Drinkin' Buddies

Album: You, Me, and My Guitar (2024)
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Songfacts®:

  • "Drinkin' Buddies" is a foot-stomping anthem where Lee Brice, Nate Smith and Hailey Whitters celebrate the power of friendship and the comfort found in good company. They are the pals who have got your back, the ones who turn a bad day into a laugh session and make a good day feel like a championship win.
  • The song unfolds like a conversation between friends. Brice talks about an unsuccessful day's hunting; he's perched high in a tree without making a single shot all day. Smith calls in from the lake, about to head back after a fishless day spent casting lines.

    Then Whitters chimes in with a relatable tale of a bad breakup, so Brice and Smith show up with some liquid encouragement to help her chase away the blues.
  • Chris Destefano (Luke Bryan's "That's My Kind of Night," Carrie Underwood's "Something in the Water"), Justin Wilson (Mitchell Tenpenny's "Drunk Me," Dustin Lynch's "Momma's House") and frequent Gabby Barrett collaborator Zach Kale penned the song. When a friend pitched it to Brice, he listened to half the song before declaring he wanted to cut it.

    Brice hadn't reached the woman's verse on the track, so when his friend asked which girl he wanted to sing the part, he was confused. "I hadn't even heard the second verse yet," he explained to Audacy. "It ended up being really the coolest part of the song."

    "The camaraderie between the guys and the girls instead of just a duet or something about love or heartbreak. It turned out to be so fun," Brice added. "Whenever I got Nate on it and Hailey on it, man, it just made it come to life."
  • Producer Ben Glover (Gretchen Peters, Anne Wilson) and singer-songwriter Jerrod Niemann helmed the track. They give it an upbeat country sound with a strong emphasis on guitars and a driving beat.

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