Lewis the song, she felt a familiar connection to it. “It lives in that cinematic, symphonic country universe I love,” said Lewis. “I heard echoes of Roy Orbison and Nancy Sinatra. As a huge fan of Dolly and the timeless style Sun Records continues to champion, I felt honored to put my own little cosmic flair on it.”

She continued, “We really wanted to capture that haunted, desperate feeling you get when you don’t know if someone else feels the same way you do, that lonely, hopeful liminal space. It was a smooth, collaborative process, working with Coyle and our engineer. I love that he’s preserving these styles and bringing that history forward.”

For the New York-based Girelli, who also fronts the indie rock bands the Chevin and Your Vegas, and has written songs for BTS, Westlife, and more, along with the French musical Robin des Bois and Les Trois Mousquetaires, Out of This Town is another testament to the permanence of Davis’ songwriting.

“Mac reminded me of how instinctive songwriting should be,” said Girelli. “You could hear that on the demos—they had a rough feeling to very big songs. We wanted to preserve that on this album.

Out of This Town Tracklist

1. Out Of This Town
2. It Only Hurts When I’m Awake
3. Lost To The River (feat. KT Tunstall)
4. Like Only A Woman Can
5. I’m On Fire
6. I Wanna Make Love
7. Mary In The Moonlight
8. Everyone But Me And You (feat. Cassandra Lewis)
9. Pretty
10. Already Gone
11. Never Thought I’d See You Again (feat. Jaime Wyatt)
12. I Wanna Make Love (Mac’s Version)

Photo: Courtesy of Sun Records