Kane Brown said his new single, “Like I Love Country Music” is “super country” and features a cameo from legendary country duo, Brooks & Dunn.
Brown discussed his latest single with Country Now, sharing that he, Jordan Schmidt, Taylor Phillips, and Matt McGinn had a co-writing session during a writer’s retreat while on the road in 2019 when he came up with the song.
Brown admitted that he actually didn’t dig the song at first.
“When I went up [to the] front [of the tour bus], they had already started the song, ‘Like I Love Country Music.’ And at first, I wasn’t really vibing with it,” he shared. “Whenever it took off, it just wrote itself, and it all just…blended in so well.”
Brown continued to say that the song was going to be on his 2020 EP, Mixtape Vol. 1, but then he fell out of love with the song again. It took listening to the song once more for Brown to fall back in love with the song and decide to record it.
“I went back and played the demo and fell in love again. So we took it back into the studio and made it hit harder. I re-sang it,” he explained to Country Now. “Because I feel like my vocals have got a lot stronger than they used to be, and I just fell in love with it again,” he added.
The song leans into ’90s country and references artists like Johnny and June Carter Cash, Willie Nelson, and Alan Jackson.
In addition, the song features a cameo from Brooks & Dunn.
“They both jumped on it,” Brown said while discussing the song with Country Now. “Ronnie does ‘Brand New Man’ and Kix sings, ‘I love country music,’ the little tag.”
The duo is not featured on the song but chose to go into the studio and make the cameo on Brown’s track anyway.
“That’s what’s cool about it. They came into the studio and took their time for one line apiece. It’s not even a feature, but they came in,” Brown explained. “For artists to come into a studio and do something, technically, you want to be a feature. You want to have a whole verse or a whole chorus. So not only was that awesome of them to do that, but it’s so impactful in this song. I’ve realized that those are the two lines that I sing the most out of the song, so it’s cool,” he added.
Brown previously teamed up with Brooks & Dunn to sing their song, “Believe” on their album, REBOOT, which reimagined their hits and was released in 2019.
“Like I Love Country Music” impacted country radio on May 6. Since hitting the country music airwaves, the song has been the No. 1 most added, with 126 adds, making it a career high for Brown.
Brown teased the song on his Instagram in a video with his oldest daughter, Kingsley. The father-daughter duo danced in the kitchen of their home to the song while wearing cowboy hats.
Songfacts®:
Here, Kane Brown likens his adoration for his girl to his love for classic country music. He tips his hat to Willie Nelson, George Jones, Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, all of whom reach his heart the same way his lady does. He also namechecks two classic '90s numbers: Alan Jackson's "Chattahoochee" and Brooks and Dunn's "Brand New Man."
Both Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn lend vocals to this boot-stompin' song. Ronnie sings the "Oh, I'm a Brand New Man" line, and Kix croons the "Yeah, I love country music" lyric.
"I was honestly shocked they were jumping on it," Brown said to Audacy's Katie Neal of Brooks and Dunn's contributions. "It's crazy how impactful it is talking about somebody's song, and then they're on it!"
Brown wrote this '90s-inspired ode to romance and country music alongside Jordan Schmidt, Taylor Phillips, and Matt McGinn during a 2019 writer's retreat on his tour bus. Brown was at the back finishing another track, "BFE," then later joined Schmidt, Phillips, and McGinn at the front after they'd already started "Like I Love Country Music."
"At first, I wasn't really vibing with it," he admitted to Country Now, but he quickly became more positive. "Whenever it took off, it just wrote itself, and it all just blended in so well."
They recorded a demo, and Brown even recorded and mastered the song, intending to include it on his 2020 release Mixtape Vol. 1, but then he fell out of love with it.
But on tour in early 2022, Brown listened to the demo and it hit him differently. "So we took it back into the studio and made it hit harder," he said. "I re-sang it. Because I feel like my vocals have got a lot stronger than they used to be, and I just fell in love with it again."
Dan Huff's production mixes 1990s fiddle and steel guitar with a modern drum track. Brown's 2018 song "Short Skirt Weather" has a similar '90s country-influenced sound.
Dan Huff plays the dobro, mandolin and electric guitar (along with Derek Wells) on the track. The other musicians are:
Acoustic Guitar: Ilya Toshinskiy
Steel Guitar: Paul Franklin
Bass: Jimmie Lee Sloas
Drums: Aaron Sterling
Fiddle: Stuart Duncan
Piano and organ: Dave Cohen
Background Vocals: Josh ReedyKane Brown channels his inner cowboy in the video. We see him pull up to a honky-tonk in his pickup truck and perform the song to the patrons while wearing a cowboy hat, vest and jeans.