Mamaw's House

Album: 20 Number Ones (2023)
Charted: 55
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Songfacts®:

  • Thomas Rhett and Morgan Wallen take us on a heartfelt journey down memory lane with "Mamaw's House," a song that celebrates the cherished haven of their grandmothers' homes. It marks their second collaboration, following "Whiskey'd My Way," a track from 2021 Wallen's Dangerous: The Double Album.
  • Wallen takes the first verse and chorus. He transports us back to the heat of grandma's kitchen, where the aroma of fried chicken mingled with the scent of Marlboro Reds and buttery biscuits. And who can forget that trusty old Lincoln from '82? Wallen paints a vivid picture of his grandma's house where "cussin and complainin' weren't allowed."
  • The chorus ties it all together with a universal message of longing for simpler times, where every nightstand had a Bible, every front porch had a swing, and every town had a "Mamaw's house." This echoes the sentiment that runs through Rhett's 2021 Country Again Side A album. In that record, he delved into his whirlwind touring life, deliberately choosing a slower, family-centric rhythm that lets him savor more moments with loved ones.
  • Rhett's verse testifies how his mamaw played a pivotal role in shaping the man he's become. From constant offers of food to colorful phrases like "hellfire," "tarnation," and "I reckon," Rhett's memories are a snapshot of a South Georgia summer spent shelling peas and shucking corn.
  • "Mamaw's House" was written in early August 2020 by Rhett and Wallen alongside Chase McGill and Matt Dragstrem. McGill and Dragstrem are two of Rhett's favorite songwriting partners. Some of Rhett's other songs he wrote with them include two others with relations in the title: "Things Dads Do" and "Mama's Front Door."

    McGill and Dragstrem's previous songwriting collaborations with Wallen include the Dangerous tracks "Only Thing That's Gone" and "Rednecks, Red Letters, Red Dirt."
  • An interrupted Zoom call led to this country ballad. When Rhett performed "Mamaw's House" at Jiffy Lube Live, Bristow, Virginia, he introduced the track by saying, "We were writing a song that neither of us liked at all, and I finally had to come to the point of like, 'Hey dude, neither of us like this, let's just either quit or write something else...' and right about that time, his grandmama called him on the phone and he goes, 'Hello,' and she goes, 'What're you doing, Morgan? This is your mamaw calling, what're you doing?' And Morgan was like, 'Oh, I'm just writing a song.'"

    "I was like, 'Oh where's your mamaw from?' and he said, 'East Tennessee', and I've got a mamaw in East Tennessee, and this whole song kind of came together super natural," Rhett continued. "So we wrote this song about our grandmamas - and if y'all got grandmamas, this one's for you."

    "Mamaw's House" kicks off with the voice memo of Wallen excusing himself to answer his grandma's call.
  • The song became a fan-favorite when Rhett performed it at concerts. Rhett's fans had to wait for the sudio version until September 29, 2023, when Big Machine released "Mamaw's House" as a single and bonus track off Rhett's 20 Number Ones collection. Dann Huff and Jesse Frasure, two of Rhett's top producers, produced the track.

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