Story Behind The Song: Danielle Bradbery - The Heart Of Dixie

In this exclusive to Roughstock, songwriter Troy Verges discusses the day he, Brett James and Caitlyn Smith came to write "The Heart Of Dixie," Danielle Bradbery's debuy single for Big Machine Records. Read on here to see what  Troy has to say about the soon to be hit single's creation!

"We wrote 'The Heart of Dixie' a little over a year ago," Verges recalls to Roughstock. "All three of us were up at the studio that Brett and I share on 19th [in Nashville]. If I remember correctly two of us were on the calendar that day and someone got cancelled on, so the three of us ended up writing together.  

"Brett and I have been writing together since the very beginning, and we've both been working with Caitlyn for a few years now, too," continues Verges. "She is an amazing artist in her own right, and just a pure joy to be around. Caitlyn is a ray of sunshine when she walks in the room, and she has a voice that just knocks you over. Both of them are such incredibly talented singers and writers. It's always a good day when I'm writing with those two." 

"We started the song working from the title and the intro/turnaround lick and wrote it pretty fast," Verges adds, talking about Bradbery's debut single which hits iTunes on July 16. "We wanted to write a song that had hope and empowerment in it, but to do it in a way that didn't come off as preachy, so we decided to make 'Dixie' a character and write it as a third-person song.

"The song came together pretty fast and felt really good right off the bat. When we recorded it, it just took up another notch ... it just felt right in that intangible way that songs sometime do. I'm so excited that it's found its way to Danielle Bradbery. As the world has seen through her performances on 'The Voice,' she is really a special artist."

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