LoCash's Preston Brust fleeced his partner Chris Lucas into recording one song on the duo's new The Fighters album. The title track also came at the 11th hour, from a veteran songwriter that had been looking for a good home for "The Fighters."

A country superstar was so touched that LoCash recorded another song that he hugged them, and Brust admits every time he hears one of the signature love songs on The Fighters he thinks of his bride and wedding day. In their own words, here are four unforgettable stories of how songs on the duo's new album came together.

"Put a Ring on Every Finger" (Thomas Rhett, Jesse Frasure, Josh Kear)

Preston Brust: I think (Rhett) wrote it at a time when his album was kind of finished and he was still wrapping up his album and he wrote more songs, and that one didn’t make his album.

Chris Lucas: We talked to him about it, he’s like, ‘I didn’t know what I wanted to do with this record.’ He told us it’s one of his favorite songs. We told him, ‘Well, I think we’re gonna cut it.’ He was just so overwhelmed, he just gave us a hug.

PB: We had a publishing meeting where like eight publishers sit down with you and each one plays a song for you — the best songs from their publishing companies. Everybody is enjoying themselves eating dinner and drinking wine. We had passed on a bunch of songs … and then we heard ‘Ring’ and were like drinks up immediately.

CL: It was so different. Just so different.

"The Fighters" (Rodney Clawson, Tom Douglas, Matt Dregstem)

PB: We had recorded about 10 songs and we knew we were gonna put 11 songs on the album. Chris was trying to get 12 every day. But the magic number was 11. We knew something was missing from the album. We didn’t know what it was, but we knew it had integrity and we knew it had some meat on the bones — some kind of a song that was compelling. So we called a bunch of great songwriters personally and said, ‘If there is one song in your catalog that has never been recorded that you feel like needs to be heard, send it to us.'

Jeffery Steele sent a song called "Shoulder." Amazing. I was starting to fight for that one.

CL: It’s gonna be on our next album.

PB: And then I ran into Tom Douglas. I said, ‘Hey Tom, if you have anything that you just feel like in your heart you need to send to us, tonight’s the night.’ He was just smoking a cigar and goes, ‘Oh, okay.’ He goes home and he sends me a song called "The Fighters."

I feel like within 30 seconds we knew not only are we gonna record this, it’s going to be the title track to our album.

"Shipwrecked" (Preston Brust, Michael Tyler, Lindsay Rimes)

PB: That song, is the one my wife walked down the aisle to. As different as that is, every time I hear the song, I see her walking down the aisle. I’m attached to that moment.

Taste of Country: What came first, the song or the wine?

PB: (laughs) The song.

CL: That was out of our hands. The winemaker for our first white that came out ... It’s a recipe from a shipwreck back in the 1800s that was found in like 2001. He told us this, and we’re like, 'We got a song called ‘Shipwreck.'' It was a no brainer at that point.

"All Day" (Preston Brust, Chris Lucas)

CL: "All Day" has a funny story.

PB: We laid down the work tape …

CL: And I totally thought the work tape was just very hokey. I’m like, (sigh) 'It just sounds really old school hokey-ish.' Preston tried for a year to get me to cut this song.

PB: I knew the minute we wrote it, and this is not in a bragging kind of way, I knew there was something special the night we wrote it.

CL: It wasn’t the lyrics, I said it was a great song — it just had to be for somebody else.

PB: So I called the studio and I said, 'Guys, I got great news. Chris loves it. We’re recording it.'

CL: Totally lied.

PB: I lied to everybody. The studio goes, 'Yes, we’re gonna get a cut!' Jeffery Steele goes, 'Great, what do we do next?' I go, 'We’re gonna record this sucker!'

I’m thinking that will buy me a minute and I’ll talk Chris into recording the song. So I go to Chris I’m like, 'Dude, they love it at the studio. We need your vocal on it. That’s what’s gonna help sell this thing to another artist.' I thought if I could just get Chris’ vocal on it, he’ll love it.

CL: (smiling) Dude, seriously.

PB: I call the studio and I say, 'Tuesday night … we’re coming over.' So I go and say 'Chris, stop by Steele’s place with me, let’s lay that vocal down.' He’s like, 'Preston I told you, I’m not recording that song.' And I was like, 'Okay, whatever.' So I go to Steele’s place and I knock on the door and they’re like 'Where’s Chris?' And I’m like, ‘Something came up. I’m going to record this tonight. He regrets that he couldn’t be here. He’ll be here for the next recording session.'

CL: Man I was in bed, holding my kid. Like I ain’t going nowhere.

PB: So I recorded the whole song. I thought I would at least take my voice to Chris and sell it to him that way. I take it to Chris, he’s like, 'Dude, what are you doing? Why are you wasting time on this?'

So I go back to the guys, I’m like, 'He loves it! He told me this is going on the album for sure, you can bank on it. Let’s mix it!'

So we’re sitting at Jimmy Kimmel Live! in L.A. I know he’s in a good mood. We’re sitting backstage and about to go live television with Jimmy Kimmel. And the president of the label says, 'Alright, final listing for the album, what is it?' I say, 'I got one more to play.'

I press play, and it came on and the whole room just lit up.

CL: Whatever they did in that studio, I don’t understand it.

PB: We put the stank on it. I was so thankful it wasn’t a waste of time.

More of the Best Country Albums of 2016

More From Taste of Country