Blake Shelton + Trace Adkins Teaming Up for New Single, ‘Hell Right’
Blake Shelton and Trace Adkins are at it again! The longtime friends and occasional collaborators have a new single, "Hell Right," coming Friday (Aug. 16).
Shelton and Adkins' "Hell Right" will drop at midnight ET. Hardy, the songwriter and artist who is one of the writers of Shelton's recent hit "God's Country," co-wrote the song, which Shelton says came to him after he thought he was done in the studio for a while.
"[Producer] Scott Hendricks sent it over to me. We had pretty much decided that we were finished recording for a while ... but he said that Hardy had written a song and he wanted me to hear it ... I thought, 'Man, I ought to better at least listen to it,'" Shelton recounts. "About three-quarters of the way through the song, I decided, 'Oh my God, I'm not done recording.'"
Shelton describes "Hell Right" -- which was written by Hardy, David Garcia and Brett Tyler -- as "so much fun and so infectious." A teaser clip distributed to media members features crickets and a dark guitar line leading to a bit of dialogue between Shelton and Adkins: "Tell 'em that story you were telling me," Adkins tells Shelton.
It's unclear if "Hell Right" was originally written to be a collaboration, but Shelton says he thought Adkins would be a perfect addition to the track. In addition to touring together and having Adkins serve as an advisor for Shelton's The Voice team during Season 14, the two teamed up for the song "Hillbilly Bone" about a decade ago, in late 2009. That song is an ACM Vocal Event of the Year winner, and a platinum-certified, No. 1 single.
"He's got that low, deep, big voice, and he's so great at he ad-lib stuff, and he just brings a certain quality to any recording that nobody else can touch," Shelton says of Adkins. "I mean, the guy's got so much personalty in his voice and the way he sings, and i still think that he's one of the most underrated country artists out there."
Shelton has shared previously that he won't be releasing an album anytime soon; instead, he's focused on singles.
"I do [have more songs] and I’ve got other stuff that I’m pumped about, but when I think about an album right now I’m like, ‘Do people care about them anymore?’" Shelton said in May. "I don’t know. But I’m having a blast just releasing singles. Maybe I’ll do that from now on.”
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