We take you behind the scenes and explore the making of one of our favorite tunes with The Song Remembers When…
Song: “Rock and a Hard Place”
Songwriters: Heath Warren, Jacob Hackworth, and Jet Harvey
Album: Leave the Light On (EP), Religiously. The Album.
Bailey Zimmerman first heard “Rock and a Hard Place” on Instagram after one of the writers Heath Warren posted his performance of the song. Bailey admits that when he hears outside songs – meaning songs he didn’t write – he must be struck hard by the first line. If it doesn’t grab him right away, he moves on. This song’s first line, “We’ve been swinging and missing, it ain’t broke yet but damn it needs fixin,” hit him hard because Bailey had been in a relationship that wasn’t working. Not only did he relate to the story, but he felt like it would be something a lot of people had experienced.
Bailey considers himself a perfectionist. He really sat and listened to every word of the song, recording it again and again until he felt he had it right. His producer Austin Shawn put in a sample of wind blowing to give the production a feeling like you’re in the desert.
In October 2022, Bailey released the song as his second single. And, by the following April, it reached number one where it stayed for six straight weeks becoming Bailey’s most successful song on radio so far.