We take you behind the scenes and explore the making of one of our favorite tunes with The Song Remembers When…
Last year, at the 53rd Annual CMA Awards, Blake Shelton’s number one song “God’s Country” took home the Single of the Year. It was cowritten by Hardy, Devin Dawson, and Jordan Schmidt.
Hardy said that it was his first songwriting appointment of 2019. In fact, everyone was just getting back to work, after a long holiday break. He met up with Devin and Jordan, and the song not only came together in one day but Jordan also had the demo done that very same night.
Hardy remembers telling the other two writers that he felt the song was a fit him as an artist but he was a songwriter first and wanted to pitch it to other artists. He said that if they didn’t get any bite in the first week, he would like to keep it for his own album.
Well, they did get a bite. Scott Hendricks, Blake Shelton’s producer, sent Blake several songs to listen to and “God’s Country” was the first track he sent.
Blake was home planting alfalfa on his farm in Oklahoma. When he heard “God’s Country,” he was driving his tractor. Blake says that when he’s doing that he feels closest to God. The moment he heard that song, it felt like a revelation, and it stopped him in his tracks. Blake called his producer and said that he didn’t care about any of the other songs that had been sent, he had to record “God’s Country” immediately.
Blake topped the chart for two weeks with “God’s Country” during the summer of 2019, and its this week’s The Song Remembers When… Here’s Blake: