Key West & Colorado

Album: I Hate Cowboys & All Dogs Go to Hell (2022)
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Songfacts®:

  • Here, Chase Rice moves on after a breakup by going on a journey.

    Somewhere between that sand and snow
    Salt in the air and salt on the road, I finally let myself let her go


    Rice is a keen traveler and connected easily to the idea of getting over heartbreak through physical travel. "That's what this song is about for me, is going on a journey like that to figure my own s--t out," he said.
  • Rice wrote "Key West & Colorado" in Florida with Florida Georgia Line's Brian Kelley along with Hunter Phelps, Corey Crowder, Blake Pendergrass and John Byron. "We were just hanging out that day and drinking some beer, hanging out on a boat," he recalled to Taste of Country.
  • "Key West & Colorado" was the caption of an Instagram post Rice had previously made. When Kelley saw it on his feed, he noted the title as a potential song idea and brought it to the group. Rice then steered the writing session towards the experiences he'd been going through when he made that Instagram post.

    "That's a trip I actually did. I did it and then I posted it to Instagram: Key West and Colorado," Rice said. "That was an accident, because we were supposed to go from Key West to Nashville, but Nashville was snowed in... so it was like, 'Well, let's just go to Denver! Go to REI and get some stuff, snowboard. That was a trip that happened."
  • Oscar Charles produced the track. Charles' resumé also includes producing Elvie Shane's debut album Backslider, including the single "My Boy."
  • Rice played acoustic guitar on the track and sang backing vocals with Brian Kelley. The other musicians are:

    Bass: Craig Young
    Electric Guitar: Rob McNelley
    Drums and percussion: Fred Eltringham

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