Restless Road Were So Shocked by Their ‘Bachelor’ Invite They ‘Almost Swerved Off the Road’
When up-and-coming country band Restless Road got the news that they'd be performing on the blockbuster show The Bachelor, there was only one thing they could do.
"We almost swerved off the road," admits Restless Road's Zach Beeken.
Taste of Country caught up with the trio ahead of their appearance on ABC's The Bachelor Monday night (Jan. 31, 8PM ET), and they were more than eager to talk about it.
"We were driving our van to the next show and our publicist called us with the news," Beeken says of when they learned they'd be a musical guest on the show. We were screaming at the top of our lungs.”
Their enthusiastic reaction — which they shared on Instagram — isn’t too surprising considering that Beeken and his Restless Road bandmates Colton Pack and Garrett Nichols are huge fans of the long-running dating series. And so are their families.
“My grandma couldn't believe it," says Beeken of sharing the big news with family and friends. “Nobody could believe it. In my family, we have always gotten together to watch The Bachelor when we can. So, they're definitely thrilled to watch us on there.”
Sharing in that excitement was Kane Brown, who signed Restless Road as the first act on his 1021 Entertainment label back in 2020.
“Kane (Brown) was all about it," adds Pack. Restless Road are currently on tour as part of Brown's Blessed & Free headlining arena run. "I feel like as an artist, we've seen so many people that we look up to be on these shows and their songs just go and blow up, just because they are on the show. So yeah, Kane was just as excited for us, because he's looking at this as another amazing opportunity for us to get in front of millions of people with our music."
“What's funny is I think we can talk to (Brown's wife) Katelyn about it, because I believe she is a very big fan of the show,” Nichols says, chiming in.
The actual taping took place last October, with the country trio going straight from a show in Denver to an undisclosed location outside of Houston to film. They waited there, in the shadows, anticipating a big moment between the newest Bachelor, Clayton Echard, and his lucky date.
“We had to stay hidden because his date did not know that we were even there,” Beeken explains. “We didn't sing until almost 1AM. It was a late night.”
Once they finally began their performance, the men of Restless Road say it was hard not to notice the lovebirds right in front of them.
“His date was super surprised, and they obviously kissed a lot,” Nichols reveals, laughing. “We've gotten pretty good at performing, but performing while people are kissing in front of you … that's a whole other thing. It's hard to concentrate.”
Despite the uncomfortable nature of the moment, Restless Road say that they felt their song “Growing Old With You” ended up being the perfect one to play. The song was co-written by Jordan Reynolds, Jordan Minton and Lady A’s Charles Kelley.
“I think when you hear that song, people connect to it so well because no matter where you're at in your own relationship, you can relate to it,” Nichols says. "Either you want to find that person or you have that person, and you want to say it to them."
As Restless Road prepare to launch their first-ever headlining tour in April, there is no doubt that “Growing Old With You” will find its way onto the setlist and continue to help the country trio reach their goals.
"We had two things that were on the top of our bucket list when we signed with Brown in 2020," Beeken notes. “One was to play the Grand Ole Opry, and the other was to be the musical guest on The Bachelor. And now, we have done both. It’s the perfect way to start 2022 off strong."
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