Country Must Be Country Wide

"Country Must Be Country Wide"
Single by Brantley Gilbert
from the album Halfway to Heaven
Released	April 25, 2011 (2011-04-25)
Format	Music download
Genre	Country Rock
Length	3:35
Label	Valory Music Group
Writer(s)	Brantley Gilbert, Colt Ford, Mike Dekle
Producer	Dann Huff
Brantley Gilbert singles chronology
"My Kind of Crazy" (2010) "Country Must Be Country Wide" (2011)

"Country Must Be Country Wide" is the title of a song co-written and recorded by American country rock artist Brantley Gilbert. It was released in April 2011 as the first single from the deluxe edition of his 2010 album Halfway to Heaven.

Content

In the song, Gilbert sings about the country music fanbase, saying that it is not limited to the Southern United States. Gilbert told Taste of Country that he wrote the song while on tour with country rap artist Colt Ford.^[1] Ford told Country Weekly that, while touring through Ohio, he realized that "there are rednecks everywhere[…]I was like, 'those people are all just like us, but they just sound different.'" Gilbert added that while in Ohio, he saw a man exit a truck while dressed in a cowboy hat and boots, which inspired the first verse of the song.^[2]

Critical reception

Dan MacIntosh of Country Standard Time thought that the song "lives up to that 'up to 11' promise" that he thought was established in the songs that Gilbert wrote for Jason Aldean ("Dirt Road Anthem" and "My Kinda Party").^[3]

Music video

The music video was directed by Shane Drake and premiered in mid-2011.

Chart positions

Chart (2011)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Country Songs[4]	1
US Billboard Hot 100[4]	52

Preceded by "Sparks Fly" by Taylor Swift

Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one single December 3, 2011

Succeeded by incumbent

References

1. ^ Hensel, Amanda (27 May 2011). "Brantley Gilbert, ‘Country Must Be Country Wide’ – Lyrics Uncovered". Taste of Country. http://tasteofcountry.com/brantley-gilbert-country-must-be-country-wide-lyrics/. Retrieved 30 September 2011. 
2. ^ Conaway, Alanna (24 October 2011). "Behind the Song: There Are Rednecks Everywhere". Country Weekly 18 (43): 16. ISSN 1074-3235. 
3. ^ MacIntosh, Dan. "Halfway to Heaven". Country Standard Time. http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4747. Retrieved 30 September 2011. 
4. ^ ^{a b} ""Country Must Be Country Wide" listing". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/song/brantley-gilbert/country-must-be-country-wide/25465875#/song/brantley-gilbert/country-must-be-country-wide/25465875. Retrieved 30 September 2011.