You may not know Paul Overstreet’s name, but if you’re a fan of country music from the 1980s or ’90s, you know his work. His writing credits include the Randy Travis classics “On the Other Hand” and “Diggin’ Up Bones,” “Deeper Than the Holler,” and “Forever and Ever, Amen.” He also co-wrote the Judds’ “Love Can Build a Bridge” and Keith Whitley’s “When You Say Nothing At All.” The list goes on. Yesterday (January 14), Overstreet released his latest single, “Doin’ It to Country Songs.”
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Ahead of the release, Overstreet sat down with American Songwriter to talk about the song’s long writing process, how it came together, and more.
[RELATED: On This Day in 1986, Randy Travis Released His Second Paul Overstreet-Penned No. 1 Single]
Paul Overstreet on Writing “Doin’ It to Country Songs”
While this is the first time Paul Overstreet has released “Doin’ It to Country Songs,” it is not a new song. He had the idea for a while before fleshing it out with Jacob Lyda and Marty Dodson. Blake Shelton was the first to record it. He teamed up with the Oak Ridge Boys for a rendition of it on his 2016 album If I’m Honest. Overstreet’s version is closer to what he had envisioned, though.
“It was actually a long process. I was sitting in a writing meeting in L.A., for a pop artist,” Overstreet recalls. “We were sittin’ there trying to write a song. I knew it probably wouldn’t fit, but I jokingly threw out ‘Doin’ it to country songs.’ Everybody kind of looked at me really weird,” he adds.
The idea didn’t go over, but Overstreet wasn’t about to let it get away from him. After all, he knows a good song idea when he hears one. “I stuck it in my phone because I thought it was kind of a cool idea. Then, I got back to Nashville, and I wrote it with a couple other guys. I realized I could probably do it as a vocal event with several artists. I thought it’d be really cool,” he recalls. “But my daughter kind of hooked me up with Blake Shelton on it. Blake liked it, and he cut a version of it,” he says. He hoped Shelton would follow his vision for the tune. That wasn’t the case, though.
“At the time, he was married to Miranda [Lambert], and I was thinking maybe she would jump in on it with him and a couple friends of his. He wanted to use the Oak Ridge Boys on it because he was a big fan of theirs. They cut it in a halftime feel. I always felt like it was a rockin’ kind of thing. So, I cut a track on it like that,” he says.
Putting Together His Version of the Song
Nearly a decade after Blake Shelton released his rendition of the song, Paul Overstreet set about cementing his version. After making the initial recording, he tapped two more artists to make it a vocal event.
“I got to thinking of people I wanted to record it with. I’m really good friends with Roger Creager out of Texas. I sent it to him and asked what he thought about it. He said, ‘Man, I love it.’ So, I asked if he’d be willing to sing on it with me. He was like ‘Yep.’ Then, he said, ‘Kevin Fowler might want to jump on it with us.’ So we did it,” Overstreet explains. “I got their voices on there and put it together.”
When asked about the final product, Overstreer says, “I think it’s just a lot of fun.”
Just about anyone who presses play on the song will agree.
Featured Image by Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
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