The SCOTTY MCCREERY PLAYLIST Track-by-Track Commentary by Scotty McCreery (EXCLUSIVE PRE-ORDER CONTENT NOT AVAILABLE ANYWHERE ELSE) May 2016 Sometimes you ll be somewhere and a song will come on, causing you to think back to the first time you heard it. This is one of the powers of music. You can have one singular moment in your life and have a song playing that forever binds the two. Then years later you can walk into a restaurant and hear that song and think about that special moment and smile. from Go Big or Go Home
CLEAR AS DAY Release Date: October 4, 2011 Producer: Mark Bright 1. Out of Summertime. (Jonathan Singleton and Tim Nichols) I love this song. It was one of the two songs pitched to me as the coronation song that I d sing if I won American Idol. It would also be the first official single I d release. This was the one I actually chose over I Love You This Big. But the day before the show s finale, everybody decided on the other song. I understand. You can t win a competition and get up there and sing a song about summertime. You needed something bigger that fits the moment. 2. I Love You This Big. (Ronnie Jackson, Brett James, Ester Dean and Jay Smith) This is the song I sung after winning Idol. It really serves as a nice thank you to all of those who took the journey with me. I explain this in the book, but the song can be interpreted in a variety of ways. Sure, it can be a simple love song. But it can also be a parent saying it to their child. Or the way I often thought of it as our savior Jesus Christ looking down on the cross and saying that to all of us. 3. Clear as Day. (Phil O Donnell, Casey Beathard and Adam Wheeler) This one s a tear-jerker. It s one of those great story songs. I wasn t trying to hide my age and who I happened to be. This is a snapshot of being in high school and something I could definitely relate to. Johnston County, located next to Wake County where Garner is located, had some of the highest number of teenage fatalities on the roadways over the years, so this was something that was real and happening around me. It tells a simple story and then ends with a killer twist. (Pun intended) 4. The Trouble With Girls. (Phillip White and Chris Tompkins) I said an enthusiastic Yes to recording this song before I ever sang it. We were in Burbank rehearsing for the Idol tour when I first heard it. The song stuck with me. But I ll be honest with you it s not one of my favorite songs to sing. I like going down the scale when I sing, not up. It s a lot more difficult. But it s always been a fan favorite.
5. Water Tower Town. (Cole Swindell, Lynn Hutton and Tammi Kidd) This is my hometown song. I loved recording it and singing it, especially since I had been away from home for so long. First I was gone for Idol and then for the tour. It sparked pleasant memories of Garner and spoke of how I was raised. It was fun to do the video and film it in Garner with a lot of friends and family. And a cool fact is that it was co-written by Cole Swindell, who has had some great success these last few years. 6. Walk in the Country. (Vernon Rust and Keith Urban) It s awesome that Keith Urban sent it to me thinking it d be a perfect song to sing. He originally recorded it on the album he made with his group The Ranch. Artists like Urban know their stuff and it s good to listen to their suggestions because this is one of those songs we always play at concerts. People seem to really enjoy it. 7. Better Than That. (Chris DeStefano, Jess Cates and Craig Wiseman) This is my father s favorite song on Clear as Day. I love the feel of it the beat and the melody and the lyrics. It s just fun, and as they say, father knows best, right? 8. Write My Number on Your Hand. (Jeremy Stover, Jamie Paulin and Thomas Rhett Akins) A fun song with this Hawaiian feel to it. Love the ukulele that s played throughout it. During the shows while performing it, I ll go out into the audience with my Sharpie and write numbers on the girls hands. One time while we were performing in Nebraska, I decided to play a prank on my guitarist, Jeff Harper. I wrote his cell number down on the hands of lots of different ladies in the audience. After the show he began to get calls from them. He asked us Why am I getting all these calls from Nebraska? Then he realized what had happened. For months after that he would still get an occasional call or text from someone who had his number written on their hand. Another note on this song is that it was co-written by Thomas Rhett, another singer who is breaking out in the country music scene. I still remember him on the side of my stage watching me perform and filming me with his camera. It s exciting to see him now front and center on stages performing his music.
9. Dirty Dishes (Michael Dulaney, Neil Thrasher and Tony Martin) I ve said that this passed the Mama-crying test. Anytime potential songs came in, I would listen to them with my family. Anytime I noticed tears in my mother s eyes, I knew it had to be a good song. It s about a mother taking a breath and saying Grace but then surprising you with the prayer she utters. She thanks the Lord for those noisy children and slamming doors and that messy kitchen. It s a reminder for all of us to step back and be grateful for everything in our lives, even the stuff that can exhaust us. 10. You Make That Look Good (Rhett Akins and Lee Thomas Miller) This is one of my favorites on my first record. It just feels good. Sometimes you need to have a song that just feels good and that you can move to. There are story songs and tear-jerkers and those need to be balanced with the kind of songs you crank up in your car right as you starting speeding on the highway. 11. Back On The Ground (Neil Thrasher, Casey Beathard and Tony Martin) This is a very autobiographical song to me. The whole American Idol experience changed my life. I was in Los Angeles for a while, then began to tour while starting my music career. This song reminds me about slowing down and keeping my feet on the ground. I don t need to be reminded, but it s still good to sing about there being no place like home. 12. That Old King James (Phillip White and Mark Nesler) A great story song that also passed the Mama-crying test. I always want to try and have a faith-based song on each of my albums, so it was great way to finish Clear As Day. After listening to a bunch of songs, I couldn t find one and I got ready to sing an old hymn. But this one came and it was perfect. It reminds me of both of my Granddaddys, and of the power of what the Bible can do for anybody.
SEE YOU TONIGHT Release Date: October 15, 2013 Producer: Frank Rogers 1. Now (Scotty McCreery, busbee, and Frank Rogers) Proud to say that I m a co-writer on this song. It s one of five songs I co-wrote on this album. I wanted to have a big show-opener sort of song, and Now happens to be it. Energetic and loud, just like the chorus says. During the songwriting I was thinking of all the places I grew up while trying to rhyme a word. That s where I came up with Kill Devil Hill. Actually called Kill Devil Hills, it s located in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. 2. See You Tonight (Scotty McCreery, Ashley Gorley, and Zach Crowell) Ah, yes. This one s still my baby. It s another song I co-wrote and it s my first Top 10 single. I wrote with Ashley and Zach and it just all seemed to click. When we were working on it, I had been on the road for some time and would be going home the next day. I couldn t wait to come home and see my girlfriend, Gabi. The lyrics were natural and personal and spilled out. See You Tonight will always be a meaningful song to me. 3. Get Gone With You (Ross Copperman, Lynn Hutton, and Tammi Kidd Hutton) This one is Gabi s favorite song on the album. It s another one of those with a feel-good vibe. Reminds me of escaping and enjoying the moment. 4. Feelin It (Frank Rogers and Matthew West) This is a favorite song to play live. We always get the large beach balls out at the concerts and kick them out to the crowd. This was another Top 10 hit that was co-written by Matthew West, someone I ve recently written some new songs with. Matthew is a talented musician who s known more for his work in the contemporary Christian market, but he s also a great songwriter.
5. Feel Good Summer Song (J.T. Harding, Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne) This is the total opposite of what you think it s going to be when you hear the title. I love the irony with it. You told me that you d always feel this way but now you re gone. It s a classic country song about missing a girl. It doesn t tell you everything, leaving you wondering and allowing it to connect to anybody you have to get over. 6. Buzzin (busbee and Frank Rogers) Again, this ends up not being what you think it might be when you first hear it. This is basically me saying hey, if those things are cool for y all, that s fine, but I m good cause I got my girl. 7. Can You Feel It? (Scotty McCreery, Ashley Gorley, and Zach Crowell) This was written right after See You Tonight. Writing one great song is difficult enough, but creating two in one day that s something special. I guess Ashley and Zach are my good luck charms. Say... I m not done with all the songs on my new album. Maybe I ll have to give them a call and see what they re up to. 8. The Dash (Kyle Jacobs and Preston Brust) This is an awesome tune. It s one of those that makes you think. It s about how you live life. As soon as I heard it, I knew I wanted to record it. It s always been a great moment singing this at concerts. This song really became poignant after I became involved with the 12.14 Foundation, something I detail in my book. 9. Blue Jean Baby (Matt Ramsey, Trevor Rosen and Matt Jenkins) A good beat, a good vibe, a good song. Another uptempo, summertime song. It s always fun singing this one. 10. Forget To Forget You (Casey Beathard and Michael Dulaney) I really loved this one and wanted it to be my third single. It just didn t work in terms of timing. It s always been a huge song with the fans. I love how the fans always sing it back to us when we re performing it.
11. I Don t Wanna Be Your Friend (Scotty McCreery, Frank Rogers and David Fanning) Every guy s been in this situation. It could be the soundtrack for every male. I don t wanna be your friend. Nah, already got enough of them. For chillin, grillin, four-wheelin. This is about being in the friend zone and a guy who wants something more with the girl, and what that looks like. 12. Carolina Moon (Jon Randall Stewart and Ronnie Stewart) This is definitely my number one song on this album. It s a country song to the core, the kind that I love. I ve always wanted to do a whole album of country songs like this one. Bringing Alison Krauss in to sing on it definitely sent it over the top. This is what a song should be. And hey it s got Carolina in the title. How can you not love that? 13. Something More (Scotty McCreery and Frank Rogers) There s a long story behind the writing of this song. Gabi and I went to meet Frank and his wife at the beach where the girls would enjoy a nice day on the sand while we worked. It s a faith-based song about the things that should be important to us. After we finished writing it and then enjoyed the evening hanging out together, I was riding such a high when we drove back home late that night. Unfortunately, having a full tank of inspiration doesn t mean your truck will have the same thing. I hadn t checked the gas tank, so we ended up stranded after running out of gas. We were on a stretch of highway in an area where Michael Jordan s father had been shot, so that made us extra nervous. I called Dad and told him not to tell Mom, but she heard about it right away. (Moms always do!) Eventually a cop pulled over and helped us out. The rest of the night sure wasn t fun, but it ll always be a memory of a wonderful day that ended in a crazy way. It s only fitting that Something More ends a really fun album. (Deluxe Song) 15. Before Midnight (Scotty McCreery, Jon Nite, and Jimmy Robbins) There were three extra tracks on the deluxe edition of See You Tonight, and this is one of them I co-wrote. It s a perfect me and the guys song about hanging out and being hooligans and sneaking out to see some girls. It s another one I love on the album and proud to have co-written.
UPCOMING ALBUM Release Date: Sometime in 2016. The sooner the better, right? Producer: Frank Rogers Since I m still in the process of recording songs and finalizing the tracks on my new album, I can t reveal the songs we have except for the first single that is out right now. Southern Belle (Sean McConnell and Jason Saenz) This is the first single off the album. I love it cause it has a totally different sound than the other songs I ve done. This was the sort of song I was looking for, something that we could release and get people s attention. It s a cool tune with the melody that really moves down the scale. The song caught the attention of a couple big-name artists, so I m glad we got to record it. As for the other tunes we ve already recorded, I can tell you guys that I really love them and feel they re the strongest batch of songs I ve ever done. We have some great story songs that feel like watching a movie unfold. Stories that get a nice little twist in the end. Some high-energy foot stompers. Even an acoustic and organic sort of track. Thanks for being an important part of my musical journey!