The Heart of Dixie

Album: Danielle Bradbery (2013)
Charted: 58
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Songfacts®:

  • Texan teenager Danielle Bradbery became both the youngest contestant and first Country artist ever to win The Voice, when at the age of 16, she won the fourth series of the reality talent show. Hailing from the Houston suburb of Cypress, Bradbery had never had a vocal lesson or sang in front of a big crowd before entering the competition. She beat two more experienced acts - the Swon Brothers and Michelle Chamuel - in the final performance episode by performing the Patty Hollis number "Timber, I'm Falling in Love," the Pam Tillis tune "Maybe It Was Memphis" and the Sara Evans hit "Born to Fly." Bradbery was signed to a record deal by Republic Nashville the day after she won the show. This is her debut single, which was released on July 16, 2013.
  • Kip Moore's producer Brett James penned the song with his friend Troy Verges ("Wasted," "I Want Crazy") and Caitlyn Smith ("Wasting All These Tears"). The trio penned the song in the studio that Verges and James share on 19th in Nashville. "Brett and I have been writing together since the very beginning, and we've both been working with Caitlyn for a few years now, too," Verges told Roughstock: "We started the song working from the title and the intro/turnaround lick and wrote it pretty fast. We wanted to write a song that had hope and empowerment in it, but to do it in a way that didn't come off as preachy, so we decided to make 'Dixie' a character and write it as a third-person song."

    "The song came together pretty fast and felt really good right off the bat," Verges continued. "When we recorded it, it just took up another notch ... it just felt right in that intangible way that songs sometime do. I'm so excited that it's found its way to Danielle Bradbery."
  • The song's music video was directed by Shane Drake (Little Big Town's "Tornado," Tim McGraw's "Highway Don't Care") and shot at Butterfly Hollow, a butterfly farm an hour outside of Nashville. The clip also features Danielle's sister and best friend.

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