Songfacts®:

• A track from Josh Kelley's first Country album, he told us the inspiration behind it in our 2011 interview. Said Kelley: "The idea was when I was in sort of the deepest moments of being an independent artist and really working hard and I wanted to kind of send a message not only to my wife, but to everybody in my family, like, 'Don't worry about me. I'm totally fine. I know you guys see me working hard here and basically putting all my money back into the career. But I'm giving it a real good try, and I'm telling you, this is an investment, and it's going to work.' And it was kind of a song for myself, almost like a self-motivator. And I think relatability-wise, it's for all the people out there that are working real hard to achieve what they want to achieve. And it's about just being patient. It's gonna happen. You keep doing it, it's gonna happen."
• The female vocalist on this song is Ashley Monroe, who came to the attention of Josh thanks to his brother Charles Kelley, who is a member of Lady Antebellum. Said Josh: "'A Real Good Try' is one of the two songs that I wrote 100%. Originally, I was telling my little brother Charles (Kelley of Lady Antebellum) and Cassie, his wife, I said, 'I would really love an Alison Krauss voice on this song. It would just be so pretty.' They said, 'Dude, you have got to hear Ashley Monroe.' And they were really good friends with her. And so I met Ashley one day kind of randomly, and I asked her if she would come to the studio with me and sing on a couple of tracks. And that one just turned out to be the best one for her, and she loved it. And she nailed it. She sounds just like a little angel." (Here's the full Josh Kelley interview.)