Kellie Pickler Inspired a Song Called ‘Damn’ on Jake Owen’s New Album
Roughly a decade ago, Jake Owen sort of wrote a song inspired by Kellie Pickler. And though a rough acoustic version has been on YouTube since 2008, that song, "Damn," will finally be included on a studio album, Greetings From… Jake, out March 29.
It's the only song Owen wrote for the new project, which contains 14 tracks, and the country star had a laugh reminiscing about the song at a March media roundtable in Nashville.
"I remember playing that song literally almost 10 years ago, the day after I wrote it," he says.
"I know exactly when I wrote it. I wrote it the morning after the CMA Awards here in Nashville. … Kellie Pickler was on the CMA Awards and she was in this black leather, like Catwoman outfit and when she came out, I was like, damn!" Owen says with a laugh.
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"And it occurred to me that my stylist, Jennifer Kemp, used to always say to me — every time I put on clothes to try something on — she'd go, your mama should've named you damn! So that next morning, I told that story to David Lee Murphy and Brett James (the song's cowriters) and I said we've got to write a song about this girl that's just like, her mama should've named her damn.”
So why is 2019 the best time to release this forgotten gem? To quote another Owen song title, it's simply "good timing."
"I wrote that song then, but it was changing into this new wave of music and that's almost when my 'Barefoot Blue Jean Night' came out," Owen explains. "That sound was getting bigger, but I'm seeing now, music is turning back around to the classic sounds of '90s country and stuff like that. I hear it when people are writing songs and that's my wheelhouse. My first tour I was ever out on was with Brooks and Dunn and Alan Jackson and I was the opening act. I had these veterans showing me the ropes, so songs like 'Damn,' to me. … It goes to show you how the circle comes back around."
Greetings From… Jake will launch behind the success of 2018 singles "I Was Jack (You Were Diane)," which hit No.1 on Billboard, and "Down to the Honkytonk," which the Academy of Country Music recently nominated for Single of the Year.
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