Raleigh Keegan Celebrates His Love Story With New Song, ‘Don’t Take Time’ [Exclusive Premiere]
Raleigh Keegan is celebrating his wife in his fun new song, "Don't Take Time," and he's letting Taste of Country readers have an early listen before it's available anywhere else.
"Don't Take Time" is an up-tempo, electric guitar-driven jam that finds Keegan paying lyrical tribute to the love story he and his wife have shared.
"When you're high you're high / When you're low you're low / When it's time it's time, When you know you know / Your baby blues sparkled out the blue / Next thing you know I'm sitting next to you / You stole that kiss and I stole your heart / Never saw it coming but here we are / Thought I might be waiting on you for a while / But some good things / Some good things / Some good things don't take time," he sings in the chorus.
He drew inspiration from the fast way he met and fell in love with his wife, Shelby.
"I'd been dating a girl for four years, and I saw a random girl at the time, who went on to be my wife," he relates. "I just looked at her, and I was like, 'Man, that's the one.' It was a big problem, because I was dating this girl and we were really serious. I think we both thought we might settle down together."
He kept seeing Shelby everywhere after that, and he laughingly admits, "I was infatuated with this girl. I would do things like just pull out my guitar at random times that weren't even appropriate and just start singing and stuff, to get her attention."
His other relationship ended within months, and he and Shelby fell in love very quickly afterward. And while it was a difficult conversation to have with his previous girlfriend, it ended up well enough for all involved.
"That girl that I was dating ended up marrying my roommate of that summer," Keegan says. "The dude she married went to college with my wife and I went to college with her. We basically swapped, and we're both really happy."
Keegan's backstory is particularly fascinating. He was born in prison to a birth mother who was incarcerated for drugs, and she gave him up for adoption within days. He was raised in a strong family unit, and he later got the opportunity to get to know her and have a relationship with her before she died of cancer earlier this year.
"She's just an amazing woman," he reflects. "It would have been so easy for her to choose another way out. She gave me a chance."
Nashville Lifestyles named Keegan one of its Most Beautiful People in 2018, an accolade he says he can't take seriously.
"I just wake up in the morning and look at myself in the mirror," he deadpans. When he learned of the honor, he adds, "I literally laughed out loud on the phone."
Keegan has been in the studio recently with producer Ryan Gore, whose credits include Thomas Rhett, Kacey Musgraves, Sam Hunt and Brett Eldredge. He'll be announcing more new music soon.
"I've just been writing a ton and trying to get the music right, and express myself as an artist," he tells us. "It's been so long that I've been sitting on this music, and I can't wait."
For more information about Raleigh Keegan, visit his official website, or follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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