Walker Hayes Drops Energetic Tribute to Late Dog, ‘That Dog’ll Hunt’ [Listen]
Walker Hayes is remembering his favorite four-legged friend in a new song titled "That Dog'll Hunt." However, he has opted for a different vibe for this tribute: Rather than choosing a slow ballad akin to Chris Stapleton's "Run, Maggie, Run," the country singer's new song is upbeat, and he's reminiscing about riding in the truck with his late dog, Skeeter, and wife Laney.
"Local radio got somethin' country on it / An oldie but a goodie, y'all, still slaps, don't it? / Skeeter ridin' shotgun, lickin' the wind with his tongue / Ayy, baby, careful now, kissin' on your chauffeur / Daisy Duke legs make me wanna pull it over / Take a little walk in the clover where the wild things run / That dog'll hunt," he sings in the chorus.
Hayes debuted the song on National Dog Day to honor his late bloodhound, Skeeter. The "Y'all Life" singer also shared an old photo with Skeeter when he was just a puppy. The two look very young in the photo:
Hayes wrote "That Dog'll Hunt" with Cameron Montgomery and Melissa Fuller. For those wondering, yes, the song comes with its own dance moves, which the Alabama natives shared on social media. Ahead of its release, he shared the song at a show, noting that the song predates "Fancy Like."
“This song I actually wrote way before ‘Fancy Like’ and all that stuff. It’s one of my kid’s favorites and really I think the reason they love it is it’s got a dog bark in it," he notes.
"Where I grew up, if you took a bite of a burger and it was good, you said, ‘that dog will hunt.’ If a really pretty girl walked by and you saw her, you were like, ‘that dog will hunt.’ If you caught a big fish, it was, ‘boom! That dog will hunt,'" Hayes explains. "We just said that all the time, so I wrote a song about it and it’s kinda in honor of an old dog of mine named Skeeter. He was a bloodhound and I’m not gonna tell you how he died ‘cause it was kinda sad, but he was a good dog and he’s in here.”
Fans can expect to hear "That Dog'll Hunt" on Hayes' Glad You're Here Tour. It's his first headlining arena tour and it will run September 29 through November 12.
Hayes named the tour after his book Glad You're Here — written with his friend Craig Cooper, about faith and friendship — which arrived earlier this year.