CMTT is excited to bring you our newest monthly special.  We call it CMTT’s Celebrity Tattle Tale.  Each month we will bring you new stories, music and personal blog posts from some of your favorite country music artists.   Each artist will write at least one blog post per week to bring you inside their music, behind the scenes of touring, recording and personal stories of what music means to them.

The Celebrity Tattle Tale for March is a personal favorite of Tawny and I.  His name is Walker Hayes and he is the newest artist to be singed to Capitol Nashville.  We have been telling you about Walker for over a year but now Walker is ready to tell you about his new music, upcoming album and Country Throwdown Tour.  Each week we will stream one of Walker’s BRAND NEW songs from his upcoming album, Reason to Rhyme.  Make sure to take a listen to each of the songs right away because they will be removed at the end of each week.

Song:  “Naked” by Josh Kear/Mark Irwin/Walker Hayes

Be the One of the First to Hear Naked:  “Naked” has been removed.  Please check the CMTT website for a new Walker Hayes song every week in March.

The Story Behind the Lyrics:

I had never written with Josh or Mark.  I walked into Josh’s office intimidated, knowing they had both penned several hits that I had covered.  For the life of the party, I’m a pretty reserved person the first time I write with anyone.  It’s nerve racking sharing a room, much less your heart and your soul, with two complete strangers for the first time.

We threw around a few pretty good ideas until Josh said, “I’ve always wanted to write a song called naked”.  I was immediately at ease.  My eyes lit up like a boy hitting puberty walking into victories secret.  We began outlining the concept.  We called it “Naked” knowing listeners would be lured into assuming it was going to be a rewritten version of Jimmy Buffets, “Why Don’t We Get Drunk (and Screw)”.   We hoped such a devious title would enhance the surprise of hearing a meaningful, heartfelt ballad based on the concept and desire for authenticity in a love relationship.

The song wrote itself.  Our main concern while writing it was making sure the only questionable implication given by the song was its title.  As we began to wrap up the chorus we knew we had to put a knife in any speculation that this song could possibly be about anything physical, other than tattoos and scars. This brought us to what in my opinion is the most vital line in the song.  “There’s more to love than just the way we make it”.

“Naked” was from the heart.  My wife knows the deepest darkest corners of my being but still wants me.  Sharing life with someone who knows “the truth about me, what kind of man I’m really not and why” is beyond freeing.  Josh, Mark and I wrote “Naked” from the depths of our souls.  We weren’t trying to write a hit.  We weren’t trying to get a cut.  Two stars and nobody aligned and created a song that said something we all believed in.  I’m sure both of them would agree, whether it’s legendary or whether it’s lost, we put our names on something special that day.

~Walker