Jamey Johnson and Riley Green have a new song together, out now. The two singers combine their talents on “Smoke,” a song they wrote along with Erik Dylan.

“Smoke” says in part, “Couldn’t see which way she went / Or which way I went wrong / Couldn’t see why she left so early  Or why she stayed so long / There was something burning my eyes / Turning my head to stone / I bet it would’ve hurt to watch her go / Good thing I can’t see through all this smoke.”

“It was Riley’s idea,” Johnson reveals. “He called me and we booked some time to get together with Erik Dylan. We sat down and scribbled it out over the course of about an hour.

“It has an interesting sound to it, with one part going down while the other part is going up,” he adds. “I like the whole concept of this guy not being too upset about whatever she is mad at. That smoke probably has a lot to do with it.”

Jamey Johnson and Riley Green Open Up About Their Friendship

Both Johnson and Green proudly call Alabama home, which is part of what connects them, in spite of their 13-year age gap. They also have a shared love of golf, which is something they have done together in the past.

“There’s a natural connection with us there,” Johnson says. “I was immediately impressed with his writing and singing.”

“Writing this song with Jamey was a lot of fun,” adds Green. “After spending time on the road together earlier this year, it just felt natural to get in the studio and make some country music together.”

The two are also fans of each other, on and off stage, which made recording “Smoke” together even better.

“One of my favorite things about Riley is his sense of humor, and he can take it as much as he dishes it out, so that’s why we are always hurling comments at each other,” Johnson reveals. “Recently, when one of the videos caught some traction, I felt bad about it. You don’t hear him giving me crap. You just hear me messing with him, and it’s not a good look, so I had to call and apologize for that!”

How Jamey Johnson and Riley Green Decided to Record “Smoke” Together

Johnson adds that he also might need to apologize to Green for recording “Smoke” without them first actually talking about making it a duet.

“I guess I should have talked to him before I ran into the studio and recorded it,” Johnson says. “But I did what I did! I called and said, ‘Hey, where are you? I just recorded it.’ If he was thinking about recording it and putting it on his record, I guess I ruined that! My apologies to Riley Green.

“I am usually the guy that is pretty safe to write with because for 14 years I didn’t put anything out,” he continues. “Nobody had any indication that I would be running to the studio. Unfortunately for Riley, I had a studio session booked the next week, so we definitely grabbed ‘Smoke’ and went to work on it. I probably owe Riley a song!”