Love and Theft’s Stephen Barker Liles Pens Song About Taylor Swift

Back in 2008, Taylor Swift wrote a tune titled 'Hey Stephen' for her 'Fearless' album, which was written about Love and Theft's Stephen Barker Liles while the singing superstar was on tour with the band on the rise. Ironically enough, during that same time period, Liles had written a song titled 'Try to Make It Anyway,' which was based around Swift.

"Me and Taylor really hit it off and became really close when we were on tour together," Liles tells Taste of Country. "We had a real emotional relationship. We talked on the phone a lot. She was really cool. One day she called me up and was like, 'Hey, I wrote a song about you.' I was like, 'Dude, that’s really funny because I just wrote a song about you last week! She was like, 'Really!' She asked how it went, and I told her about some of the lines. I didn’t tell her too much, but I told her about the main tag of the song. She was like, 'I want to hear it!'"

Because of Love and Theft's hectic tour schedule and having to promote their music, Liles never got around to recording the track so he could send it to Swift. "I never really did anything with it," notes Liles. "I’ve played it out on some writers' nights, and it's sparked some interest here lately. People kept telling me that I should just put it out and let people have it."

While Love and Theft continue to work in the studio on their forthcoming album with their soon-to-be-announced new label home, Liles took the opportunity to lay down a raw, acoustic track of 'Try to Make It Anyway' to give the duo’s fans a little something to have while they wait on the new tunes.

"This is actually one of my favorite songs that I’ve ever written," Liles says of the Swift-inspired tune. "She’s awesome. I really dig Taylor. I dig what her and her family have done with her career, and I dig the person she is. I hope she's flattered by it. As far as I know, none of the other dudes she's been hanging out with have written a song about her!"

Besides laying down vocals for the new song, Liles, with the help of his friend Aaron Thomas, created a video for 'Try to Make It Anyway,' which is being streamed through Love and Theft’s YouTube page.

"Everything with this song and video just happened really naturally and easy," Liles says. "It wasn’t like we had these big plans. Things just started working out. It's kind of fun to put something out like this. I’ve really enjoyed it, and everyone else seems to like it, so that’s flattering."

'Try to Make It Anyway' is currently available for purchase on iTunes. Love and Theft anticipate making their big announcement about their new label home in the coming weeks. Until then, fans can log onto the duo's website for all of their current tour dates.

Watch the Stephen Barker Liles 'Try to Make It Anyway' Video