John Mayer's new release to country radio is his first official country single, but "In the Blood" is hardly his first foray into country music. And we're not just talking about time spent with Taylor Swift.

The pair dated in 2010 (Swift's "Dear John" is presumably about him), but since then Mayer has had dates with other country stars — as in concert dates. Brad Paisley joined Mayer at the 2013 ACM Awards. Keith Urban joined him for a full episode of CMT Crossroads in 2010. In 2012 we detected some twang in a song called "Shadow Days," although no one ever truly called it country at the time.

The 39-year-old is just the latest pop star to turn to country radio. Darius Rucker has had the most success recently, but pop singers like Uncle Kracker and rockers like Kid Rock and Steven Tyler have jumped ship in the last decade. It's been a mixed bag of results. Rock and Kracker found a few hits, but Tyler mostly missed with country radio.

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Mayer's "In the Blood" is from his recently released In Search of Everything album. The song explores a broken relationship between a son and his parents, primarily his mother. "I can feel the love I want / I can feel the love I need / But it’s never gonna come the way I am," he sings at the chorus. "Could I change it if I wanted / Can I rise above the flood / Will it wash out in the water or is it always in the blood."

Several radio stations had started playing the song unsolicited before Mayer and Sony Music Nashville released it on Monday (May 1).

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