For Tyler Hubbard, the writing process for “Dancin’ in the Country” was all about making memories.
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Hubbard set the light-hearted tone for the song when he stepped into the writers’ room with Keith Urban, Ross Copperman and Jon Nite with a particular title and mission in mind.
“I said, ‘I’d love to write something fun, something that makes you want to dance and just have a good time,’” Hubbard tells American Songwriter.
Hubbard and Urban had been trying to find time to write together for a while when Hubbard shot him a text about the session that Urban excitedly accepted.
“I think Tyler’s concept was really good, the idea of getting somebody out of a city environment where there’s plenty of room is a great theme and it just was ripe for so much imagery,” Urban explains to American Songwriter, adding that his own catalog of hits tends to embrace a “summer anthemic” vibe that made him a natural fit for the writing session.
While Urban and Copperman chipped away at building the track and melody, Hubbard and Nite focused on the lyrics. Nite pulled from a personal place, as the title “Dancin’ in the Country” brought to mind his first date with his wife when they did exactly as the title implies.
“We parked four trucks in a circle and we hung out, listened to George Strait, literally dancing out there,” the Amarillo, Texas, native describes of the night he, his now-wife and a group of their friends headed out into a field in the middle of nowhere and danced the night away. “It resonated with me personally on how I grew up.”
“We were both pulling from personal inspiration in our life experiences, really wanting and enjoying creating music that makes you want to feel good and have fun,” adds Hubbard, reflecting on the frequent dance parties he has with his three children at home, four-year-old Olivia, and sons Luca, 3, and Atlas, 2. “This is nostalgic in its own way for all of us.”
This sense of nostalgia is carried into the lyrics that reference two-stepping, which Nite’s wife taught him how to do out in the field, alongside images like Levi’s in them low beams/Spin you in some red dirt/Sweep you off of both feet/Out here where the sun sets.
“It was more about creating the feel and painting pictures and putting colors in the lyrics that make people either remember an old memory or want to make a new one,” Hubbard explains of the meaning of the lyrics.
Urban cites Levi’s in them low beams as his favorite line in the song, praising Hubbard and Nite’s imagery-driven lyrics that he compares to pop songwriting. “That is Tyler and Jon at their finest in that chorus top to bottom,” Urban raves of the “great lyric flow.”
“I think the challenge in writing with an artist is not putting too much of your own artistic thing into it where the artist who’s going to sing it loses their thing,” Urban adds. “He’s got a swag when he sings and certain words when he sings them, it just sounds great. That rhythmic filling in of that space kept the rhythm going. It kept the song moving forward in a really cool way.”
With Urban’s stamp of approval, Hubbard felt confident recording “Dancin’ in the Country” for his 2023 self-titled debut album. It serves as a natural segue from his hit debut solo single, “5 Foot 9,” which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Country Airplay in 2022.
“There’s really nothing quite like it on the radio, which gets me excited and made me want to choose that as a single as opposed to something that was a little safer,” Hubbard says of why he chose “Dancin’” as his second single. “I felt like the format needed something like this.”
Hubbard got to test the song out live when he was an opening act on Urban’s 2022 The Speed of Now World Tour, realizing it may have the potential to be a hit based on the crowd’s enthusiastic reaction. “It’s always a song that the energy of the show goes to the next level because it leaves everybody in a good mood and leaves everybody dancing,” Hubbard observes.
“Dancin’” is well on its way to becoming Hubbard’s next chart-topping single, as it’s currently in the top five on country radio. A demo was recently released from the day they recorded the track that finds Urban showing off his diverse musicality playing guitar and banjo while providing glowing background harmonies that elevate the song’s spirit. While Urban has had outside cuts before, this marks the first time he’s written a song with an artist that was specifically for them. He attributes its success to Hubbard’s distinct voice and songwriting prowess that he demonstrated during his days as one-half of Florida Georgia Line.
“He traverses genres really well, a very distinctive voice that sits in a certain musical place,” Urban praises of Hubbard while remarking that the song’s success is “amazing.” “It’s really no coincidence why [FGL] had massive appeal outside the country genre as well. He’s a solid writer, and I love working with great writers and great artists.”
The foursome knew the song was special when they left the writing room feeling fulfilled, hoping that listeners carrying the positive spirit of the song into their own lives.
“It was fun bringing the track to life with Tyler and Keith,” Copperman shares in a statement. “I knew we had something special the day we wrote it.”
“That’s what everybody needs right now – after 2020, I think people are really resonating with it because it’s fun and not too serious,” Nite proclaims, saying that his “face hurt from smiling” after writing the song. “It’s really scary, just on the edge of your seat the whole time as the tracks are getting built and as the lyrics are going down, you don’t know if it’s exactly the right thing. But when it all works together seamlessly like this, it feels magic.”
Adds Hubbard: “The excitement of creating a song that you know is going to get to make a lot of good memories for people, it’s pretty cool,” professes Hubbard. “It’s something we’re proud of and hope that it brings people joy and in fun times. We hope people feel good from listening to it.”
Photo by Mat Hayward/WireImage
