At this point in their career, Rascal Flatts has developed a style and a sound in their music that is recognizable, and when you hear a song, you can tell it’s them. Because of that, a lot of songwriters will often present them with songs that were ‘written specifically for them,’ but what happens if they hear it and they don’t like it? Jay DeMarcus says, “People all the time say they wrote this for you guys the other day and we pass … but that happens quite a bit actually, more often than not.”
Jay says their latest single, “Back to Life,” is one of those songs, where the writers felt like they had a Rascal Flatts song on their hand when they were finished writing it and he says, “Allison [the person who helps find songs for them to record] sent the email and said, ‘They wrote this specifically for you guys, wanted to let you have first listen.’ And this is one of the times where we went, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s incredible, We need to hold it.’ And so we held it.”
It didn’t hurt that one of the co-writers on the song was Dan & Shay’s Shay Mooney, who has written a couple of songs for Rascal Flatts in the past, and he has a similar vocal style to Gary LeVox, so when they heard the demo, it was easy for them to hear it as their song.
Rascal Flatts – songs written for you :20
Jay DeMarcus – “People all the time say they wrote this for you guys the other day and we pass. And it happened the same way with this. Allison sent the email and said, ‘They wrote this specifically for you guys, wanted to let you have first listen.’ And this is one of the times where we went, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s incredible, We need to hold it.’ And so we held it, but that happens quite a bit actually, more often than not.”